Ottertail Lake Walleyes -vs- Zebra Mussels

[CCGinMN]

Right now there is a proposal to dump excess water from Little McDonald (infested with zebs) into the Ottertail River above Ottertail and Rush lakes (See Senate bill #485 and House bill #563). The proposal puts a filter on the discharge to stop the spread of Zebra Mussels. This filter system has never been done before. My questions are:

1. Do you think this filter will stop the Zebra Mussels?

2. What kind of impact will zebra mussels have on Ottertail's walleye population? Will it be similar to what happened to Mille Lacs?

3. What happens to the filter if it tears, breaks, or the water creates an aquifer to travel around it (undermines it similar to what happens to storm sewer systems)? Or if there is human error (cross contamination while changing the filter)?

4. What happens to the drainage ditch during a 100 year rain event? Will the water bypass the filter?

5. Who is liable when Ottertail is infected with zebs? What are the consequences? The guy that transported a boatlift into Rose lake, infecting it, only received a $1,000 fine. If this is the case, is it really that big of a deal?

I want to hear your opinions on this, please let me know your thoughts!!

[JBMasterAngler]

Consider it infected!

[CCGinMN]

For those of you that need to be caught up to speed, here is the latest version of the plan:

http://www.lmkp-lid.com/venting/

I can't believe more people aren't commenting on this plan. Are we really that apathetic? The lakes that will be affected are Little Pine, Big Pine, Rush, Ottertail, and all other lakes downstream on the Ottertail River.

[CCGinMN]

The Little McDonald/Paul Lake Association is having an informational meeting on March 21st to discuss the plan. I wish I could attend but my kindergartner just qualified for Regions in wrestling which happen to fall on the 21st.

If you are interested in attending the meeting, please contact Roger Neitcke, [email protected] He is a representative from the Little McDonald/Paul Lake Association and will provide you with further details.

[CCGinMN]

The meeting will be at 9:30 am on Sat., March 21st at the Perham Area Community Center. Please attend if you have any concerns with this plan.

[CCGinMN]

The meeting will be at 9:30 am on Sat., March 21st at the Perham Area Community Center. Please attend if you have any concerns with this plan.

The DNR just informed me that they are now taking public comments. Anyone interested in providing feeback should email the RGU (Responsible Government Unit) who is:

Gill Kalar

[email protected]

Please pass this information on to anyone who is concerned about this project!!

[ClownColor]

I'd consider it infested too if it goes thru.

Regarding the walleye status once zebs make their way into the lake...well, hard to say. Many great waleye fisheries have zebs. One big issue is how you fish them. Zebs clean up a lake very well making water clarity extremely clear and walleys to change their eating behaviors...deeper and darker bites.

[Stick500]

has it ever been shown that the Zebra infestation in Mille Lacs is in fact responsible for the troubles there now, or is it something else?

[JohnMickish]

Zebra mussels filter zooplankton out of the water. This is not speculation it is fact. How that is going to affect the lake varies from Lake to Lake. What does happen is water gets clear and bait fish suffer to find food. If the lake has a forage base that does not rely on zooplankton then not much will happen other than the water getting clearer and weeds growing deeper. Zebras change a lake.