Grass (Conspiracy)??

[Slant8]

Very interesting thread for sure! While fishing today we were wondering if it was just "us" or where the heck is the grass??? We saw VERY little in one spot a few weeks ago and havent seen any since. Of course though we are out deeper now but...

Also someone above made a good point- some years there are acorns and some years there aren't. I hope this is the case with our grass.

 

[Hook1]

Lots of good points here and also some good logical thoughts. I hope it's just Mother Nature and the lake humbling me lol.

 

[Tn bullet]

How about TWRA and TVA chiming in on here and get the truth out I halfway beilieve Justin but not sold completely I agree it's behind and water temp and clarity has slowed it down! I also know for fact more than duck weed should be up say around Harrison islands my thoughts are my thoughts I believe tva has killed a lot I believe it is. Who do and also know that a few months ago there were tires with strobes on them all around the lake from Harrison to Soddy and prior to them I was finding green grass and now there is none not even any more dead grass????? I challenge TWRA AMD TVA to jump on here and tell the folks that keep this great fishery strong what the real deal is

 

[jb366]

Tn bullet - 7/25/2017 8:57 AM

How about TWRA and TVA chiming in on here and get the truth out I halfway beilieve Justin but not sold completely I agree it's behind and water temp and clarity has slowed it down! I also know for fact more than duck weed should be up say around Harrison islands my thoughts are my thoughts I believe tva has killed a lot I believe it is. Who do and also know that a few months ago there were tires with strobes on them all around the lake from Harrison to Soddy and prior to them I was finding green grass and now there is none not even any more dead grass????? I challenge TWRA AMD TVA to jump on here and tell the folks that keep this great fishery strong what the real deal is

Tva wouldl give the same answer as always, "we make power, we don't care about grass". Yet they recently had the big media circus field day on watts bar about the grass and one of their "biologist" even said that hydrilla keeps oxygen from dissolving in the water. If that were the case guntersville and every Florida lake would be devoid of fish. Twra may chime in but it will probably be something about how they're underfunded and can't do anything.

 

[elwestb]

quote ("biologist" even said that hydrilla keeps oxygen from dissolving in the water.)

I'm not a botany, biology, agronomist scientist by any means but as I remember from my biology classes many years ago green plants produce oxygen and use or burn carbon dioxide through photosynthesis!? But back to the grass issue. I agree with Churley and what he is trying to explain. For what it is worth this is my take on the issue. Last year we had drought conditions, high temperatures, and very little current. The clear water also allowed sunlight to penetrate deeper into the water and warm it faster. Aquatic vegetation also needs sunlight to grow. This year we have had much cooler temperatures all the way up until mid July. I have verified this with some other TVA employees that monitor the temperatures and current flow. The water temperatures alone have been more than two months behind that of last year. Now if you will remember back in March TVA also raised the water level almost to full summer pool for several weeks to repair a turbine up at Watts Bar Dam. The higher water levels was not good for the new sprouting grass by blocking the sunlight and basically drowning it. Then TVA dropped the water level back down and some of the shallower grass that had survived the higher water levels was now exposed, high and dry. We also had some very heavy rain fall during all those early weeks of this spring creating a lot more current. The current does not wash away the grass but as already stated it does cool the water and that stunts the grass growth. With all the extra rain fall we had it also stains or muddies up the water. Then the darker water also blocks the sunlight that heats the water and the sunlight that the grass needs to grow. That is why the back waters and sloughs are also void of grass where there is little or no current. All of this I can understand. What I do not understand is areas where grass was growing in late April and on into May that was healthy and thick is now gone!? I do not understand that at all and have no explanation? However I do not believe that TVA or TWRA is spraying the entire lake or river system. They may have been seen be spraying a swimming area, a marina or ramp but that is about all. I do not believe that man has had anything to do with the slow grass growth even though I have no explanation for the afore mentioned established grass that has disappeared. I still say this is all natural weather related variables working in combination that has caught us all off guard. Last year was a perfect year for the grass. This year we have had multiple events to cause problems for the grass. I believe that Mother Nature will catch up soon and correct things although this year may not be a very good year for the grass. But that is the way of science and nature's laws of checks and balances. Just my opinion fellows!

 

[Volfish]

Earl, Jeff Reed just posted someone rat fishing on Watts Bar. Also, the guides at Guntersville or talking about punching the grass. I think weather may have something to do with it but I think pellets may be being dropped. As you know Moses and I worked for TVA for years and we witnessed pellets being dropped in the middle of the river with no home or swimming areas within a mile. They claimed then, that they were only killing grass around swimming areas and docks. Something is going on other than weather but I do not know what it is.

 

[flipper]

Thanks Elwestb That's what I want to know to many thoughts on why it isn't growing.Can anyone give a good reason why grass in 8ft of water thick green an crunchy can turn black slimy and gone?

 

[WarEagleChatt]

I drove from Chattanooga to Decatur AL. Sunday. It's a drive I make many times a year for about 15 years now. Marion County Park area looked a little behind on their grass too. But, did see some topped out in the usual places. When I got to Stevenson, AL. Hwy 72, the grass was so matted on Crowe Creek it looked like you could walk across it. Then Mud Creek, it had some pretty good mats too. Looked normal for this time of the year. So, Guntersville Lake looked pretty normal for this time a year. Nickajack looks a little behind but nothing to be to concerned about yet.

But, Chickamauga looks like a different lake to me this year. I have lived by CFP for almost 10 yrs and I have never seen it look this way. I do agree the weather could cause some of it, but I don't buy that's the only reason.

I feel like I am experiencing dejavu. I grew up on Wheeler Lake and it was full of grass in the 80s/90s and anybody could go fishing and load the boat. Now, there is no sign of grass and fishing is very tough for the average angler. Hope this lake is not going to end up the same way.

 

[Tn bullet]

I'm thinking about starting a hydrilla store come pick it up and plant it where you want it and get it growing may be a market for all tva lakes lol

 

[tndoe270]

They raise and lower Chickamauga, nick and the Gunny have very little fluctuation in water level.

 

[HunterDuck25]

Tn bullet - 7/25/2017 6:35 PM

I'm thinking about starting a hydrilla store come pick it up and plant it where you want it and get it growing may be a market for all tva lakes lol

Start selling bags at every tournament filled with hydrilla, Florida fingerlings and fresh water prawns.

 

[FirstLight]

When I was a kid Dad and I fished the river channel edges next to the grass and caught a lot of bass on Chickamauga; then they killed it off and we did not catch bass on those edges. We adapted and still caught fish but not as easily. Back then they distiributed what looked like Hockey pucks that destroy the root system of the affected area for years. The affected area is surprisingly large.

I hope that it is Mother Nature; because if it's not, we will all have to adapt again....

 

[SlabDog]

If you read through this entire thread some say that grass was coming up earlier in the summer and that now it's gone. I fished some in the river flats between Harbor Lights and the nuke plant maybe 2 months ago and was getting some hydrilla on my spinnerbait quite often but it was very small in diameter, like maybe 1/2". Last time I was up there, maybe 2 weeks ago, I didn't even feel any. It's the people that said there was grass coming up earlier, then it was gone that makes me wonder. At any rate, time will tell.

 

[churly]

HunterDuck25 - 7/26/2017 1:05 AM

Tn bullet - 7/25/2017 6:35 PM

I'm thinking about starting a hydrilla store come pick it up and plant it where you want it and get it growing may be a market for all tva lakes lol

Start selling bags at every tournament filled with hydrilla, Florida fingerlings and fresh water prawns.

Highly illegal fellas

 

[Tn bullet]

You know I'm joking Justin but it would be a top seller right now

 

[Tn bullet]

Battle tva plant hydrilla

 

[Volfish]

My last post on this subject: Why is there grass at Watts Bar and Guntersville but not Chickamauga. Maybe the Grass Carp, that was sterile (that was not put in the Chick per TVA) is reproducing.

 

[Hook1]

Volfish - 7/26/2017 1:15 PM

My last post on this subject: Why is there grass at Watts Bar and Guntersville but not Chickamauga. Maybe the Grass Carp, that was sterile (that was not put in the Chick per TVA) is reproducing.

Interesting. Now that's an angle that no one else has taken. I'm still hoping that this is from natural causes.

 

[porthos33]

From what I heard today from peeps on the water is that they were doing some heavy spraying from Possum down. Weird they are spraying and the grass isn't even really there. Whats the point in spraying if there is no grass to spray??

 

[FirstLight]

It's a damn shame man. It is ill-advised; and where is the funding coming from. And why hit the main lake areas that do not interrupt recreation. Furthermore, those mainlake areas will keep the uneducated rec boaters from running a ground if the grass is matted up on the surface.

In the 80's there wasn't as big as a presence from fisherman to protest this. I would say that there is now....