Grass

[jon the fisherman]

There is rumers floating around around that TWRA and TVA are going to reintroduce grass to the lakes up here. I have heard that Cherokee,Douglas, Norris, and Watts Bar mey be on the list. Don't know if it is true or not. I have heard they are doing it to create better habitat, and raise water quality.....seems it could save the state a ton of money in hatchery costs, since recruitment would be a lot better.

 

[fishinvol]

What kind of grass would they put in there? I know Dale Hollow has a few differant species that are way differant than what we have around here.

 

[jon the fisherman]

I have heard it is hydrilla, but I thought we were too far north for that. I would imagine it is milfoil like the kind on Chillhowee. It grows kind of sparse, and is a broader stem and leaf.

 

[Guest]

I would like to hear how grass raises water quality, just curious as it seems to me like it would just cause more wq problems during the fall when grass is dying off (and water levels are dropping).

 

[Nickajack Angler]

Eurasian Millfoil is a great resource for forage and you can fish it hard! It's a different gig, but it will increase the health of the fishery in what I've seen. You can sit and jig it, worm it, float top water over it. Fluke it. Fish love it. And yes, it would obviously create a cleaner water all the way down the line. Sounds like a good idea, I just hate it when the fertilizers can spike from year to year and make it uncomfortable at times. The die off in the end of the season can be a bit messy, but you adapt. It's a trade off for quality fishing and quality fish.

 

[fish4thepeck]

Think of it as a big filtering system.

 

[jon the fisherman]

R14 - 1/19/2008 10:12 PM

I would like to hear how grass raises water quality, just curious as it seems to me like it would just cause more wq problems during the fall when grass is dying off (and water levels are dropping).

With all the PCBs and heavy metals in the lakes around here, I don't believe it could hurt it any worse.

 

[fishinvol]

I think the grass would be a huge help in filtering the lake! Hope it happens!

 

[SNUFFY]

It`s gonna be impossible to keep milfoil or Hydrilla going with 20-50 foot fluctuations on Norris, Cherokee, Douglas.
I believe they are still talking about a test plot of something that will live and grow when there is no water on it and still survive being covered with water for 6 months ....kinda like a shrub or something. Mostly for use on large fluctuation lakes.
I don`t remember the exact details but I think its a collaboration with a grant from the Feds and TWRA. The TBF Conservation Director was telling us about it at a club meeting last year .

 

[team-d]

Bring it on PLEASE!

Agree that milfoil would have a tough time on the storage lakes with big fluctuations, but it would be the ticket on Watts Bar!

 

[SNUFFY]

Team-D There used to be a ton of it in Loudon , Tellico, WB and Melton Hill too. There are viscous rumors they won`t let it come back on WB because it will pick up the nasty stuff in the lake bottom and put it back in the life cycle....

 

[B-Pro]

I'm not real sure what type of grass it is, but they have been testing it out up in west virginia. The grass will be able to handle the draw downs. They are go to try it out on Cherokee, Norris, and Douglas first and if it work they will other lake later.

 

[jon the fisherman]

It was nice talking with you yesterday Victor, we need to hook up and do some fishing.

I am glad I am not the only one to hear this. We need some kind of vegetation in the lakes around here. Our lakes are getting old, and most of the wood has rotted away, or silted over. I did not think it was eurasion milfoil they were talking about, and hydrilla is more in the warmer areas. Any of it would be welcomed.

As for Watts Bar, I wouldn't think that heavy metals would be pucked up by the plants, but I guess it could.

 

[team-d]

Would love to see it come back in all of those lakes. Found a little bit of milfoil in Ft Loudon 2 summers ago and it did hold some decent fish - it never really showed up this past summer though. Loudon/Tellico and Melton Hill could definitely use the grass, the bass fisheries are marginal in my opinion. I understand that Melton Hill also had a good Pike population before the all the grass was killed.

That's interesting about this new grass that can handle the drawdowns, hope it works!

 

[fishinvol]

Not sure what kind of grass grows in dale Hollow ( very deep lake) , but I know I've seen it growing in 30 foot of water and be very near the top of the lake. It may be coon tail. Really cool stuff.

 

[Guest]

milfoil is an exotic, TVA is NOT bring it back

 

[Guest]

I could see where they would try and bring in native grasses such as coontail.