Western Lakes and the quagga mussel problem

2

270Wakeboarder

New Member
Dec 1, 2007
53
Las Vegas Nevada
Ok folks I'm freaking out over here.:smt100 I am hearing horror storys about these mussels.:smt013 I boat on Lake Mead, This year I'm thinking of keeping my slip but pulling the boat once a month for a good washing, then letting it dry out for 5 days in 100+ heat before putting it back in. The idea is to not let those little buggers get a good foot hold.
With that being said what do you guys who have experience around these mussels think?:thumbsup:

Please help me understand if this is a big a deal as I'm thinking it could be.

I've even heard rumors that California doesn't want any Nevada boats going there!

Ok I'll stop ranting chime in fellas.
Bob
 
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Information has been floating around for the past 6 months concerning quagga mussels at Lake Pleasant, just North of Phoenix. I definitely share in your concerns. My less than informed opinion is that if you are diligent, check your boat once in a while and identify any potential issues before they get out of hand, you will be just fine. It sounds like you already have a substantial game plan in mind. I’ve got bottom paint so my hope is that if they do present themselves, they won’t be a major issue, but I guess bottom paint doesn’t take care of the out drive, thru-hulls, etc.

Regards,
Chris
 
270Wakeboarder said:
Ok folks I'm freaking out over here.:smt100 I am hearing horror storys about these mussels.:smt013 I boat on Lake Mead, This year I'm thinking of keeping my slip but pulling the boat once a month for a good washing, then letting it dry out for 5 days in 100+ heat before putting it back in. The idea is to not let those little buggers get a good foot hold.
With that being said what do you guys who have experience around these mussels think?:thumbsup:

Please help me understand if this is a big a deal as I'm thinking it could be.

I've even heard rumors that California doesn't want any Nevada boats going there!

Ok I'll stop ranting chime in fellas.
Bob
Click to expand...


if california dosnt want any nevada boats it must be to keep them in california
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/01/25/BAFGUL768.DTL&hw=quagga&sn=001&sc=1000
 
Wow I had no idea they were in California already. It looks like boaters might be stuck boating in their home lake only with all these restrictions going into effect.
I have heard and the article states the mussels will not survive in salt water. If that is so I guess the ocean is still safe to go into? Am I right?

Bob
 
i think you run a higher risk leaving your boat in a slip
if you dry store then they dont have the time window to find and attach to your boat and if your boat is out of the water for 2 weeks(not sure thats the correct period of time)your boat is drying and they are hopefuly dieing.

here is a good link for any one intrested you must answer the questions to adavance

http://www.100thmeridian.org/certificate.asp
 
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I boat at Lake Powell and when you enter the park they ask you where your boat has been in the last 30 days. If it has been anywhere besides Lake Powell they will make you take it to the decontamnination station. They wash below the water line with 180 degree water. I think it cost you 50$ an hour but on avrage it only takes them about 30 min. to wash the boat. Unfortunately im sure some poeple will lie to get in and not have to pay the extra money.
I know they found larva from the mussel last year. I havnt heard any thing else sence then. Im up in colorado right now and I was reading an articale that they found them on Pueblo lake. So they are spreading and it is up to the boaters to keep them from spreading to other lakes.
 
I don't know if it is the same mussel.. but they are showing up in our lakes now as well. I decided to slip this year but I did get a lift. Hopefully I won't have any issues.
 
if you are planing a trip to powell and havent been there or been there in awhile this is a good sight form the national park service. you can down load the proper certification paper, what you will need to fill it out and you will need this to bring your boat on to powell
this will save you a little time when you get there

http://www.nps.gov/glca/upload/20080304%20self%20certification%20packet.pdf
 
not sure cleaning up after salt water would be any easer but would be a thought if more lakes close.
it'll be interesting to see how this plays out. this must be a private lake. all the reservoires around here are BOR and i'm thinking it would be harder for them to close.
 
Here is my experience for what it is worth. We have a small cousin of the quagga known as the zebra mussel. Zebras are the size of your thumb nail and quagga are two times that. We've had both for maybe 10 years. Zebras prefer moving water and structures. Quagga prefer sandy bottoms. There were forecasts of major devestation when these invasive species arrived in the bilges of ships from Europe and the ships pumped their ballasts into the Great Lakes.

Long story short. This has not been a huge deal. Water plants have figured out how to keep intakes open and not clogged. Boats that are run once a week to full operating temps kill the mussels before they get big enough to clog your cooling systems. They do not like bottom paint so anything that is painted is not affected. If anything you might see three or four on the lee side of a trim tab. We water our lawn from water taken right out of the lake. Since wrapping my well point in copper screen, I've not had any attachements to that and only a few attached to our dock. The population of mussels grows rapidly when first intoduced into a lake. It feeds by filtering plankton and algae from the water. The water becomes clearer. When this happens the population crashes until equilibrium with the food supply is achieved. When our population reached its highest level you would see shells all over the concrete where boats were being pulled and power washed. Boats without bottom paint were covered with them. Today you see no shells at the pull out areas, very few on boats that are used, and we have had no shells on our boat for the past 3-4 years. In fact, we don't even think of them as a problem. I understand that the bait fish are somewhat compromised by the reduction in their food supplies and this affects salmon and lake trout fishing. But even that seems to be not much of an issue in this part of Lake Michigan. Sorry for the long post. Hope it provides some first hand insight.
 
sbw1,

Well said!

If I can coraborate your story, Lake St. Clair/Detroit river have actually benefitted from the zebra mussels in the long term. Water went from green to a more blueish tone. nautural bait fish now replaced (exaggeration) by Gobi (from ship ballast).

Fishery is now wonderful.
 
thanks guys. the first we heard about them was down at lake powell.
i have wondered why if they were such a problem in the great lakes why we didnt hear more about them but never took the time to look into it for what ever reason.
nice to hear something besides dome and gloom
 
the chicken littles have been quiet on this one. They've moved on to "Global Warming", which I guess is now being proved as a fallacy!? appears that the planet has been cooling over the past decade (WTF).
 
Let me second the thanks for the posts:smt038 after a couple of days to think this through I am a little less upset than I was a couple of days ago when I started this thread.:smt101.

I stopped at MM today and was told that Lake Mead now has some wash stations like we were told about earlier on Lake Powell. You pay a few bucks to have your boat sprayed down with HOT water and receive a certificate stating that your boat is clean.

I also heard the other day that global cooling has started:grin:.
 
I am no expert but they had a article in the RJ this past week. I think it was Mondays paper but not sure. I have my boat in a slip and will take extra steps to keep it clean but the last thing you want is for those critters to dry out on your boat then they are twice as hard to get off. It seems like Caulville bay has a bigger problem for now. I now someone who works for the water co. and they are worried about the intakes so depth is not a deterrent and there is till debates with experts on how to control them. So good luck.
 
The Western lakes have better growing conditions so they multiply like at twice the rate in the warmer calcium enriched waters like in meade & Powell so they grow a lot slower in the Great Lakes.
 
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