Zebra Mussels on Mille Lacs

We have all heard that the Zeebs have hit Mille Lacs. Well I found that out personally to be true this weekend. I was fishing up by Fishers this weekend and caught a clam that had a Zeeb firmly attached to it. I took the Zeeb off and released the good clam back to do what clams do. The Zeeb met the fire pit!

I fished the same area on Saturday and around 5 found their way into my boat. It is scary to think how many are in there already when it only took a few hours to reel up that many.

I caught 7 that were each on separate pieces of rock/clam. What’s the limit and what are you supposed to do with them? I didn’t see in the DNR book how to dispose or if you’re suppose to dispose of them. I took them to the dumpster.

Billions of em in Erie and walleye fishing doesn’t seem to be all that bad out there. Could be the media needed something to scare us all now that the swine flu turned out to be much about nothing. Mayflies will probably do your fishing more harm.

From Wiki:

“In terms of reproduction, zebra mussels are among the most prolific of all animals. An adult female Zebra mussel may produce between 30,000 and 1 million eggs per year. Spawning usually begins in the months from late spring to early summer by free-swimming larvae (veligers).”

YIKES!

Have you ever heard a fisherman complain about Milfoil or Zebra mussels and for that matter any of the exotics? Sure, it would be nice if we could keep them from being transferred, but no matter how careful we all are, and how much money the DNR wastes on this,it is impossible to keep this from happening. I get a kick out of how they fine us for transporting a weed on our trailers, when they should be going after the shipping companies that brought this stuff over here for billions. Another funny fact is most of the people writing about this only sit and look at the lake they live or have a cabin on.

I was reading a newsletter my brother received from the lake association up by Baby Lake. The woman was writing about this very topic and after naming every exotic…..she would say “scary”. What is so scary about milfoil? The scary thing is if it does get in the lake, it does choke out the resident weeds, yes, but the scary thing is when the residents dump chemicals in the lake to kill the milfoil. That’s when it get’s scary to me.

Sorry for ranting!

How do you keep ducks, gulls, cormorants, pelicans and any number of water bird from transporting these exotics?

I have seen a number of ponds with milfoil that boats do not even go on! I think there is more to the transportation method than we think.

I found a zebra in my livewell on sunday morning… Will they crawl in there ? We only put 3 fish in the livewell saturday night… will they hitch a ride on an eye ??? It was dark…

We caught some clams with them attached on more than one occasion. Bummer

i have seen pictures of them on the internet but never seen one, how big are they and does anyone have a personal picture of one?

Here is what the DNR told me to do when I asked about disposal of them when we find them:

There are a number of ways to get rid of them. Easiest is to dump them
in the trash can (if there is one) when you get back to the access site.
If there is no trash can, drop them on the ground and step on them
(they make a satisfying crunch) right at the access site near the waters
edge, or toss them into any vegetation that may surround the access.
What you don’t want to do is take them with you when you leave the
access site – while no one thinks you are trying to keep them, it still
is technically a violation (unless you are taking them to a DNR office
for ID). Best and safest course of action would be to garbage can them
or crunch them on the ground. If someone was on a known infested water
and dropped them back over the side while angling, it is also not a
tragedy, as (for example in Mille Lacs) there are more than enough that
putting one back won’t impact that population. However, killing even
one or two is a nice satisfying feeling, even if it won’t affect the
population!

Big G, somehow I think they do attach themselves to fish somehow, I know fishing the St Croix we will find them in the livewell when we are done….

Weird ??? I am sure Brad put it in there….

big G

So, simply speculating, what can be done to stop the spread of these little beasts?? Nothing, basically is what I read. Mille Lacs is an already “gin” clear lake compared to what most of us fish. If the lake gets any clearer, will it pretty much turn the eyes into night only biters?? I know some lakes just north of there like Woman are primarily night bites.

What do the arm chair biologist think?

I wonder.

How would they fair on the mud flats? I heard a rumor that they may make rafts of suicide mussels laying the foundation on the flats, and others piling on them to create a reef of their own. We will have to wait and see. I think we will see native clams and snails be squeezed out.