Fishin Fool
Well-known member
Well I hate to whip a dead horse to death but here goes. I began fishing the chick back in the Mid to late 60's when I was just a kid with my dad and my uncle. I have been on the water now for over 40 years and have seen many changes, some good and some bad. By FAR the worst thing I have ever seen happen to the lake was the use of weed killers on milfoil and vegetation.
The milfoil that everyone has been speaking of as an "invasive" species is, if I am not mistaken, eurasian milfoil. It migrated to our water in the early 70's and with it's advent we began to see bass fishing, crappie fishing and bream fishing EXPLODE. It was NOTHING in 1978 or therebouts to go and catch 40 or 50 bass in a 3 hour trip. Keeper bass being a huge portion of them. Harvesting of fish was up too. Many people fished from the banks and took home loads of fish. You could go to any place the milfoil was located and toss a spinner bait in and literally watch the wake from numerous fish closing in on it. I did it hundreds of times. I can't tell you how many times I brought up trophy bass from out of those weeds. The milfoil would grow up to the top in water around 5 to 6 feet deep and "mat". All you had to do was toss around those mats. The milfoil gave a clear indication of where the shallow water was, you didn't even need a finder. In the fall the dead weeds gave cover to bass and I caught a ton of crappie out of it. In a word it was fishing heaven! I don't know the exact year that TVA did what they did, but I do recall the effect. The lake simply died. Crappie were as scarce as hens teeth. Bass began to disappear. Our famous fishery had all but died. But hey, the pleasure boaters and dock owners were happy! In about 1985 I gave up fishing in disgust. I'm sure Fat Albert can relate. In remembering all this I have a couple of points and then I'll shut up.
1. I've heard folks talking about milfoil as an invasive non-native species. I would agree. But when does it become "native"? Ginko trees were imported here and are now considered common. Many types of grasses are the same way. Same with apple trees and fruit trees. How the heck do people think things spread out over the world? The islands in Hawaii had NO vegetation at all when they were created. ANYTHING and I do mean anything that came there had to be carried in on birds, fish, washed ashore, by boat, or by man. But as some point some of these things had to become native didn't they? Milfoil is here and here and I hope, to stay. In another 20 or 30 years I don't think they'll be this high minded debate about whether it is native or not, it is just here. In most ways this is the way that good things and some bad things spread. Milfoil, I believe, is a good thing for fisheries. Before anyone says it I understand about snake heads, zebra mussles and all that. Some things are good, some are bad. We just have to sort them out.
2. The biggest gripe about water weeds and milfoil comes from dock owners and pleasure boaters. Milfoil and weeds do not grow in deep waters so the pleasure boaters should not have an issue as long as they are out of fishing areas. Jet ski folks hated it because they couldn't ride close to the banks. Too bad. The dock owners I can understand to SOME degree but several members of my family had and do have docks. We never had much of an issue with milfoil. If you build on the water you must expect to endure water weeds and bass fishermen. Wormhook is on the mark when he speaks of folks here not caring one bit about fishermen. 85% of the docks have pleasure boats tied to them, not bass or fishing boats. I don't want to make this an "us or them" argument but we have to wake up. People with lakefront property usually have a little cash. Cash talks when it comes to policy. We need to make our voices heard when we see the air boats on the lake or copters in the air. My stance is simple; if you have a dock and milfoil becomes an issue, don't advocate killing all the weeds in the lake. There has to be a middle ground here but I can't help thinking about the folks in Birchwood where I grew up. They put in these huge luxury sub divisions in a cow pasture and then the yuppies that move in complain about the smell of manure!!!!! Don't live there if you don't like to see cows and can't endure the smell of manure. It is part of living in the country, a location YOU chose. Many of the folks that buy lake front property have a mistaken idea that when they bought it, they bought the water in front of it to. I'll never forget my Jet ski incident where the woman told me I was trespassing, as I sat in the water in front of her HUGE, HUGE dock that she had built into the public lake. Many folks have that mentality. (No Polo I don't mean you! emoSmile)
3. Finally I think the growth of milfoil enhances fisheries. I know that Carl has issues with it and I respect that, but in all the research that I have seen, milfoil and weed growth is an asset with limited growth control. I understand the debate about it killing native plants. Sometimes it does and sometimes it won't. I DO know that sonar and the like kills EVERYTHING. The bottom of the lake is like a desert for years. Grass along the shore line dies. Plus, what the heck does it do to the fish? Would you like to eat fish dipped in sonar or any weed killer? Sure they say it is safe, but they said that about cigarettes also. And numerous drugs. And agent orange. I could go on and on. Let's be on guard, observe, fish, stay informed, and fight the weed killers.
The milfoil that everyone has been speaking of as an "invasive" species is, if I am not mistaken, eurasian milfoil. It migrated to our water in the early 70's and with it's advent we began to see bass fishing, crappie fishing and bream fishing EXPLODE. It was NOTHING in 1978 or therebouts to go and catch 40 or 50 bass in a 3 hour trip. Keeper bass being a huge portion of them. Harvesting of fish was up too. Many people fished from the banks and took home loads of fish. You could go to any place the milfoil was located and toss a spinner bait in and literally watch the wake from numerous fish closing in on it. I did it hundreds of times. I can't tell you how many times I brought up trophy bass from out of those weeds. The milfoil would grow up to the top in water around 5 to 6 feet deep and "mat". All you had to do was toss around those mats. The milfoil gave a clear indication of where the shallow water was, you didn't even need a finder. In the fall the dead weeds gave cover to bass and I caught a ton of crappie out of it. In a word it was fishing heaven! I don't know the exact year that TVA did what they did, but I do recall the effect. The lake simply died. Crappie were as scarce as hens teeth. Bass began to disappear. Our famous fishery had all but died. But hey, the pleasure boaters and dock owners were happy! In about 1985 I gave up fishing in disgust. I'm sure Fat Albert can relate. In remembering all this I have a couple of points and then I'll shut up.
1. I've heard folks talking about milfoil as an invasive non-native species. I would agree. But when does it become "native"? Ginko trees were imported here and are now considered common. Many types of grasses are the same way. Same with apple trees and fruit trees. How the heck do people think things spread out over the world? The islands in Hawaii had NO vegetation at all when they were created. ANYTHING and I do mean anything that came there had to be carried in on birds, fish, washed ashore, by boat, or by man. But as some point some of these things had to become native didn't they? Milfoil is here and here and I hope, to stay. In another 20 or 30 years I don't think they'll be this high minded debate about whether it is native or not, it is just here. In most ways this is the way that good things and some bad things spread. Milfoil, I believe, is a good thing for fisheries. Before anyone says it I understand about snake heads, zebra mussles and all that. Some things are good, some are bad. We just have to sort them out.
2. The biggest gripe about water weeds and milfoil comes from dock owners and pleasure boaters. Milfoil and weeds do not grow in deep waters so the pleasure boaters should not have an issue as long as they are out of fishing areas. Jet ski folks hated it because they couldn't ride close to the banks. Too bad. The dock owners I can understand to SOME degree but several members of my family had and do have docks. We never had much of an issue with milfoil. If you build on the water you must expect to endure water weeds and bass fishermen. Wormhook is on the mark when he speaks of folks here not caring one bit about fishermen. 85% of the docks have pleasure boats tied to them, not bass or fishing boats. I don't want to make this an "us or them" argument but we have to wake up. People with lakefront property usually have a little cash. Cash talks when it comes to policy. We need to make our voices heard when we see the air boats on the lake or copters in the air. My stance is simple; if you have a dock and milfoil becomes an issue, don't advocate killing all the weeds in the lake. There has to be a middle ground here but I can't help thinking about the folks in Birchwood where I grew up. They put in these huge luxury sub divisions in a cow pasture and then the yuppies that move in complain about the smell of manure!!!!! Don't live there if you don't like to see cows and can't endure the smell of manure. It is part of living in the country, a location YOU chose. Many of the folks that buy lake front property have a mistaken idea that when they bought it, they bought the water in front of it to. I'll never forget my Jet ski incident where the woman told me I was trespassing, as I sat in the water in front of her HUGE, HUGE dock that she had built into the public lake. Many folks have that mentality. (No Polo I don't mean you! emoSmile)
3. Finally I think the growth of milfoil enhances fisheries. I know that Carl has issues with it and I respect that, but in all the research that I have seen, milfoil and weed growth is an asset with limited growth control. I understand the debate about it killing native plants. Sometimes it does and sometimes it won't. I DO know that sonar and the like kills EVERYTHING. The bottom of the lake is like a desert for years. Grass along the shore line dies. Plus, what the heck does it do to the fish? Would you like to eat fish dipped in sonar or any weed killer? Sure they say it is safe, but they said that about cigarettes also. And numerous drugs. And agent orange. I could go on and on. Let's be on guard, observe, fish, stay informed, and fight the weed killers.
