Zebra Mussels

yachtmaster

New Member
Mar 1, 2008
22
Lake of the Ozarks
Boat Info
2008 Sea Ray 340 SDA
Engines
V drives
Just received our monthly news letter from our condo association that stated zebra mussels have been found on our property in the Lake of the Ozarks.

My 340SDA is in the water year round and I am concerned. I am being told a lift is not an option on our dock for this boat.

Does anyone have any experience of having to store their boat in zebra mussel infested waters year round? Concerned about keeping all the water intakes clear.

Any guidance would be much appreciated. I tried searching for existing threads but not having much luck.
 
Just received our monthly news letter from our condo association that stated zebra mussels have been found on our property in the Lake of the Ozarks.

My 340SDA is in the water year round and I am concerned. I am being told a lift is not an option on our dock for this boat.

Does anyone have any experience of having to store their boat in zebra mussel infested waters year round? Concerned about keeping all the water intakes clear.

Any guidance would be much appreciated. I tried searching for existing threads but not having much luck.

We have them here in Lake St. Clair and they don't cause much of a problem. They do cling to all the underwater metal, but I have not heard of them clogging an intake. I can see if they were denser then it could be a problem, especially on an outdrive.
 
Zebra mussels invaded the Great Lakes about twenty years ago from an east European freighter's bilge water and there were a lot of problems initially with shore based water intakes and beaches. People started wearing some sort of footwear in the water because of the sharp little shells. This pest proliferates quickly.

Some boats in our marina received Zebra mussel growth particularly if left idle but we never experienced a problem because we always used our boat. Having your vessel in the water year round could however lead to growth unless you are running it regularly.

The bright side of the mussels invasion was that they cleaned up the lakes, in particular Lake Erie but changed the marine ecosystem in doing so. Some fish species have benefitted from their growth, like perch and smallmouth bass.

They are a nuisance generally but have a few benefits. Good luck!

James
 
When we pulled my dad's boat at the end of the season, one of the strainers was completely filled with zebra mussels, along with a bunch of other nooks and crannies, and he uses his boat at least 4 days/week. they are not bad, unless you ignore them.
 
Yes we have zebra mussels up here in the bay of Green Bay.They clear the water up of algea but are hell on your cool water systems.I've been told to start your boat & run it up to tempevery 10 days to kill off the little buggers.They get ahold inside your block & clog it up.There have been a couple of boats I know of that were clogged up soo bad they had to be scrapped!I have had our Sorrento in the water for 2 seasons after the rebuild & have very little buildup.Good luck. Jim
 
Can't ad much other than if you go to remove them with your hand, as mentioned they have a sharp little shell, use some type of a glove. They like to free load on my trim tabs so I scrape them off whenever I can, and while doing so, check the water intakes of both my drives. The key for me seems to be use the boat frequently.
 
We used to have zebra mussles but as the lake was cleaned up due to their water filtration capabilities, their food supply was rapidly depleted and the population crashed. If the bottom of your boat is painted, those that remain will go somewhere else to live. As was stated above, operating your boat and bringing engine temps up to normal kills the larve before they can attach to cooling system components and make a hard shell. The larve get flushed back to sea, causing no damage. We've not had any mussles on our boat in years, and you see little or no evidence of them in the fall under the Travel Hoist. There used to be piles of them there from power washing boat bottoms.
 
Never had any problems with them personally either. They just cling to alot of stuff and and thats about it.
 
Asian Carp are our problem - zebra muscle populations are dwindling in our area.
 
Quagga mussels in lake Michigan now 100x more than zebras. The Zebra is almost extinc here. Quagga's took over and where Zebra could only live in shallow warmer water the quagga can also live in the deep water too. The mid lake reef witch was always bare rock is now covered with quagga's. They are a softer shell than the zebras. Our local Sea Grant Wisconsin has quite a bit of info. try and google "Sea Grant Wisonsin" for more.

Zebra mussels cannot be controlled in the wild.
On intake pipes, chemicals can be used that will kill the larva.If these chemicals were used in an open lake they would also affect fish and native mussels
The spread of zebra mussels can be prevented by draining all of the water from boats, live wells, and bait wells
Thoroughly inspect your boat’s hull and trailer for any zebra mussels and weeds
Let equipment sit for 4-5 days or rinse with hot water.
 

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