Time to shut the door! STOP THE SPINY WATER FLEA!!!

[raz]

Invasive water flea found in Champlain Canal

http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/arti ... |FRONTPAGE

[Ludo]

You really don't want them on your fishing line... I've spent a week on Lake Ontario, my fishing line was always like that:


You have to remove this glue to continue to reel, and they are on the fishing line to every 10-20 feet.

[JK47]

Something tells me this story won't end well.

[vtfishin]

Oh that is not good. If spiney water fleas invade lake Champlain the fishing experience will never be the same.

According to one NY DEC report i read online they are now found in all great lakes, the finger lakes and several adirondack lakes. Once in a body of water it is impossible to eradicate them. Fish do not eat them due to the spiney hooked barbs and they compete for zooplankton with fish.

[WildFisherWoman]

Not surprising since NY is infested with these things. Its just a matter of time with all of the invasives before the hitchhike on to VT

[Gray Ghost]

You really don't want them on your fishing line... I've spent a week on Lake Ontario, my fishing line was always like that:


You have to remove this glue to continue to reel, and they are on the fishing line to every 10-20 feet.

Bummer! It will spoil fishing experience with small diameter mono, will have to use 30 lb. test so they can't hitch hike and they will probably screw up the lake’s bio system.

[Dockside]

Alewives, tench, milfoil, water chestnut, white perch, zebra muscles........

Water fleas don't scare me sorry. The shock and awe of the non-natives has burned me out years ago.

The fear sets in and all comman sense flys out the window. Make some new laws that will fix everything!

This has been in the works for at least 5 years, but lets do something about it know

[ssminnow]

Not surprising since NY is infested with these things. Its just a matter of time with all of the invasives before the hitchhike on to VT

i refuse to pick up hitch hikers! unless there cute

[fishingmachine]

these thing are very annoying and you must go to heavy line ,like Grey ghost says, it will certainly take some of the fun out of it,damn!!

[Trackertroller]

I just read this on CAX, not good.

[vtfishin]

...I'm not arguing for bigger government...it's just disappointing. Zebras etc don't affect the actual fishing experience like these things, although all of the crap that invades affects it all in some way.

It just is not fun. for example, I dragged my boat, first time off of Champlain, down to take my Dad out on Seneca Lake last week. I launched out of Lodi, NY, set up 4 rods and was psyched for a good day. When I went to clear my lines of weeds I pulled them up to be greeted by this:





I had only heard about them on the Ontario forums and I had no idea they had invaded the finger lakes.

It sucked. ...had to cut lures and strip them off the line otherwise they caked the rod eyes and you couldn't even reel in... We pulled the lines and went home. Spent the next day stripping the 4 poles of line, cleaning the rods and reels with hot water and quaternary ammonium cleaners, re-spooling all the rods with fresh line, steam cleaning the interior of the boat, flushing the motor, washing the lures powerwashing the boat, flushing the bilge....disinfecting...and quarantining my boat for 5+ days and letting it dry/bake in the sun...

Did I go overboard? Probably. ...but there was no way I was gonna have a hitchhiker so I followed the recommendations of the experts after doing some research.

It is likely inevitable given the global reality (don't get me started on that)...but it is also depressing thats all. I don't look forward to it.

Matt

[CaptSpike]

I did some reading on these when I found out about them on Ontario. They are pretty hardy little buggers. The article I read said when they lay there eggs and the water level goes down the fact that the eggs are out of water has no effect. The next yr the water returns to cover the eggs they hatch! From what I read they are impossible to get rid off.
Not sure how they travel from lake to lake but could boaters be transferring them???? I know when I return from Ontario I will see dried up ones on my boat and I scrub the boat clean. I'm hoping no mating was done on my boat so no eggs are laying dormant. Then again I really don't know much about them and the risk boating from one lake to another poses to the spread.

Spike

[digitroll (ron)]

One great thing about Spring fishing on Ontario is the fleas are not present and you can run lighter line. The trigger seems to be warmer water temps every year and it becomes a Summer issue. 30 lb. is the only way to keep them off.

[Wellsley (Frank)]

...I'm not arguing for bigger government...it's just disappointing. Zebras etc don't affect the actual fishing experience like these things, although all of the crap that invades affects it all in some way.

It just is not fun. for example, I dragged my boat, first time off of Champlain, down to take my Dad out on Seneca Lake last week. I launched out of Lodi, NY, set up 4 rods and was psyched for a good day. When I went to clear my lines of weeds I pulled them up to be greeted by this:





I had only heard about them on the Ontario forums and I had no idea they had invaded the finger lakes.

It sucked. ...had to cut lures and strip them off the line otherwise they caked the rod eyes and you couldn't even reel in... We pulled the lines and went home. Spent the next day stripping the 4 poles of line, cleaning the rods and reels with hot water and quaternary ammonium cleaners, re-spooling all the rods with fresh line, steam cleaning the interior of the boat, flushing the motor, washing the lures powerwashing the boat, flushing the bilge....disinfecting...and quarantining my boat for 5+ days and letting it dry/bake in the sun...

Did I go overboard? Probably. ...but there was no way I was gonna have a hitchhiker so I followed the recommendations of the experts after doing some research.

It is likely inevitable given the global reality (don't get me started on that)...but it is also depressing thats all. I don't look forward to it.

Matt

WOW I fish Seneca Lake every year and was there in May. I have never seen fleas that bad. You must have hit the jackpot or mother load. I use a variety of lines depending on what I'm after. I have 10lb canjun red with a fluoro leader on the downrigger, 27lb lead-core with fluoro leader, 40lb spiderwire with the dipsy diver. By far the spiderwire gives me the most trouble. (besides the weeds)

[raz]

An article in today's Burlington Free Press titled: Scientists plead for closure of Champlain Canal.
Tim Mihuc, director of the Lake Champlain Research Institute at SUNY Plattsburgh, appears to be our best friend and has taken a leadership role in trying to get the Champlain Canal closed.

http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/arti ... |FRONTPAGE