Zebra Mussels found in Mille Lacs

[irvingdog]

And who is to blame???????

I doubt it's the wave runner crowd. And jet skiers tend to stay to one lake.

Nope. It's us. the lake hoppers. and we gush about how much we love the outdoors. Our passion. why is there rage at the boat launch over not being able to get onto the water quick enough, but we never hear about someone being liberated from their bicuspids because someone saw water pouring from their livewell as they left that same launch.

and don't get me started about millifoil.

[JohnMickish]

Do you think it was the fishing crowd or the pleasure boat croud? It's hard to say as both go to the rivers and lakes where this thing is.

On the milfoil, I was talking to a DNR person at a boat launch getting checked/educated this year and was told that about 99% of the milfoil spread comes from migratory birds. The DNR asks for our help because it's easier to watch what we do than crawl up a goose's butt to see what seeds he's hiding.

[irvingdog]

The point of millifoil transmition is amazing. I guess I'd never heard of that before.

[Guest]

All everyone can do,is make sure your livewells are drained and cleaned,trailer and lower units,and trolling motor cleaned.If we all do this, it can only help,but might not cure it all.Always easy to blame someone else,yet that doesnt fix the mess.

[Lunker]

Doesn't really matter who it was at this point, cause now it's too late. It's unfortunate to see it happen. cause the more lakes that get it the more spread it will get. Wonder how long before we see it affect the fishery considerably. 3 years? More?

[Captain B.R.K]

I put this in the Mille Lac's forum last night......what a shame to hear about these mussels's in Mille Lac's. They say they have only found 2 mussel's from their dives, but that was in only 2 locations. What about the rest of the lake?!?!

This is the last thing the DNR needs to worry about on Mille Lac's. As if watching the quota's and dealing with all the other issues up there wasn't enough

[ricqik]

Just this past month while fishing the St. Croix at Hudson I snagged a clam that had 5 zebra mussels atached to it. How do I know they're zebras? The tell tail signs of the hair strands that it uses to attach with and I've seen them before everytime I go up to Superior. First time I've seen it on the Croix.

[Lunker]

I was reading some info on the croix mussels, and for some reason they seem to be having trouble spreading upstream compared to other waterways. They're not sure why, but figure it's just a matter of time.

And what was the deal with the locals up on mille lacs. They quoted McQuoid in the paper, saying, it's no beig deal, they only found two, with luck they won;t hurt us. I'm sorry, but this has to be about the most ignorant approach I have ever seen. Somebody needs to tell them what these things can do to a waterway.

[beer batter]

What are the adverse effects to zebra mussels being introduced to a water system? I've heard they attach themselves to boats and clams but what harm to they do to the natural eco-system of the water they're introduced to?

[Dan Thiem]

We got them pretty bad in the Zumbro river and in Lake Zumbro. Each winter they lower the level of the lake at the dam to kill them. The shore line along the rocks is thick with dead ones. Piles of them.

But do they actually filter and clean the water? I think so, maybe a little.

Also there has been times on pool 4 where I have had to strip them off the anchor rope.

[Northland Sportsman]

I beleive that at least part of the problem is that they out compete native species and displace them eventuly. Being non-native they do not have the same predators or fill the same niche in the ecosystem but displace native species which causes a problem in the entire system. I think someone with a bit more knowledge can elaborate but that is what I think the biggest problem is.

[JohnMickish]

Zebra mussels filter out all of the zoo plankton, thus the little fish have nothing to eat and die off, then the bigger fish cant eat the litle fish and so on up the food chain.

I don't know exactly how they filter out all of the stuff but the Erie Canal used to be a great fishery, stained water and all. Now it's gin clear and no fish. I mean nothing grows there but that green slime that covers the rocks, and if it's not covered in slime it's covered in mussels. Sad.

[anchor man]

Besides throwing off the balance of the water itself, they can also cluster up so bad that they'll clog up intakes for boats that spend long periods of time docked in the water. Those are somewhat extreme cases, but definitely problems faced in infested waters.

[sakazulu]

I too heard this from the "Lake Dectective" on GL! What a shame! This has the potential to completely change a state landmark and treasure in so many ways it boggles the mind. It will be interesting to see if this unique body of water has some "secret" that may lead to controlling one of the plagues we have to deal with as people who love fishing. Keep your fingers crossed!