Zebra Mussels Discovered in Twin Lakes

Allen

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Bummer, I once really enjoyed a few days a summer on South Golden. Surprisingly decent walleye fishery.
 


Jiffy

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There is absolutely no way to stop zebra mussels. (at least from what I can gather)

All they're doing (the Game and Fish) is putting a band aid on a hatchet wound.

I guess they have to do something, or at least make it look so.
 

Allen

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There is absolutely no way to stop zebra mussels. (at least from what I can gather)

All they're doing (the Game and Fish) is putting a band aid on a hatchet wound.

I guess they have to do something, or at least make it look so.

Right, they know this crap is inevitable, but if they don't do something...there's going to be an outcry on how they stood by and watched it happen without doing anything.

And if they try to do something, there are those who will just say they're using it as an excuse to take more money out of their pocketbook, attempting to force their ethics on people, etc, etc.

Pretty unenviable position they find themselves in on these topics.
 

Traxion

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Never seen zebra mussels like there are in Lake Sharpe right now. From shore you can grab handfuls and in some areas you don’t want your lures to touch bottom. The Corp is going to figure out how they affect their power plant very soon.
 


Allen

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Never seen zebra mussels like there are in Lake Sharpe right now. From shore you can grab handfuls and in some areas you don’t want your lures to touch bottom. The Corp is going to figure out how they affect their power plant very soon.

They already know. They've been combating them in their powerplants and outlet works for a number of years now on the lower half of the Missouri. I forget the exact dollar amount, but it's millions of dollars a year already for Missouri River dams if I remember correctly.
 

Jigaman

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I know people who have a cabin on S Golden and they say they have never seen weed growth like they have this year.
 

cooter00

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I used to ice fish golden allot when I lived in Grand forks after college many drunken days and buckets of perch oh the good old days lol
 

svnmag

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Round gobies, red ear sunfish (shellcracker)

1725498532996.png


1725498602590.png
 

NDSportsman

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GNF probably stuck them in there with their stockings from the Valley City hatchery before they "discovered" them in their rearing ponds. My guess is every body of water east of the mighty mo has them by now, they just haven't been "discovered" yet.
 


shorthairsrus

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I know people who have a cabin on S Golden and they say they have never seen weed growth like they have this year.
I am on a lake with zebras ---- the weed growth was duplicated this year with clear water from the zebs AND no snowfall and light played a big part too.

What i notice is that the zebras love to attach to the milfoid and the ate the ends. So what we had is floating dead domestic milfoil (not eurasion). The areas that were crowded with foil were dead and all you seen is the bottom and no weeds taking its place. Yes i believe fish are eating the zebs. You could find 20 zebs on a two foot piece of milfoil. Weird shit. So yes our weedline went much deeper. Were fish hard to catch - i actually caught more fish than the summer before. Were going to run out of depth and soon the weeds will be everywhere making more cover for fish imo.

DL and SAK how have they went this long without zebs?
 

svnmag

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GNF probably stuck them in there with their stockings from the Valley City hatchery before they "discovered" them in their rearing ponds. My guess is every body of water east of the mighty mo has them by now, they just haven't been "discovered" yet.
And again I say post#49. Good forage and good eats. They survive Nebraska winters:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redear_sunfish
 
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tikkalover

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ND Game and Fish finds zebra mussels in Smishek Lake

MINOT, N.D. (KMOT) - Those visiting Smishek Lake in Burke County should be aware of zebra mussels.

The lake is about 80 miles northwest of Minot.

N.D. Game and Fish Department found the invasive species through sampling.

Emergency rules are going into effect immediately to stop them from spreading.
 

Allen

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I am on a lake with zebras ---- the weed growth was duplicated this year with clear water from the zebs AND no snowfall and light played a big part too.

What i notice is that the zebras love to attach to the milfoid and the ate the ends. So what we had is floating dead domestic milfoil (not eurasion). The areas that were crowded with foil were dead and all you seen is the bottom and no weeds taking its place. Yes i believe fish are eating the zebs. You could find 20 zebs on a two foot piece of milfoil. Weird shit. So yes our weedline went much deeper. Were fish hard to catch - i actually caught more fish than the summer before. Were going to run out of depth and soon the weeds will be everywhere making more cover for fish imo.

DL and SAK how have they went this long without zebs?
Since the TIber reservoir on a Missouri River tributary in Montana has been infested since 2016 (at least), there are certainly zebra mussels in the Missouri River system already. They just haven't been found yet.
 
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svnmag

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Isnt there a sunfish that eats them there mussels, for the life of me I cannot think of what they are called. LB
#49/52^^^^

It's called a shellcracker. I don't know it's northern range. Very prevalent in the South. A few posts ago I mused about paddlefish for the larvae and drum for the "shells". It must have been retarded.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redear_sunfish

From what I gather It's already widespread and can endure ND:

https://www.cabi.org/isc/datasheet/77083

Round gobies, red ear sunfish (shellcracker)--win/win:

1725498532996.png



1725498602590.png
 
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svnmag

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I think my above represented a "pumpkin seed"^^^^

THIS is what I call a "shellcracker":

1759205014539.png
 

johnr

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Once these clean a lake of its ickiness what do they feed on? Wouldn't the Zebras then clear themselves out?
 

shorthairsrus

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Once these clean a lake of its ickiness what do they feed on? Wouldn't the Zebras then clear themselves out?
They die off and then cycle back --- die off in a certain areas yet the water remains clear regardless imo
 


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