This is the only bowl the browns are going to..LOL

[quote=RedRanger]Question:

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Happy B-Day trickster...

OK Guys lets try to get back on topic or this will get the sticky removed.

If the mussels continues to spread it could be pretty bad.

Sorry

Sorry, Casey !!!... I read the link you referred to. I thought mussels would be good for a Lake. I guess I was wrong. I do like the fact that they could clear up the water clarity.. So, If they do take over Hubbard then our fishing will get worse and it will be almost impossible to rid them. Not good at all.

Yeah, they filter the water at a crazy rate and with so many producing so fast, it could be bad.

Yes, according to this year's outdoor annual they put out.

They can send them all down here to Gibbons Creek and it'll still take 50 years to clear that mudhole up

so. . . I'm guessing Zebra Mussels are bad for lakes?? Why is that exactly??

PM Me Please!!!

Cancel last two posts!! I read the article on page one!! So this would be a sorta good thing and a lot of bad huh??

Everybody might as well get ready to see them all over the place because it is just a matter of time....Just like Giant Salvinia, most people dont check their boat well enough, they go by the It doesn't apply to me theory and dont worry about it...I lived an hour away from Lake Erie when they were first found up there and the spread happened pretty quickly.....

is there any current research ongoing, on how to control zebra mussel populations? if there is a method of controlling at all? Im not the most saavy when it comes to marine biology, just curious if there is any possibility of balancing the ecosystem in a positive manner, and maybe having the mussels presence be more beneficial.

I just wish there was a way to keep them only in texoma!! Texas would have it all if we just had one lake that you could go to and catch 15+ pound sacks of smallmouth on a semi regular basis. Shoot I can't catch a largemouth out of texoma over 3 pounds anyways lol. I was there last week I will check my boat and trailer. Shoot down at the damn it was so clear you could see 6 ft down so I hope it's not to late

Mrbass, is it common for TPWD to sample the states lakes, or was there a suspicion of the species in Texoma? Highport marina is in my backyard and I'm on the lake every week, but also travel around to different lakes in Oklahoma once or twice a month, we need to really wash up as a whole.

Zebra Mussels

This is a great site to read up on what they are and do.

Maybe TP&W will find out that the water on Lavon is bad enough to even kill zebra mussels and Lavon will become a household name in lake lore. If the mussels can strain the water from Lake Lavon into clean water, then they will indeed be a force. I read on one website that they are very sensitive to pollutants and can only live in clean, oxygen-saturated water. They may find out that Lavon is not their cup of tea. We'll see I guess.

Seems these little guys are pretty durable. Hopefully you are right. It would be really interesting to see Lavon clear though..

Well if that's the case Lavon will be in pretty good shape, Hubbard for that matter too. I catch a ton of Drum on both those lakes.

Good info guys, I'll keep my eyes out for the little buggers.

According to what I've read and watched on TV they have been on the lookout for them for some time now. They (TPWD) think they got here from one or many of the larger boats that get brought down here from up north. They have had reports from marinas that have found them on boats that have been brought down to Texoma.

I work on a Zebra Mussel research project on the Arkansas River.

I don't think Zebra Mussels will ever be a problem in Texas because they start to dieoff at 86F and will have a complete dieoff at 90F.

I was in colorado a few weeks ago, and zebra mussels have pretty much killed 3 lakes in the Grand Lake area. The water went from crystal clear to tea colored. The fishing is terrible. The biologist I spoke with said in 2 years time there will be very very few fish in the lake. You couldn't walk in the water as you would cut your feet on the zebra mussels.
They had check points when we entered and exited the lake. We had to take out anything that cold hold water and dry it out. They even used towels to dry out the livewells.
We had to lower the motor so that water would run out of the lower unit. Zebra mussels do a bad bad things to your motor.

1 zebra mussel will have 1 million off spring in 1 year.

The Lake Temp in Texoma has been 89 to 91 for surface temp for quite sometime and the living specimans were found from 5 feet to 24 feet deep. In the deeper lakes in Texas where the temp range could be cool enough in the summer months is it possible for the Zebras mussels to have success at the deeper depths and move shallower in the winter months and hopefully have a die off in the shallow water each summer.

Having fished a lot on Lake Erie and most of the inland lakes and rivers up North that are filled with zebra mussels and all I can say is I hope and pray that whatever environmental factors that would kill them down here do just that - kill them !!! Because I just got used to not loosing Carolina rigs and jigs and crankbaits and every other bait you can tie on and drag over and through them dam things…sure they do a great job filtering the water - you’ll be able to see a dime on the bottom in 30 ft of water - BUT - you think it’s hard on mono or braid now when trying to pull a healthy bass out of a mesquite tree just wait !!! zebra mussels adhere to every hard surface they can find - rocks, trees, boat ramps, dock pilings, etc. and we have even seen them cluster together in the weed beds, believe me zebra mussels are bigger fun killers than jet skiers !!! I hate to keep being the party pooper… but think about this too - if the nasty little things get into the power plant lakes they will in short order start clogging the water intake and return lines, so the power companies will have deal with a new high cost of “temporally” removing them…or should I say “WE” get to deal with the new cost.

The two areas of your rig you have to worry about is your livewells and to a lesser degree the trailer if you have fished a lake with the zebra mussels in it, then at the end of the day pour a little bleach down into the live well plumbing so any trapped water gets a dose, and make sure you pull off any weeds or sticks that may get caught on the trailer.