First Post From Aqua Services, Inc., The Aquatic Herbicide Application Company

[troy goldsby]

The permits I have only allow spraying within 100' of fixed structures and some boat lanes. That doesn't constitute much area. I no of none that believe they own the water, they just want access.

Troy

 

[Harco]

Good point Justin. If he kills all the grass, he has no job security.

 

[troy goldsby]

Why should someone in Nashville or Paris have any say in the water access rights of a private land owner. Minimal spraying is going on, 100' from fixed structures.

Troy

 

[Superbad]

churly - 7/1/2011 4:29 PM

Guys keep the conversation civil and polite. Trust me I harbor the same ill will towards chemical treatment of aquatic grass, but if you take the time to listen to Troy he makes some great points, and actually makes me feel better about the situation. We need to keep Troy on board so we can get answers from the "horses mouth". As upset as we are, we have to stay cool. Lets dont run Troy off, he could be one of our greatest assets, and I am learning a lot from him. That being said, I firmly diapprove of herbicides being put into the lake.

Keep this in mind, he makes a living treating grass, so do you think he wants the grass to be eradicated from our water?......

I agree with you Churly. I'll have to admit, Troy has a sack on him for even bringing the matter up on here. I appreciate the information Troy, but I do not like the fact that herbicides are being placed in the water. I really want to believe that those that are spreading the herbicide are not trying to eraditcate ALL vegetation, but I'm skepitcal. I do believe, even though it may not sit well with others, that lakes that do have a LOT of vegetation have to be controlled, but not eradicated. Having said that, It should be controlled by means other than chemicals.

 

[Oldman]

i agree chemicals is not no good for any body.i believe if i was the one putting chemicals in the water i would try to tell every one how safe they were to.just makes good sense to do so.

 

[troy goldsby]

Eradication is not a term used in our profession. As you well know, the weeds have never been eradicated from Chickamauga, or they wouldn't be there now, and believe me that is not our goal. Also, there are no other means that are as effective, safe, cost or time efficient.

Troy

 

[troy goldsby]

As stated before, I do it because it is right. The correct method for the problem. And it is safe, that is not a line.

Troy

 

[churly]

Troy, do you think the application of the fluridone (sonar) was done iincorrectly in the late 80s? The reason I ask is because TVA sprayed and sprayed for years, but once sonar was used, this lake didn't grow so much as a blade of grass for 20 years.

 

[Hank's Dad]

From my post in the other thread on 6-12....
______________________
FWIW I know Troy and they have sprayed our family's pond for watershield lily twice. It did no harm to the fish nor to anything close to the lake like grape vines and fruit trees. Aqua Services is a very good company and they know what they're doing.

http://www.aquaservicesinc.com/

AND.... My mother would not have allowed the spraying if there would have been ANY CHANCE of harm to animals since there are several dogs on the property who are more important than some family members and that go in and out that pond all the time.
______________________________
And I'll add these points.... I understand everyone's concern and I believe in keeping as much grass as possible on the river system that will keep the fishing at it's best. But I know that fish in a pond have to be managed in order to have quality fish. I would assume grass would also have to be managed to some extent. And I just can't see Bill Dance having the relationship he has with Troy and his family and the family business if they did not have the best interest of the fish at heart.

I know the fish in our pond are doing well and they've taken the watershield lily out twice. The pond is around 50 years old and really needs to be completely remodeled but that just ain't in the budget at the moment since it's 8 acres and we want to expand it.

David.

 

[Dmountainmanb]

Troy just want to say thanks for being up front and willing to come on board . I hate to see the grass sprayed I fished back in the late 70's and 80's when we had the grass on Chick. It was a blast. It is like that again and Fishing is great again.I just hope the only areas effected are where you spray and it does not effect the main channels and areas not intended. I agree with Curly we need to keep Troy on board for answers at least he is man enough to start the conversation knowing it was going to be negative comments from almost everyone.

 

[SpurHunter]

Troy, I would imagine your self and your people are VERY educated when it comes to these chemicals. I assume most are college grads, even if not, it sounds like they are extensivly trained at teh least. I would also imagine that its very expensive to have a company like your spray, since educating your people is expensive right?

For the life of me I cant understand why mechanical methods would cost more, AND eliminate the addition of chemicals into the waters? Doesn't that sound like a better solution? Yes I know you make your living doing this, we have already established that, but if you care about all these things your talking about, its a hard sell to convince me otherwise.

And FYI, I am NOT a "bass-fisherman", so I have no motives of winning money with catching large bass to worry about. I do however use the waters for fishing and fun, and consumption in some way im sure. I guess im just one of those ignorant poeple you think just wont understand what you keep restating.

 

[Fishin Fool]

You keep saying this, but it doesn't make it any more true! I will repeat for you; in the 70's and late 80's we HAD the very mats you are talking about, with 20 times more weed on the lake than now. It was a total paradise to fish! So for my two cents, you can say all you want about how detrimental this is, but you need to ask someone that actually FISHED in that time period. Then ask that same person how fishing was a few years after the treatment of the "weed" problem in the lake. Saying a thing over and over doesn't make it true or a fact, being there and seeing it does. To coin a phrase "can't help it if you don't like it". I don't agree that you posting to this board has anything to do with concern over our feelings and attempting to reassure us. I think you are a salesman, plain and simple and you are trying your best to sell a product like they do on an infomercial. You probably aren't a bad guy at all, but you sure are trying to spin this issue. But I understand that. You make a living spraying chemicals into the water. I'll lay dollars to doughnuts that if you operated a dredging company you'd be in here bashing the companies that spray! As I said before, you were brave to post here, about a subject that we feel passionate about. Having said that, it doesn't make it any better if the guy breaking into your house says he'll only take a few things and leave the rest for you. (Another example Troy) We've all heard the line about how far the stuff drifts, what a small area you'll treat, how safe it is......all things designed to make us shut up and go away.

troy goldsby - 7/1/2011 4:58 PM

Dredging would work for awhile, but there again it is very expensive and Hydrilla has been found in water depths up to 30' deep. My family does swim in these waters and drinks from intakes that pull from the river all the time. I am not concerned. The products are safe. Also, believing that vegetation is only good is just a naive point of view. Topped out vegetation with massive amounts of coverage is extremely detrimental to fish populations. Those are the facts, can't help it if you don't like them. I said in the beginning I was here to state facts, that is all I have done. Can't say that for the majority of the rest of the posts.

Troy

 

[troy goldsby]

I can't speak to that. I don't know when or how it was applied, but I do know if used correctly, fluridone is a very effective and selective herbicide. Very good tool in the arsenal for selecting exotics and leaving natives in place. As for the 20 years with no vegetation, that would mean it was done in the late 70's, I don't believe that is correct. I have been treating aquatic vegetation on Chickamauga since the late 1990's. Hope that helps.

Troy

 

[troy goldsby]

David, thanks so much for the kind words. I really hope that you and yours are doing really well. And yes, you are correct, small impoundments can need intense fishery management if lunker bass are your goal. The bass harvest can really become a full time job. And to the vegetation management point, yes, vegetation absolutely needs to me managed as you saw in you lake. Tell everyone hello and y'all take care.

Troy

 

[troy goldsby]

Thanks so much and rest assured that we are bound by our permits and will only spray the areas around fixed structures and some boat lanes. All we are trying to accomplish is lake access for homeowners.

Troy

 

[troy goldsby]

Yes, we have several biologists and botanists on staff and we all stay up to date with the latest herbicide formulations. Continued education is an extremely important part of what we do. That is also one of the reasons that I formed the TRPOARMA. However, herbicides are not nearly as expensive as harvesting and harvesting kill thousands of fish. We used a harvester in the past but you are limited to certain water depths and it is much more labor intensive and time consuming. Not to mention the amount of repairs that are necessary to maintain a harvester. Those are the reasons for the inflated costs when harvesting. Needless to say, we no longer incorporate the use of harvesters. Again, as my earlier stats show, harvesters kill thousands of fish.

FYI, the weight of hydrilla in 1 acre, 8' deep is 40 metric tons. So, our clients, with about 1/2 acre, 4' deep have about 10 metric tons of hydrilla or around 20,000 lbs. We can spray that in about 5 minutes or a harvester can hours. The harvesting will be much less effective, need to be repeated more often, and will kill thousands of fish in the process. I did see a little personal harvester that will harvest 1,600 lbs. in 2 hours. By my calculations, it will take 25 hours to accomplish that removal with that equipment. As I stated, time consuming, and very costly.

Troy

 

[troy goldsby]

How many times do I have to say that we are not trying to eliminate the vegetation on Chickamauga? It appears that you are that just won't listen to the facts. We are only spraying private docks and boat lanes. I can't say it any other way. I am not trying to spin anything into fact. Facts are just facts and you just won't listen. I am not trying to sale anyone anything. I was asked to clear the air and bring facts to the table and that is all that I have done. Check my statements for yourself and I can assure you that if I am wrong on any of my points I will admit it. I am not ashamed to learn and try to educate myself on a daily basis. A good education from your posts is that some will never listen to facts. Everything else in your post is simply false assumptions accusations that I did not come here to contend with. I will answer any questions and Aqua Services, Inc. is the only company you will ever find that is as transparent as we are. We attend TDEC meetings, homeowners meetings, fishing association meetings, professional meetings, provide educational classes to Ag. Extension agents, etc. It is not just how I make a living, it is absolutely right and I will continue, and hopefully some will come away with a better understanding of the process and the facts.

Troy

 

[drumking]

Troy, I want to thank you for coming on here and trying at least to help us to understand what is going on with the spraying. You have been very patient in answering some of these concerns and it is apparent to me that many are not interested in what you are saying. They have their own preconceived ideas about it and nothing anyone can say is going to change their minds.

I am somewhat disappointed in the venom that some have spewed on here and I thank you Churly for pointed this out and trying to keep this discussion civil. If some of these guys were as passionate about keeping their bass alive during the myriad of tournaments that goes on on Chickamauga Lake as they are about keeping every single blade of grass alive that these fish live in, then maybe I would feel better.

Anyone concerned about water quality should be drinking distilled water or at least water that has been purified by reverse osmosis. Don't worry about the cost either. Seven gallons of distilled water is a whole lot less than 40 gallons of gasoline that run these big engines that are powering these big boats.

But back to the original thread. Again, I want to thank you for the information that you have shared. It takes a lot of courage to post all this info and open yourself up to a lot of attack. Just let all the venom just run off your back. Don't take it personally. They are probably madder at me now than they are at you, but I don't care. emoBigsmile emoGeezer

 

[troy goldsby]

Drumking,

Thanks a million for the kind words and good post. Believe me when I say that I am accustomed to the attacks and I do try to let them roll off. Your post was great and I hope that we can keep the dialogue going. It is extremely important to make sure that we get the truth out and keep it in the open. Please let me know if you have any questions or if there are any meetings in which I can be of assistance. Thanks again.

Troy

 

[DaytonBoatDock]

I have a couple of questions on this. Are you the only company spraying on the lake? And also how many places would you say have been sprayed above the Hiwasse?