I went to fish lake georgetown (north of austin) today from the bank. I caught one nice large mouth. I pulled out a slab and started bouncing it off the bottom. About 10 times I snagged a little stripped mussles. One was covered in tiny (baby?) mussles. I have fished this lake for 12 years and never saw these before. There must be a bunch for them to get hooked on such a small hook. They were 1/2 to 1 inches long.
I went into the army corp office that manages the lake and reported the find. They knew the zebras were in the pipes and equipment pulling water from Stillhouse lake near Belton. I was fishing right near the pipe. Lake Georgetown empties into the San Gabriel river which leads to Granger Lake.
I dont know much about them besides hearing they are invasive and cause problems with pipes and boats left in the water. And are sharp as [censored]. My son cut his foot on them.
How are they helping the lakes as stated above? Just curious!
So I just did a little reading about it and I see one of the perceived benefits is water clarity being better! But according to this article by toed that is not a good thing for bass populations in Texas!
Quote
Because these voracious mussels filter and feed on plankton, a high density of them can make water in lakes look clearer. A single mussel is capable of filtering a liter of water in a day, which might sound like a benefit, but isnt for the overall ecosystem, McGarrity said.
Plankton serves as the base of a lakes food hierarchy. With less of the single-celled algae available for other animals, sport fishers angling for game fish like largemouth bass in Lake Austin can expect to see them get smaller in years to come. Largemouth bass feed on shad fish, which feed on plankton.
No shad, no bass, McGarrity said. If you have this competitor eating their food, catfish may do better, but the bass game fish arent going to fare well.
Clearer water also creates low oxygen levels at the bottom of the lake and even areas with no oxygen, which fish and other animals need to survive.
I know they have helped Bridgeport for sure. Attempts to keep them out everywhere but when they show up you just have to roll with it. I believe they will get where they are going to get regardless of the steps to keep them out.
So I just did a little reading about it and I see one of the perceived benefits is water clarity being better! But according to this article by toed that is not a good thing for bass populations in Texas!
Quote
Because these voracious mussels filter and feed on plankton, a high density of them can make water in lakes look clearer. A single mussel is capable of filtering a liter of water in a day, which might sound like a benefit, but isnt for the overall ecosystem, McGarrity said.
Plankton serves as the base of a lakes food hierarchy. With less of the single-celled algae available for other animals, sport fishers angling for game fish like largemouth bass in Lake Austin can expect to see them get smaller in years to come. Largemouth bass feed on shad fish, which feed on plankton.
No shad, no bass, McGarrity said. If you have this competitor eating their food, catfish may do better, but the bass game fish arent going to fare well.
Clearer water also creates low oxygen levels at the bottom of the lake and even areas with no oxygen, which fish and other animals need to survive.
Makes sense.
Wonder if there are natural limiting factors to their spread? Water levels obviously - they can't live out of water for any sustained length of time I guess. Do water temperatures or other factors inhibit their growth and spread?