per acre.........

I have no problem with that. Unlike introducing a bunch of grass carp, that method won't keep killing vegetation for years to come.

Dang those pics hurt!

Ott is the devil, he is the killer of great bass lakes to numerous to mention. That dude is not the fisherman's friend.

LMBV...Wait For it...

Grass disappears and fish get sick around the same time frame. Not a scientist just an observer.

That picture was from January 29. Makes sense why the plants all look dead. Doesn't really seem to me like it would help much removing dead vegetation. Just gets the litter out of the way. At best, it was just starting to sprout. We were there around that time and grass was just barely starting to grow in a few places.

Looks like they are done killing the grass on Lake Athens this year.

http://www.athensreview.com/news/local_n...897ec008b1.html

I lost all respect for Dr. Ott's decisions or leadership when he directed Purtis Creek to be stocked with grass carp several years ago. What was created to be a managed trophy Bass lake was stripped bare of any vegetation and bass habitat. Ruined what was once a fantastic fishery. We fished it when 10 + pounders were common and the parking lot was full. In a time our State parks are struggling for revenue, I can't believe that purposely did something reckless and stupid to drive fisherman away.

lots of dead grass all over the lake, sad sight.

The grass is slowing dieing just like the fishing

They aren't spraying.....using a pelletized herbicide.....I fished Athens today.....saw lots and lots of dead grass on points far from any docks or boathouses.

Here's what I got from TPWD.....Thank you for your interest in Lake Athens. We have had several questions regarding the vegetation on the lake this year, and many of them have developed from rumors or partial truths. I am going to make a guess here that you are an avid fisherman that loves the quality fishing Lake Athens offers. I couldn�t agree more and can relate as a die-hard fisherman myself. Lake Athens is a gem of a lake and contains some of the best shallow water habitat, with diverse vegetation, of any in the state. Beginning last fall and steadily increasing this spring, we have had homeowner after homeowner inquiring into how they go about treating the vegetation around their lake-front property. In all honesty, we are fortunate that so many contacted us before going forward on their own, as several have, and treat the lake with an unauthorized, ineffective or illegal manner. Before I continue to explain the problems we (TPWD) are facing at Lake Athens, I would simply like to let you know that TPWD is not conducting nor paying for ANY vegetation treatment on Lake Athens. There is a series of steps that each homeowner is required to go through in order to simply get permission to treat around their property, and even then, it is granted with several constraints. First, a homeowner much submit a proposal to treat around their lake-front property to the controlling authority that actually owns the lake. In this case it is the Athens Municipal Water Authority (AMWA). If AMWA approves a permit, it is then forwarded to us and the homeowner must complete a second permit application through TPWD. If the permit is approved, it is then the homeowners responsibility to hire a private, licensed applicator to conduct the treatment with several constraints as I hinted to earlier, including: Each property owner will not be allowed to treat more than 0.25 acre of surface area on the lake and the treatment may not extend beyond 75ft from the high water mark. . The majority of the requests will be treated with a granulated chemical that will sink in the area it is broadcast and not affect much outside of the area approved for treatment. At this time, I believe the total area requested to be treated by homeowners is approximately 53 acers. That leaves the majority of the vegetation, likely several hundred acres, untreated. Fortunately for us, AMWA has been completely in agreeance with TPWD and plans to work with us with all treatment requests going forward. I cannot stress enough how lucky we are to have a controlling authority that also sees the benefits of aquatic vegetation, and does not wish to see any more treated than absolutely necessary.



On a personal note, I would like to state that I can understand your frustrations with any vegetation being treated. It is the unfortunate reality that TPWD often faces, particularly on reservoirs with heavy shoreline development. The sad truth is, if TPWD completely denied all applications to treat vegetation at this time, it would only come back to bite us. Most likely, more homeowners would treat anyway, possibly using unapproved chemicals and affect way beyond the 0.25 acres we are allowing. Trying to find a happy balance at this time will hopefully prevent disgruntled homeowners from exacerbating the situation and bring legal and/or legislative action. Our hope is that several of these homeowners realize the high costs of treating, and decide to give up future efforts as the areas treated will simply grow back assuming the lake level remains stable. Again, I promise from the perspective of a TPWD biologist and an avid fisherman, I would much rather not have to see any vegetation treated on Lake Athens, but this really is the best option we have going at this time to protect as much habitat as possible, while keeping homeowners and homeowners associations happy enough to prevent more extreme actions.



I hope this elongated email has informed you of the difficult balance we are struggling with on Lake Athens. I cannot state enough, TPWD is not conducting any of the vegetation treatment, nor are we paying for any of it. Every bit of treatment conducted on Lake Athens will be through private contractors and will be paid for by the homeowners. Please feel free to follow up with more questions, or call my office number listed below to discuss this issue further. I share your concerns and would like to put as many of them at ease at possible. Again, thank you for your question and have a great weekend!



Jake







Jacob D. Norman

Assistant District Fisheries Biologist

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department

I think Fish2222's email sounds just about right, that 53 or so acres were treated assuming each of just over 200 lakefront property owners used a service that used a pelletized herbicide.

Anyway, everyone in the property owner association received an email stating that TPWD would not issue any more permits, that it wanted to assess the effects from the herbicides.

This includes mechanical removal, too, not just herbicides. This sort of surprised me since the mechanical methods are sort of like mowing down weeds on land: they just grow back.

The lake supposedly had around 360 acres of vegetation out of its 1799 acres. So, if the 53 or so acres of vegetation were successfully eradicated (it won't amount to that), it will now have 300+ acres.

The latest "invasive" on the lake is alligator weed . . . and a whole lot of it. I think TPWD indicated it might use a biological control for it. It looks like a common ground cover, say asiatic jasmine, with small white flowers when it is blooming.

Other than a few homeowners who have used a mechanical tractor device to remove vegetation, I haven't seen any signs of herbicide usage on the north and west side of 2495. We fished in one little cove up there and actually caught quite a few fish.

I still think it will be a non-event as regards fishing. Time will tell.

Brad