Seems like fishermen are always looking for a good guide to weed identification. I want to pass along a nice and simple website that you can bookmark for future reference. Lake, Lawn and Pond is a website hosted by the SePRO Corp., distributors of Sonar (fluoridone) and several other commonly used aquatic herbicides. The link above will take you to their weed ID page. Simply click on the class of weed you want to ID (emergent, submergent, algae, etc.) and you'll be taken to a page with all the common varieties of aquatic vegetation in easy to decipher pictures. Feel free to also browse other sections of the website while there for some great information.
One thing I do want to specifically mention though. One of the biggest "mistakes" I see anglers make all the time is believing their lake is turning over every spring when they find all kinds of floating chunks of stuff on the waters surface. This typically occurs with water temps in the upper 50's to low 60's, but can vary from lake to lake. What you are seeing is not the result of a spring turnover, but a unique characteristic of a type of algae. Check out the pictures and description of Pithophora algae. This is what you are seeing, and it has nothing to do with your lake turning over.
Thank you Brian. A couple of things maybe.
First, for general knowledge/interest: Emergent weeds seldom grow in water more than 10 feet deep. So, if you find the outer edge of emergent weeds you can bet it's in the area of that depth at that point, or the bottom content has changed.
The other thing to spotlight here is the motivation behind the authors of the depicted site. Some algae is good - indeed - absolutely necessary for a thriving fishery. These guys are in the business to sell everyone on eliminating weeds, etc.. All I'm saying is that we should be careful how we filter the information from this site as it relates to fishing. Don’t mess with dogs you can’t run with. Ecosystems are far too delicately balanced for amateur use of weed killer. . . whether you read the label and follow instructions or not.
Posted by: Rich Ziert | May 08, 2009 at 01:38 AM
Good points Rich. On lakes with vegetation, my simple line of thought is if you see no "weeds" in a particular area, there is a reason why. That reason often creates a key holding area for fish.
On the other topic, while they are in the business of eliminating or controlling vegetation, I've had the opportunity to speak with lots of the local 'players' in the industry around here, and can call many of them friends. For the most part, what I commonly find is many are fishermen or nature/outdoor lovers and realize the benfits of not wiping out everything in the way of weeds/algae. What so frequently occurs is it's the non-angling public/shoreline owner/pond owner/water skier/etc. who wants a swimming pool instead of a lake, and being a compnay in the business of making money, you make that money by satisfying the consumers needs. So while you can try and explain the benefits of some vegetation/algae, the bottom line is that if a person/homeowners assoc. wants their weeds elimintaed, if your company won't do it for them, another one will, and hence you'll lose out on the opportunity. So it's a fine line they have to walk to a certain degree, and I think they often get a large part of the blame unfairly. As always there are plenty of exceptions though, and I realize that also :)
Posted by: Big Indiana Bass | May 08, 2009 at 09:27 AM
Have no qualms over anything said then and followed up. Just trying to round out understanding in the eye of the beholder. I think between us, we did that quite nicely. ;>)
Posted by: Rich Ziert | May 08, 2009 at 11:08 PM