Saw this posted on the shores of leech lake facebook page.
“People who know and love Leech Lake may find this interesting. This is an article I just submitted to the Walker Pilot:
Zebra Mussels in Leech Lake
An Update
My wife and I own Shores of Leech Lake, a resort and boat harbor on the west side of Walker Bay. We lift boats in and out of Leech with a crane. These are larger or deeper draft boats that have difficulty at a boat ramp. These are boats that seldom move between lakes. Boats from many locations around Leech lift in and out at our harbor.
This fall we lifted a sailboat that had Zebra Mussels on it. We collected some of the Mussels and called the DNR fisheries. From my interactions with Carl Pedersen, Large Lake Specialist, Walker Area Fisheries, I’ve learned that our finding of Zebra Mussels was, to date, the one and only reported finding of hard-shell Zebra Mussels in Leech. Late this fall, several folks searched for Zebras, including a search of the area where the infested sailboat was moored. None found. And, none of the DNR zooplankton samples taken from Leech in 2017 contained Zebra Mussel veligers.
It’s a strange story; that a couple of zooplankton samples collected in 2016 contained Zebra Mussel veligers, yet none of the 2017 samples did. It is strange that one boat lifted out of Leech this fall had live Zebra Mussels attached, but no others could be found around the lake or even at the location the boat had been moored.
Carl Pedersen said, “in the initial stages of infestation, Zebras can be hard to find.” Still, this is an interesting and somewhat puzzling story.
There is reason to remain vigilant regarding the spread of Zebra Mussels into Leech Lake. Plus, the vast majority of lakes in Minnesota do not have Zebra Mussels. I share the DNR’s concern that, as Zebra Mussels spread, the users of our lakes will become lax in their efforts to prevent the further spread of invasive species.
Upon our finding of the Zebra Mussels, I was disappointed and shared widely the news; we had lifted a boat with Zebra Mussels on it. This was the one and only reported finding of hard-shell Zebras and no veligers were found in Leech Lake in 2017. People care about Leech Lake. I felt a need to share this update regarding Zebra Mussels in Leech Lake.
Thank you to Carl Pedersen, Walker Area Fisheries for information contained herein.
Mitch Loomis”
I have to believe the zeebs are in there somewhere. Maybe the lake has a few more years before they explode.
