[url "http://dwr.smugmug.com/gallery/6709454_Cefm8#437915882_TLmNM-A-LB"]http://dwr.smugmug.com/gallery/6709454_Cefm8#437915882_TLmNM-A-LB[/url]
The DWR will be doing some major weed control at Mantua this year.
I sure hope it helps the fishing and also helps the fish to grow bigger.
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Taking the weeds out of the lake will only help the fisherman not the fish, they have to have places to hide and eat...
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I personally like mantua the way it is. The weed growth keeps the wakeboarders and skiers away. If they reduce the weed growth, I can picture more people going there to play on the water.
Don't fix something that aint broke.
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A bad case of swimmers itch would keep most from coming back.
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yes the weeds give them plenty of places to hide in the summer, but in the winter those weeds break down and take the oxygen out of the water and kill alot of fish.
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I might be mistaken but don't plants produce oxygen? Seems like I heard that in biology, its been a while though. What is it about Mantua that grows so many weeds? Its the only northern water that does that I know of.
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Plants produce oxygen in sunlight. In darkness, under snow and ice, they break down and give off carbon dioxide which limits the oxygen in the water. That makes it difficult for the fish.
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It's the weed itself that causes it. It is milfoil. Don't know how it got in there, but is a perfect example of the problem with milfoil. It takes over all water less than 15 or so feet deep and grows all the way to the surface.
It is a segmented weed that when pulled at, seperates into several pieces and each piece can become a new plant. It does best on silty bottoms which it creates for itself each year as it dies off in the winter, kind of like a self perpetuating mulch pile.
I am really happy that they are trying to control it as it spreads very easily when stuck to boat trailers or anchors. It could devestate a place like Willard or UT lake if it got in there. Most other UT lakes have enough deep water that they would not be devestated by it's presence, only the shallows. The other thing that will control them in most UT lakes is the way the water is drawn down all summer. Mantua stays close to the same water level all year and so they are not dried out and exposed to the sun like they would be in other lakes.
So if you go to Mantua, like the Quagga Mussel, dry your boat off and pick the pieces off or your anchor, lines propellers and trailers. Also your tubes and boots. Lets keep it in Mantua.
[url "http://www.umext.maine.edu/onlinepubs/htmpubs/2531.htm"]http://www.umext.maine.edu/onlinepubs/htmpubs/2531.htm[/url]
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The weeds stay green all winter in the deeper water, so no fish die that way in there...
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All the other lakes drop more then 20' each year so no plant life gets a chance to grow...
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The things you learn! Thanks for the info guys!
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say goodbye to another bass lake just leave it up to the ones who know and we will all be fishing for slimers soon
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Agreed!!! What a stupid idea!!!!! Leave it ALONE!!!!
kill the grass kill the bass ... Its too bad that our bio logistts dont have any access to any other state and the problem with grass.. the harris chain in fla it went south for about ten years gunnersville.clear lake the masswive public onslaught in michigian[spelled it wrong] they all used herbicides to kill grass and saw the ramifications . Need a small taste .. utah lake.hyrum res, fish lake deer creek and just think we put the people in power who gave these people jobs kinda
huh man im sick of it,,
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I really agree with what scartinez said. Although there is a few boaters and skiiers out there now, imagin it if there was now worry about getting a rash from the moss.
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If anything Eurasian water milfoil is harming the bass fishery as is. The DWR is likely not attempting to eradicate it completely but instead create edges for predatory species like the largemouth bass to use.
Eurasian water milfoil is an opportunistic plant that grows rapidly and often forms very dense stands in the waters it inhabits. The dense stands cause many problems for both fish and people. Predator-prey relationships can be adversely affected by providing dense cover for prey fish, while blocking predator fish from entering the dense stands to pursue prey. In addition to changing the predator prey relationships, recreation for tourists can also be severely impacted when Eurasian water milfoil takes hold.
Besides, there's no way to treat an entire an body of water like this unless it is completely drained, frozen, dug up, have all the dirt removed, install a liner and treat with every herbicide you could ever imagine. This won't hurt the bass population one bit.
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ive watched alot of reely good bluegill lakes here in michigan get destroyed by the same weed killing proccess..it doesnt just hurt the bass population..weeds are cover and food for alot of fish...
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I am no biologist nor do I play one on the internet, but I think they need to thin out the weeds a little, but I also think they need to put a HP restriction on Manuta of like 25hp.
Matt
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Hear, hear!
That's about all they will ever be able to do. Thin them out like the carp in UT lake. That's the thing with invasive species.
I have delt with uarsion milfoil in several states as a person of intrest with a background n Fish and wildlife management. In my home state of NY, we battled milfoil with chemicals, matts, human harvesters and all to no avail. Thankfully most of the infected lakes are deep and rocky so the wed is limited by habitat. In some others, the shallow, furtile ones, the milfoil has become like Mantua and consist of massive thick weed beds along the shore to 5' depths and out to 12', and they grow.
We'll see what happens with Mantua, I don't think it will hurt it much, they can't afford enough chemicals (SONAR)to ruin that bluegill and bass factory.
Sonar; [url "http://www.lakegeorgeassociation.org/html/lga_press_release_milfoil_control_needs_sound_science.htm"]http://www.lakegeorgeassociation.org/html/lga_press_release_milfoil_control_needs_sound_science.htm[/url]
[url "http://www.springerlink.com/content/u374618162w2l256/"]http://www.springerlink.com/content/u374618162w2l256/[/url]
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