Watercraft Inspectors at Christmas Lake starting 4/22

[MN-FishGuy]

There are going to be trained Aquatic Invasive Species Inspectors at the Christmas Lake boat access starting on Saturday, April 22nd. These are trained, DNR Level 1 inspectors, meaning that can deny access to the lake if needed. They are there to inspect your boat before and after launch, checking for any and all aquatic invasive species (AIS). You will not get in trouble if they find any AIS attached to your boat, they are there to help educate and remove AIS so we do not contiminate other lakes with nuisance aquatic invasive species. There will be inspectors present 7 days a week, from 6am-8pm, and from memorial day to labor day 6pm-9pm. There is a gate at this city park as well, and it will be down all non-staffed hours.

Lets try to be respectful to the inspectors despite what your feelings may be towards this idea, they are just trying to do their job. We, as fisherman, should be very concerned about the spread of aquatic invasive species, as they will affect the fishing, fish habitat and the whole aquatic ecosystem at some point if we don't try to prevent their spread. We are not the only ones who can spread these AIS, any kind of recreational boat is at risk as well. Lets all be respondsible stewards of these 10,000 + gifts god gave us.

[CAMAN]

Quote:

There will be inspectors present 7 days a week, from 6am-8pm, and from memorial day to labor day 6pm-9pm.

And just who will be paying for this?!?

[g_anoka]

Exactly, who is paying for this? While I am not opposed to this idea, why is "THEIR" lake being protected by DNR employees, and "MINE" is not? If the lake association is stepping up and paying for this, then I have no problem. But, if this is being paid for out of the DNR budget, then they better be out at every other lake with a public access in the state.

[CatholicConis]

I think I read that this was an experiment in cooperation with the DNR, but the lake association was paying the bill. Even then, I have my misgivings. For instance, how can you legally "close" a public access just because the inspectors are off-duty? Doesn't sound very public to me.

[Moose-Hunter]

The idea of controlling the spread of invasives, I agree with completely!!! The gate... Not even a little bit. That takes a big set of brass ones to "claim" a lake like that all to themselves. Will it still be a "public" access? Yeah right!! I'm 100% against the gate idea and will let my feelings be known to all that man said gate.

Gated access to a public lake? I shake my head in disgust!! I say, if the lake is now "gated", it is now NOT public but CONTROLLED by the lake association. That said... Pull the state funding for any and all Christmas Lake programs and let the lake OWNERS deal with it.

Don't worry, It's not a lake I fish AT ALL any more. I had a run in with a snooty lake shore owner a while ago. Seems that he thought he owned the lake back then too. I may go there a couple times this season just to launch my protests and get turned away. They don't want me there and I'm good with that.

Sorry for the rant but this "my lake" carp really chaps my hide!!!

[hedy]

a few years ago we launched at christmas lake,we started right from the dock with the trolling motor so we were quiet but the people on the lake did not want us there at 6am so they proceeded to harass us by water skiing within 50ft of our boat for over 1 hour,it was not until we went into the lilly pads did they stop,they continued to ski near us from time to time until 10:30 that morning.

[anchor man]

The Whitefish Chain in Crosslake is looking for water craft inspectors (volunteers)too this Spring-Summer. It's the WAPOA and DNR working together on this. The DNR is doing the training and volunteers work the launches. Great idea if you ask me.

[pegleg]

The 371 landing on Gull Lake by Brainerd had inspectors all summer last year. It was funded by the Lake Association and it wasn't mandatory to do the inspection - they also sprayed down the boats with power washers and hot water. Is this going to be mandatory at Xmas lake?

I thought it was a waste of money on Gull being it was not mandatory plus there are 2 other landings not being monitored by inspectors on Gull.

[Riverratpete]

The cows out of the barn on this one already..good luck stopping it. I wonder if anyone has thought for a minute WHY we have "Invasive Species"?. My understanding for example is that Zebra Mussels are very good at filtering water, some might say too good..but might it also be possible that they are there for a reason, nature does not like a vacuum and is it possible that they actually HELP the lakes by filtering toxins and pollutents in the water put there by humans?. We found out that having Milfoil in Minnetonka though messy for shore owners and easy transferability makes a great nursery and hiding areas for fish, the fishing has picked up tenfold for Bass and Muskies in the last 20 years. Wait a little bit and an enemy will develop for the Zebra Mussel..nature ALWAYS balances out. Frankly I'm more frightened of what the insane humans are going to inflict on the rest of the population then I am about some invasive species.

[bobbymalone]

the people on the lake did not want us there at 6am so they proceeded to harass us by water skiing within 50ft of our boat for over 1 hour

yeah, i'm pretty sure that is just normal water skier behavior.

[harvey lee]

The water skier can happen on almost any lake. many times I have had jet ski's and the like come by very close to the boat. Not just Christmas lake.

[chasineyes]

. There is a gate at this city park as well, and it will be down all non-staffed hours.

So it's technically NOT a public access, bottom line!!! How many bass folks like to be on the water at 5:00AM especially to get done by the time the waterskiiers do show up.

Folks this is how it starts, one lake here, one there presto all lakes will have some sort of control. Maybe not be tomorrow or next year but I'll bet my paycheck on the future of public access.

[MN-FishGuy]

Who is paying for this: Its mostly being paid for by the association, with a small grant from the watershed district. Lake Minnetonka and some others have similar deals with inspectors going on.

The gate is definitely controversial, but when you think about, other accesses, such as three rivers park district has specific hours when the park is closed. This is a city of shorewood park, and they decided to put hours of operation at the park.

Zebra Mussels are definitely not good for the lake for numerous reasons. You can say what you want about gates and inspecters, but zebra mussels do not benefit any lake. They are filter feeders, and they will filter toxins as well as phytoplankton, but they excrete the toxins right back in the water. They disrupt the food chain by diminishing the base of the food chain, thus affecting everything right up to the game fish. Zebra Mussels will eat all the beneficial algae, leaving only blue green algae, which can be toxic. Water will be clearer for a while, allowing aquatic plants to thrive, but eventually the blue green algae will dominate and the water clarity will again diminish.

[Rainman]

I heard someone my buddy knows who puts in and takes out docks and boat lifts for some people at Christmas lake found Zebs on a lift last fall already. All he said was WHOOPS, there here!!!

[MN-FishGuy]

I hope thats not true, if anyone thinks they may have seen zebra mussels in a non-infested lake do the following. Note the location on the lake, take a pic if possible, contact the dnr or someone at the minnehaha creek watershed district.

The person you know should really contact the dnr or someone at the minnehaha creek watershed district and let them know where they saw it.

[jeff127]

So can anyone tell me that ducks and geese flying from lake to lake don't or can't transfer these invasive species???? There are 2 small lakes in chaska that have milfoil in them and there is no boat access or boats in general on them.....how were these infested?? If you can't control all aspects of possible transfer it seems like a waste of time.

I don't fish christmas lake and probably won't in the future but I definately don't like the direction this is going!

[MN-FishGuy]

Jeff127: thats kind of a defeatist attitude. There are obviously other aspects of possible spread, although its pretty widely accepted that boats and human introduction is the biggest cause of spread. Its probably more likely for milfoil to be spread by birds than for zebra mussels. I think if we actually have a chance to prevent the spread of an invasive specie, i would want to do everything we could. We never had this chance with milfoil or curlyleaf, but we actually have a legitimate chance with zebra mussels and some of these other AIS. I hope other people share my view, im not saying close down accesses, i just think we should be vigilant and really check our watercraft when going from one waterbody to the next.

[Maximum12]

So can anyone tell me that ducks and geese flying from lake to lake don't or can't transfer these invasive species???? There are 2 small lakes in chaska that have milfoil in them and there is no boat access or boats in general on them.....how were these infested?? If you can't control all aspects of possible transfer it seems like a waste of time.

I don't fish christmas lake and probably won't in the future but I definately don't like the direction this is going!

Sorry, but this kind of attitude is just wrong.

I mean...you're going to die, so just go lay down on the freeway, right? Your kids are going to die, so just throttle them in their cribs, right? Fish are all going to die, so C&R is just a waste of time, right?

If there's no perfect solution, let's just give up. Yeah. Good plan.

[jeff127]

I probably shouldn't have said "waste of time" it does sound kind of defeatest.

My point is why put anymore effort into stopping zebra mussles from entering christmas lake than you would into the other 10000 lakes in MN. Having a gate on a public access that is manned 7 days a week with open and closing times seems a bit extreme---on a few levels. An extremely large lake that will soon be heavily infested with zebra mussles is only blocks away----I don't see how the ducks and geese can't spread it in its larval form. A broader form of education and measures is needed to slow(too late to stop imo) the spread of zm by humans, not localized checkpoints.

[griff321]

... There are obviously other aspects of possible spread, although its pretty widely accepted that boats and human introduction is the biggest cause of spread...

It's always the boaters!

Docks NEVER transfer AIS right? Homeowners NEVER bring AIS on their own boats right!? It's ALWAYS those darn other people from other towns!

I can't stand this attitude and it seems to be the mood that dominates the discussion. Where is the control on the people that live on the lake? Oh that's right, they get to play by a different set of rules because it's THEIR lake. Sickening. I don't want to see a single state dollar spent on that lake. In fact I'll be contacting my representatives and the DNR to express this.

[DTro]

A day late and a dollar short. I would actually be surprised to find out they were NOT there already. Looks like someone might have confirmed that up above.

Mother Nature always wins

[Carp-fisher]

Isn't Christmas Lake connected to Minnetonka via canal? That lake is toast anyway.

That being said, the DNR is under a ton of heat from all sides to "do something" about the spread of AIS. Other than educate, what else are they to do? They know the whole thing is futile, but they have to "do something".

[Carp-fisher]

A few more thoughts on this as it has effected me personally...watercraft inspectors have had their way with my boat (almost feels like a stranger going through my underwear drawer)...

There is ZERO real evidence birds transport zebra mussels.

1. Zebra mussles are transported by people.

2. If people stopped transporting them, then zebra mussels would stop spreading (discounting waters connected to already infected waters)

3. Therefore, people should stop transporting them.

Thats what the DNR is trying to do and it makes sense. Will it be a success, probably not. Although it would probably help a whole heckuvalot if people quit blaming the spread of AIS on birds and develop a sense of responsibility about preventing the spread. I doubt thats going to happen though.

[MN-FishGuy]

Griff321 -

Its not just boaters, or just boaters from other towns, its anything that is moved from one waterbody to the next. You guys are getting too defensive and are not thinking about the whole picture. This is much bigger than christmas lake, put your grudges and assumptions aside.

First of all, the boat ramp on christmas in the city of shorewoods property, not the dnr and not the association. The gate is the city's responsibility.

The association and other local unit of govt are taking advantage of a program through the dnr, to get dnr trained inspectors at specific launches, which is paid for by the association and certain local units of govt. Its more than a christmas lake thing. Carver county hired inspectors for lake minnewashta, which is a county park with specific hours of operation. Lake minnetonka conservation district hired inspecters for tonka, the city of chanhassen and eden prairie hired some as well for some of their lakes. Im sure there are others as well.

Boat lifts are a huge concern as well, i think thats been proved with those two lakes up by alexandria where two boat lifts directly infested two lakes. This is why the dnr now has rules in place about moving docks and boats lifts from one water to another and why they now ask companies who do that sort of work to take a class and get permitted as an approved lake service provider.

Inspectors are just one component of a larger picture that includes more education, lake service peoviders and personal responsibility. Lets stop being narrow minded and thinking everyone is out to get us fisherman.

[MN-FishGuy]

Were you inspected on christmas carp fisher? I could definitely see how an inspector takes things to far as the owner of the boat feels violated, for lack of a better term. I think the goal is for the inspecter to teach boat owners where to look for ais, how tricky it can be to find stuff, with the boater then being able to do this on their own on lakes without inspecters. Lets hope people dont abuse their responsibilities outlined by the dnr. I encourage everyone to go on the dnr's website and read about the differences between volunteer inspecters, level one and level two inspecters as well as the new laws regarding these inspecters.

[DTro]

It will work for a bit while concentration and emphasis is high, but both boaters and inspectors will get lax over time and even if they successfully stop the next 99 out of 100 "infected" boats, it could be that one boat they miss that makes then entire exercise an utter waste of time and money.

[MN-FishGuy]

Unfortunately, thats always a possibility. I dont think anyone truly believes inspectors will completely stop the spread of all ais, but it at least lowers the risk, which is better than nothing.

[Carp-fisher]

I was inspected at a launch on pool 2 last summer...flash lights in dark orificies and everything. They had a crew out there last week when I was pulling off. It was sort of funny because they were eyeballing my rig, but at a choice moment a guy went walking by with a flow troll full of goodies...boy did they converge on him.

[Grizzly_lokolman]

What is the success rate of stopping invasive species??? Right now we're batting .000- we have milfoil, zebra mussles, pondweed, asian carp, etc.. in this state.. Dropping millions and millions and millions of dollars for something that will inevitably fail is just plain stupid. Especially when it involves taking away individual freedoms, like that of being on a PUBLIC lake. It doesn't mean we have to give up, but...

I'd be curious what invasive species we HAVE stopped.

[Hap Shaughnessy]

Do the Inspectors leave the site for lunch hour?

12:15 pm today, there was no inspector on site at Christmas Lake.