I was at Joe Pool last night and found the hydrilla and pond week dead at all the spots I went to on the west arm of the lake--not just around the ramps, marinas and swim areas. Did anyone go out there last Tuesday to observe what was done when they sprayed?
c.j.

Hi, i was there last night also, i did notice all the hydrilla dead in the water. Sorry, was not out there on Tuesday.

Sandra

was out there tonight and noticed it is all brown- way to go "enviromenalists". but as long as those little jet fleas are ok- to heck with the fishery~! arent politics grand!

You do know what happens to the oxygen in the water when all that stuff decomposes? Be out there with your dip nets cause they'll be coming to the top.

I'm really disappointed that no one seems to care what has happened to the vegetation at Joe Pool. Between June 13 and July 11 there were 134 posts regarding "save the hydrilla at Joe Pool". Many said if they were available on the day of the spraying they would attend to let the authorities know that we are watching what they do. I had 3 responses to my post on the Freshwater Discussion board when I asked if anyone knew what had happened to the hydrilla/pondweed. It seems to me that now that its done, nobody cares, and believe me, it is dead in most of the lake no matter what the authorities said about where they were going to "control" it. Pretty soon all the lakes near the Metroplex or where developers move in and build expensive homes will be purely "recreational", fewer fish will be caught, and it will be harder to get kids or anyone interested in fishing. I think this is sad. Hope I haven't upset anyone with this post.
c.j.

I may load up and ride around Pool tomorrow. I noticed when I was fishing last week that there was a lot of dead grass far away from the areas that were supposed to be treated. I assumed it was dead from the first application, and had just drifted to where I was, but if in fact they really killed the grass in the whole lake either they made a huge mistake or we have been deceived by someone!

I have seen lake so clear you could see 75 ft down and no vegetation tio be seen any where. It still had large bass in it. plenty of trout and bait fish. I also fished a lake that was so overgrown that power boats could not travel very well on it. Forget trolling motors. Fish will thrive in lakes with out vegetation it depend son cover and stuff like that. Dont get me wrong I am not for killing all weeds in lakes but I am also not for letting them take over either. They will grow back.

Tommy

CJ, I think their are a lot of people that care, I for one was surprised by the second round of spraying and really caught off guard. I don't think there was enough time to organize any kind of effective statement against what happened, we only heard about it three days before the new treatment was applied. However, what the guys are doing down in Austin with the "boat in" sounds like the more appropriate venue for all the states anglers to show our solidarity behind control of aquatic vegetation over eradication by herbicide. I think we can all get behind that, and I think if we can get as many boats together as some other states have, I really believe we will get the attention of the lawmakers since we may literally be in their back yards. Keep an eye out for the posts about the boat in, and let's see if we can't organize a convoy from DFW to Austin to support our fellow anglers down south and in turn promote our cause statewide. We may have lost the battle at Joe Pool, but I do not think we have lost the war.

CapnJoe and Big Leslie, Thanks for your responses. I hope we can get something going to help the other lakes too. I don't know if I can trailer to Austin but will be happy to do letters/phone calls to the appropriate people.
Tommy, I have fished lakes without vegetation, i.e., Lewisville, Grapevine, Joe Pool, Cooper to name a few. Quality bass are few and far between. Quantity is not so great either. Lakes with vegetation always produce both quality and quantity bass. As to the grass coming back in Pool, maybe, maybe not--just depends. If and when it starts again, you can bet there will be people screaming to "kill it".
I, too, think hydrilla, etc. needs to be controlled, but I believe harvesters could do this in the areas of marinas, ramps and swim beaches without eliminating it from the entire lake with poisons. I think the whole thing boils down to management of the fishery and this has not been done at Joe Pool.
c.j.

I personally think it is way too early to conclude we have been "hoodwinked". The spraying was supposed to be restricted, and until the intial die off is complete, we won't really know the extent of the damage.

If we were lied to- -or if incompetence leads to a bigger grass kill- -then I think we will need to organize a major league civil protest.

Wayne

Good Idea Wayne,always close the gate after all the cows are gone.

you can count me in on it.

I understand your point, Willie. BUT with all the assurances we had before the fact that this was going to be limited to the ramps and beaches, it would have been difficult for us to be taken seriously. They didn't kill all the grass and, as I understand it, to keep it down will take additional treatments.

IF the kill is bigger than we were told it was going to be, we will be in much better shape to have folks listen to us. Just my opinion.

Wayne

I fished a lake in Massachusetts that was so over grown it would stop large outboards. Come to think of it with all the fertalizer those home owners use it will cause a algea outbreak. What will they do about that. There are grass eating carp than can do a god job of controlling the weeds works in other lakes. Like I tried to say before i can see both sides I experienced the worst case you can imagine.

Tommy

Tommy,you are surely not suggesting grass carp.Check with anyone who used to fish lake Conroe or Martin Creek,they are no longer very good fishing lakes thanks to the Grass Carp