Fishing Forum

5 Utah lakes on watch list for invasive mussels
May 4th, 2009 @ 10:29am
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Five Utah lakes and reservoirs are on a watch list for invasive mussels. Test results for quagga and zebra mussels have been inconclusive at Lake Powell, Huntington North Reservoir, Joes Valley Reservoir, Midview Reservoir and Pelican Lake. The state's Electric Lake and Red Fleet Reservoir already have been found to harbor the mussels, which reproduce and spread rapidly, threatening food sources for fish and clogging machinery and water pipes. [#ff0000]Aquatic Invasive Species coordinator Larry Dalton says that recently at Flaming Gorge Reservoir a mechanic found a live zebra mussel on a boat. [/#ff0000]The boat was decontaminated with a power washer using 180-degree water and the boat owner agreed not to enter the water for five days. Dalton says that example shows efforts to keep contaminated boats out of state waters and to educate boaters are working. ------
Information from: The Salt Lake Tribune (Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

[url "http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=148&sid=6369289"]http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=148&sid=6369289[/url]
[signature]

I think more people need to inspect their boats and clean them.
[signature]

To be honest, I think this is a losing battle. How many of these lakes were already infected prior to the first results coming in? I would guess many. And how many lakes are already infected but have not been discovered as infected. Maybe we should spend the time and the money investing on how to deal with the problem as I feel efforts to prevent may just be delaying the inevitable for the majority of lakes. There are just to many selfish, lazy fishermen who don't care how there actions affect others. A few of them will slip in to every major lake and unless fish and game inspect and properly clean every boat bfore it gets in the water, there is no way to prevent zebra muscles from spreading.
[signature]

It will eventually end up like the plague. Give it time and all of our Utah waters will be ruined. Hopefully I'm wrong and it can be stopped.
[signature]

in the great lakes region we tryed to fight them for years its a losing battle..they just multiply to fast..but its not the end of your fishing days..there not destructive as they make them out to be..they have acctually resulted in alot cleaner watter for many places..and no proven bad effects on the fisheries..
[signature]

There is no proof that they have hurt any fishery any place that I have heard of yet...
[signature]

[unimpressed] Just my two cents, but I am worried about the muscles getting into any of the small lakes that are operated by the irrigation companies. As soon as they realize that that pipes are getting plugged they will drain the lakes every year and clean out the drains, it wouldn't surprise me to see them start closing these lakes to boats to try and prevent the problem to start with with. With that being said, we need to be diligent in cleaning our boats, and stay aware of the lakes that we boat in, the problem is, even with a good cleaning you can't clean inside the tubing on your trailer, so I see this spreading like the cancer over the next few years. Until then, I'll be really careful about which lakes I boat and fish at.
[signature]

I don't see how just cleaning boats and just talking about boats will stop them...

I read about people tubing E lake or fly fishing it, some may hit two or three other lakes or streams on the same day or weekend and none talk about cleaning there tubes or waders...
[signature]