Milfoil mats

[MNpurple]

Last year was the first year I fished a couple of lakes with a severe milfoil problem (please clean your boats off!). Anyway, the bass were obviously in it, but outside of topwater lures, what is your favorite approach to fishing the heavy milfoil mats. My limited success came from dropping jigs into the various open water holes throughout the mats.

[Jig Master]

Milfoil in a lake is not a problem and it should not be termed that way. Milfoil is a blessing to the bass, sunfish, and bream. Personally I dont care if every lake in the state has it, all the better for people who like to catch bigger fish.

[Deitz Dittrich]

we as anglers who share the lakes with non anglers can not be so selfish to wish that all lakes become infested with it. That in my opinion is an irresponsible statement. Also, some lakes does not handle the infestation as well either. I also think its not all positive that comes from milfoil as well, dealing with the silt from dead weed from previous years is something that changes out lakes as well..

However, once you learn how to fish it, it can be quite fun. Try heavy jigs in the milfoil.

[CAMAN]

Personally I dont care if every lake in the state has it,

Wow, that is probably one of the most arrogant statements I have ever read.

Its unfortunate though, that cleaning boats off will not completely stop the spread of milfoil, since waterfowl have been found a contributor to the spreading of the plant as well.

I don't totally dislike fishing the stuff, but it is far from my favorite.

[Nick Kuhn]

Not to mention on popular lakes you get so many motors tearing up the stuff the surface just becomes littered with weed fragments. It's frustrating to be fishing 200 yards from the nearest weed bed and still have them foul your bait every other cast...

[Deitz Dittrich]

Caman-maybe harsh, but I too was harsh in my comment as well. Any invasive specie is not a good idea.. Jig Master- I hope you understand why we have harsh statements.. we can not promote the spread of invasive species.. Our lakes were fantastic long before milfoil. While the weed gives the fish plenty of places to hide, it causes a lot of harm to the system as a whole.

[Jig Master]

Caman it causes a lot of harm to the system as a whole.

This statement is debatable. Pheasants aren't native to Minnesota, should we eradicate them? There are two sides to every story.

[CAMAN]

This statement is debatable. Pheasants aren't native to Minnesota, should we eradicate them? There are two sides to every story.

Yes there are two sides to every story. Pheasants actually have predators around that are able to control their population. (Coyotes, raccoons, hunters) And what's the most harm a pheasant can do? Eat a couple extra ears of corn in a field? Somehow I don't see much to worry about them.

Milfoil has zero predators, and once it takes root in a system it begins to take over immediatly, yes it has added tons of extra habitat for fish,(fish that have thrived long before milfoil was around) but it has also taken away the natural beauty of many lakes by covering them with a solid mat of green and brown weeds that looks like a dirty swamp. If I wanted to look at a swamp I'd drive to the one down the road from me, but I prefer to see open water with numerous varieties of plant species that all have their place in the ecosystem.

While we're at it, please tell me the good points of having asian carp around, surely there must be something, then we can start stocking them in every lake and river so we can all appreciate their benefits and beauty.

Some lakes have been absolutly choked shut with milfoil, why would anyone want that in every lake in the state?

[Deitz Dittrich]

Jig Master- While I too enjoy fishing milfoil. It can be fantastic some days. Like Caman says, it can choke out a lake. What worries me the most is the effects of years and years of weeds. I know of a lake that had some deep rock which no longer holds fish because its silted over. So, I have found at least one negative effect.. Would this have eventually happened, yes, thats the natural thing that happens to lakes as they age.. But having the milfoil seems to make this happen much quicker.. and dont even get me started on Curly Pond Weed.. that stuff I cant stand!

[Nick Kuhn]

The only good thing about curly leaf pondweed is it dies early in the year. But fishing between now and the end of June is made much more difficult by that stuff.

[Larson15]

I wonder what the lakes will be like in 10 years and so on......

[Superduty]

Here is a gloom and doom possibility:

Zebra mussels will be in many more lakes. (There are so many in Mille Lacs that we caught many on our walleye rigs this past weekend.) They will make the water clearer by filter feeding. The milfoil and curly leaf pondweed will then be able to grow in much deeper water and cover even more of the lake! New laws may exist to prevent boaters from spreading exotics to the remaining "natural" lakes.

Lakeshore owners will probably win the battle with the DNR to treat "their" lakes with herbicides to kill the milfoil, pondweed, and most every form of vegetation in the lake. (look at what happened to north/south center the last 10 years if you don't believe this) Water clarity and quality will go down because of all the dead plant material in the system. Less habitat and poor water quality will lead directly to poor fishing.

[ikeslayer]

This statement is debatable. Pheasants aren't native to Minnesota, should we eradicate them? There are two sides to every story.

White man is not native to North america should we.....

this kind of logic is not good

[Wayne Ek]

My go to rig for milfoil is: 6'6" X-Heavy rod, Ardent F-&00 (Flip-N-Pitch), 30-pound Power Pro, 3/0 Super Braid Hook, a 3/4 or 1-ounce tungsten weight with a bobber stop infront of it and the Strike King Rodent. For me I've found that I just have to ignore the milfoil and fish in it just like it's not even there. The heavy weight will fall thru almost all milfoil no matter how matted. I will key in on any large holes in the mat, as they can indicate a rock or change in bottom content. I just try to focus on what depth I'm at when I get a bite.

Curly Pond Weed, don't mind fishing it either. It almost always holds fish and there are very few types of veg. you cann't fish a well rigged Texas rig in. Or better yet once it go's into bloom a spoon over the inside edge.

[Comit 2]

Quote:

Milfoil in a lake is not a problem and it should not be termed that way. Milfoil is a blessing to the bass, sunfish, and bream. Personally I dont care if every lake in the state has it, all the better for people who like to catch bigger fish.

And what about the non-jigmasters? What will the trollmasters and the crankmasters do.

A few years ago I took my boat off of plain in the middle of some milfoil. It took me an hour of going forward and backing up to blow the weeds off by prop to get back on plain.

Tetonka, Washington and Emly all had the state record Bass at one time. Not one of these lakes have Milfoil. So big fish and Milfoil? I do not see the connection.

Milfoil just forces you to flip and pitch. So you cover less water.

[Jig Master]

Ok, I agree with some of what the last poster said. You don't need milfoil to have good fishing. But I think it's so dumb when everyone talks about it like it's the worst thing ever to happen to a lake and give it an evil personafication (sp?). All I want to say, and you can't argue against this, is that not everything about milfoil is bad, and in fact it does have some positives it will bring to a lake.