eurasian milfoil on Parkers lake....

[CALVINIST]

I live by this lake in south Plymouth. Don't fish it much, but drive by it frequently. I must say this year the eurasian milfoil on that lake is nasty BAD!!! Thick beds of that brown, diarrhea-looking crap have covered the shallows as I have never seen before: in is appalling Anyboby else seeing an increase in the quantity of this dreaded, obnoxious, ugly, festering blight of a weed??

[JoeR67]

As a fisherman, I kinda like the milfoil. But as far as the spread of it, yeah that's not so good. But I think it can turn a decent fishing lake into a great fishing lake. I believe it has definitely improved the quality of fish on Tonka.

$0.02

[Johnny_Da_Der]

it can also turn a lake into an unnavigable, unfishable mess. there was a little lake behind my old apartment in eagan that you could nearly walk across the surface of the thing because the milfoil was so thick.

[TommyJ33]

I am not sure the brown emergent weed you are seeing in Parkers is Euraisian milfoil.

emergent weeds are crazy on shallow bays of Tonka this year as well. Upon Closure inspection I found it wasn't Eurasian milfoil but a native vegetation.

[muskiechaser]

It seems to me the weeds in all the lakes are thicker than normal. Cedar Lake near New Prague where I live is almost impossible to navigate, much less fish.

[Fazzy]

I drove by the other day to see the lifeguard watching over a beach choked with the nastiest looking weeds, reminding me of a diaper blowout! I've never seen it that bad. I would guess they will treat the lake with copper oxide soon, it should improve in a month or so. I've never fished it but have seen an occasional boat out there.

[hydro]

This is a common mis-identification of Curly-leaf pondweed (Potamogeton crispus), a non-native invasive species of plant. Unlike Eurasion Milfoil, this plant tends to die back in late June.

Common names: Curly cabbage, crisp pondweed.

Location: Grows from the shore to depths of up to 15 feet.

Description: Leaves are somewhat stiff and crinkled, approximately 1/2-inch wide and 2 to 3 inches long; leaves are arranged alternately around the stem, and become more dense toward the end of branches; produces winter buds.

See the Minnesota DNR website for more information.

[fisherman-andy]

As much as I hate the thick growth of weeds & algae during the summer months, I sometimes welcome them too.

It certainly makes it easier to fish with a Canoe, raft, or floats considering less boat traffic & water recreational use.

No matter how good it is, too much is no good either. It may make it hard for fish to spawn especially fish like panfish & bass that make beds in the shallows.