Deer Trail 3/28

Mar 30 2021

Murray Camp

Fry

Member Since :
2016
Number of Posts :
43

Reservation Number : 27166
Property Name : Deer Trail Ranch
Reservation Date : 03/28/2021 All Day -
Total Fish/Sizes : 32: (1) 6#, (1) 5#, (3) 4#, remainder 1-2# except for 9 culls
Lures Used : senko, chatterbait

Fished 10:30 am to 5:30 pm.  N wind 14 gusts to 18 -straight down the lake.   18-24” visibility.   Almost all fish came on near-bank weed lines.   

There is lots of filamentous algae (snot moss).    I expect that it will improve as the coontail explodes and it outcompetes the snot moss for excess phosphates and nitrogenous compounds.   

Mar 30 2021

Steve Alexander

Admin

Member Since :
2002
Number of Posts :
1171

Love the lake management knowledge. Its great to be educated on such things. 

Mar 30 2021

Murray Camp

Fry

Member Since :
2016
Number of Posts :
43

Originaly Posted By Steve Alexander

Love the lake management knowledge. Its great to be educated on such things. 

Thanks Steve – I’m glad I guessed right.    Not really lake management knowledge, but I used to be very active in the coral and marine aquarium community (speaker, writer, etc).   I just assumed that the same processes apply – filamentous algae is usually fueled by excess phosphates plus, to a lesser extent, nitrates, etc.    

I used to run algae scrubbers – a smaller tank plumbed below the display to grow algae on substrates.  You periodically harvest the algae on the scrubber to export nutrients.  Same idea.  Encourage desirable species (coontail) to out compete the non-desirable ones (filamentous).   

Speaking of coontail (Ceratophyllum demersum) – I would think this plant plays a critical part in small water fishery management.  Grows very quickly.  Not only does it outcompete snot moss, but it provides critical bluegill fry habitat and strong bass hunting/ambush habitat.  It also tends to physically filter out particulates for deposition on the bottom.  It can also inhibit phytoplankton and cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) to some extent.   The problem is that is grows so fast that it can also outcompete other native plants.   But given these positive qualities – plus that it’s one of the easiest types of vegetation to fish IMHO (chatterbaits, weighted flukes, etc.) – I like the stuff.