Thanks For Nothing

Well I guess it was just a matter of time.
https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/news/2021/09/01/zebra-mussel-larvae-confirmed-rainy-lake-st-louis-county

I agree it’s very disappointing to hear this. Unfortunately it was just a matter of time.
It’ll be interesting to see what happens. Can they cause clearer water in a naturally stained lake like Rainy?
Something tells me the national park service will go overboard when it comes to protecting the other lakes in the system. Prepare for the Gestapo at the landings requiring boat washing and all sorts of other ineffective measures. When Spiny Water Fleas showed up years ago they stopped all access to inland lakes within the park. We used to portage a canoe into a couple lakes to fish but can’t anymore.
I wonder how they’ll check the loons, gulls, and pelicans for AIS before landing?

grubson wrote:

it was just a matter of time

Yup. Agreed.
I don’t recall seeing a list of lakes demolished by them either.

I think you could start the list with Cass. It’s been about five years since I have been there. Fishing for walleyes during mornings or evenings is almost impossible.

I agree with the water birds spreading eggs and larvae lake to lake. When you watch grass go through a goose. It’s easy to see how larvae or eggs could be transported still fertile. In their digestive track or feathers. Much less plant seeds that come out pre fertilized. If you look close at aquatic weeds. They often have some sort of eggs or larvae on them. There is a natural migration of species. Dependent on temperature, salinity and a ton of factors. But man has sped up the process with things like overseas shipping freighters. On a bright note. They thought Gobies would be the end of the Great Lakes. Instead Small mouth records fell right and left. Zebs in the Mississippi cleared up the water. But play heck with water intakes and fishing line. Wonder if they affect tannic water differently than turbid water.

Maybe the DNR can develop something to keep the spread on the US side of Rainy only.

This was a waste of money from the get-go.

All this time and money being spent to try to prevent the spread should be used to develop something that takes care of the problem. There has to be some sort of chemical that can kill off the zebra muscles and not harm the rest of the aquatic life. They’re just not focusing on that. Instead they think it’s the fishermen transporting the invasive species.

And the bulk of invasive,s are a direct result of tankers dumping ballast water in the Great Lakes. Yet i really do not see any mitigation of that .

rjthehunter wrote:

All this time and money being spent to try to prevent the spread should be used to develop something that takes care of the problem. There has to be some sort of chemical that can kill off the zebra muscles and not harm the rest of the aquatic life. They’re just not focusing on that. Instead they think it’s the fishermen transporting the invasive species.

They’ve been experimenting with everything and the kitchen sink on Christmas Lake in the cities, still nothing, and in fact it got infected even after closing the public access I believe.

Personally, I try and do everything I can to not contribute to the spread of any AIS. However, I’m now old enough to remember when Purple Loosestrife was going to overrun the shorelines of every lake and river in the state, and seems like there’s a new “boogeyman” introduced every few years. The DNR then runs a marketing campaign straight from the book of Chicken Little, throws a ton of money at it with little to no impact, and nature does what it does best survive and evolve. As far as Zeebs in particular, they seem to really take off on algae filled lakes, which Rainy isn’t, and they hit a peak before leveling off at a much less intrusive level. And zeebs have seemingly benefited some lakes as well, like Erie.

Chicken Little seems go ask for more money that’s never ending.

Then when asked if a boat ramp is going to be fixed, cites “that money comes from boat registrations that hasn’t seen a fee increase since 2006 and it’s running in the red”.

I detect a little bitterness in my own post.

fishingstar wrote:

I think you could start the list with Cass. It’s been about five years since I have been there. Fishing for walleyes during mornings or evenings is almost impossible.

What do you mean by that? Are you saying you can only catch fish at night or?

They still hold some pretty big tournaments up there and as far as I know they are still catching lots of fish during the day. Is it that the lake is ruined or that you are not adapting to the conditions?

Man I remember when Eurasian milfoil was going to choke out all the lakes and it would be the end of fishing, boating and swimming…

Just another ploy to make work and the next big bad wolf that is going to ruin everything.

I will let you in on a little secret, in 10 years there will be something new that is going to ruin it all again.

mark-bruzek wrote:

Man I remember when Eurasian milfoil was going to choke out all the lakes and it would be the end of fishing, boating and swimming…

Just another ploy to make work and the next big bad wolf that is going to ruin everything.

I will let you in on a little secret, in 10 years there will be something new that is going to ruin it all again.

10 years we will all be dead from climate change, so it doesn’t matter anyways.

I wonder if this will affect the Kettle Falls boat portage. Hopefully not.

Joe Scegura wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>fishingstar wrote:</div>
I think you could start the list with Cass. It’s been about five years since I have been there. Fishing for walleyes during mornings or evenings is almost impossible.

What do you mean by that? Are you saying you can only catch fish at night or?

They still hold some pretty big tournaments up there and as far as I know they are still catching lots of fish during the day. Is it that the lake is ruined or that you are not adapting to the conditions?

The MWC is held there every fall and fish are caught. If you’re not catching fish then you’re not adapting. I know several guys who catch loads of fish in cass. Sure the clear water changed how they catch them, but it didn’t change the numbers!

rjthehunter wrote:

The MWC is held there every fall and fish are caught. If you’re not catching fish then you’re not adapting./quote]

Pretty much my exact words.