Invasives in LOW

[slammer]

Just read the article in the Mpls paper about the zebra mussels in Mille Lacs. What a mess! How would this affect LOW? Does the stained water do anything to prevent them? It would be an economic disaster for the area if it affected the fishing.

[goblueM]

to answer your question about stained water : no, not really. they do just fine in the St. Croix, and in (formerly) turbid waters

i'm sure it'll affect fishing, but who knows how. could be good for some species, bad for others, or the effects might be negligible or unnoticeable

[Kaz]

Their in Lake Erie, how has that effected the Walleye Fishing there?? Maybe with the clearer water the fish can find food better.. Their bigger fish in Erie too..

[Walleyehooker]

Not sure how much they would clear up LOW as it is fed with stained bog water.Zebras filter and eat the zooloo plankton wich clears up the water and eliminates food for the bait fish.Walleyes are bigger on erie because it is farther south and has better forage.Ive only fished Erie in the spring when there are lots of hungry fish that come in to spawn so Im not sure how hard they are to catch after that.I have fished Salmon on Lake Michigan several times and noticed that the downriggers didnt produce as many fish as the long lines. I asked the Captain and he said riggers used to work well but as the water has cleared up they have become less effective.Mille Lacs is already a pretty clear lake and will get much clearer. I suspect calm days will make for tough fishing in clear water and you may not need your locator to see fish in deep water. Weeds and millfoil will also grow much better in clear water.

[Jarrid Houston]

Invasives are not good.......period

[DJ_Slick]

Keep a close eye on Lake Mille Lacs as it clears up and you may find your answers. The U.S. side of Lake of the Woods is relatively shallow (just like Mille Lacs), but the stained water makes it much darker at depth, giving the fish the same light levels that would be found in much deeper water that is very clear.

IF (and I stress it's a big "if") the stained water were to actually clear up due to zebra mussels, it would likely change the fishery significantly. You will probably find weeds growing in the main lake that were never there before, and some of those gosh-darned-awful algae blooms that appear in the summer might even get worse with more sunlight penetration (or maybe better with a deeper thermocline?). That additional light penetration will change the winter fishing too. You might even be able to kiss the 9-to-5 fishery that the resorters have enjoyed for decades goodbye. Could you imagine having to charter and/or fish at night up there? There are some serious hazards that can be tough to avoid in the daylight if you don't know where you're at.

One poster drew a comparison to Lake Erie - note that Lake Erie is over 200 feet deep. Big Traverse Bay tops out at about 38 feet. Get the light down there where it hasn't been before, and the whole ecosystem WILL change in some way. Whether it's for better or worse remains to be seen.

[pooly_31]

i'm no university trained biologist, but i don't believe there's any way the zebras could clear up our water. The water is stained from the peat bog runoff, not from algae or the like.

[SM1]

Correct, zebras will filter feed on zooplankton and such (competing against juvenile fish/minnows for that food source) but this would probably have no overall effect on light penetration in the tannic acid stained water of low.

[tacklejunkie]

Correct, zebras will filter feed on zooplankton and such (competing against juvenile fish/minnows for that food source) but this would probably have no overall effect on light penetration in the tannic acid stained water of low.

Are zebras in LOTW, yet? I know they have those same fleas up there that are on Island Lake and Lake Superior down here

[pooly_31]

i believe its just the fleas at this point.

[Walleyehooker]

Spiney water fleas. Mille Lacs is loaded with them now too.