weed spray impact on fishing

[RuKiddingMe]

Took this picture Monday..

never seen it this bad ever.

This lake has milfoil in it and we have a lake association.

We don't spray the lake...

WOW that looks just like the pond in my back yard after my neighbors sign their contracts with Tru-Green, Scotts and Chemlawn...

You guys don't seriously believe that lawn care products have that little effect on lakes and the weeds with in them... I mean really we apply chemicals to our lawns to help grow beautiful lush green grass, so what do you suppose happens when it rains or you water your lawn? Well being almost all land around a lake slopes to the lake, one could deduce that... well you guessed it! You are also fertilizing the same weeds that you are trying to kill with another run of chemicals.

Our MN Metro Lakes are so lucky, about as lucky as a turtle on it's back in the middle of the road...

[skibass]

It's the Metro Muskie Tournament organized by Paul Hartman. You can fish any of 16 lakes in the metro area. I fish Owasso because I keep my boat on a lift there. Lots of other lakes are probably better options but I don't like my chances any more on a different lake since I spend all year on Owasso.

You can still sign up at the Blaine Gander Mountain until Friday, June 8th.

It's a fun tourney, give it a shot if you have the day free on Saturday!

[jvm1]

Thansk Skibass, I sent you a PM with another question so I don't stay off topic.

[tunrevir]

Just an fyi to followup on my earlier post on this thread. Flake had sprayed early spring and right now the coontail and cabbage are excellent in those areas and is holding fish. Impact? Minimal to none as far as the fishing goes right now other then it is easier to run a crank along without hooking weeds so often.

Tunrevir~

[mallardnwalleye]

Just an fyi to followup on my earlier post on this thread. Flake had sprayed early spring and right now the coontail and cabbage are excellent in those areas and is holding fish. Impact? Minimal to none as far as the fishing goes right now other then it is easier to run a crank along without hooking weeds so often.

Tunrevir~

That may be the case with the early season curly leaf treatments-IT IS NOT THE CASE WITH MILLFOIL TREATMENTS-which are happening now and in the next month.

I have witnessed the millfoil treatments on White Bear and nothing grows back until the following spring in the majority of the areas treated. Spots that produced fish for years are nuked of weeds from July through February.If native plants and fish came back to those areas shortly after treating then I could see doing it. I don't see that with millfoil treatmenmts.

When I say they nuke large areas I think the map of treatments below speaks volumes:

This year a 25 % area increase of treatments is proposed.

How can you justify nuking this amount of weeds for 8 months out of the year and think it's ok? The stands are mostly all millfoil and the problem is natives don't grow back in the place of millfoil. If natives did grow back, I could see treating it and may even encourage it. What my own two eyes have seen are no weeds growing back through the winter and crummy fishing in these areas. The millfoil grows back the next year early spring and is treated again in June-July.

I don't really see the problem with milfoil on most lakes as only 1-10 acres mats up. I remember before millfoil was around that coontail was a problem. I and I am sure others on here remember pulling coontail off a prop or feeling it's roughness as you swam through mats of it close to the surface. Weeds are always going to get thick whether they are natives or "invasives". All weeds provide good fishing and shouldn't be treated in such vast quantities as it ruins a lot of good fishing.

Sorry for the rant but I don't see a lot of good coming from millfoil treatments as far as fisheries or fishing goes. I don't think a lot of people understand this except for local fishermen and some Muskie guys who by their nature are more serious and pay more attention to what is going on in the lake.