Snot Grass

The little pond I fish is getting lot's of what I call snot grass in it
again. It's slimy bright green and has the texture of snot and sticks to
everything I throw. It hugs the stumps and weeds. The lake is 6-7 acres
and 75% of it is 4 feet or less and the stuff sticks to the bottom and
everywhere in between. Any suggestions on getting rid of it without harming
the fish?

Mike

"Mike Getz" wrote in message
...
The little pond I fish is getting lot's of what I call snot grass in it
again. It's slimy bright green and has the texture of snot and sticks to
everything I throw. It hugs the stumps and weeds. The lake is 6-7 acres
and 75% of it is 4 feet or less and the stuff sticks to the bottom and
everywhere in between. Any suggestions on getting rid of it without
harming the fish?

Mike,

I believe you have filamentous algae, and I agree, it's ugly, nasty stuff,
also a righteous pain the the arse to deal with when fishing. There are a
number of solutions to the problem, however some involve chemical
intervention.

You can do a simple search on "Filamentous Algae" and it will bring up a
number of websites relating to it. Here's one that I found for you that
offers some suggestions.

http://ohioline.osu.edu/a-fact/0003.html
--
Steve @ OutdoorFrontiers
http://www.outdoorfrontiers.com
G & S Guide Service
http://www.herefishyfishy.com

"Steve @ OutdoorFrontiers.com" wrote in message
...

"Mike Getz" wrote in message
...
The little pond I fish is getting lot's of what I call snot grass in it
again. It's slimy bright green and has the texture of snot and sticks to
everything I throw. It hugs the stumps and weeds. The lake is 6-7 acres
and 75% of it is 4 feet or less and the stuff sticks to the bottom and
everywhere in between. Any suggestions on getting rid of it without
harming the fish?

Mike,

I believe you have filamentous algae, and I agree, it's ugly, nasty stuff,
also a righteous pain the the arse to deal with when fishing.

Sounds like spirogyra, which is the brightest, slimiest and wettest of the
filamentous algae. I fish a pond that has extensive mats of the stuff in
late spring and summer. It's tough paddling the canoe over it, but it also
holds the boat in the wind so I don't have to anchor. And I catch bass from
holes in the mats, although bringing in a fish that's buried in the stuff is
not the most fun.

That doesn't answer Mike's question, but the stuff is not without some value
to me.

I've never seem mats of it, only clumps attached to weeds and other items in
the water even when catching a fish, only small clumps. I'll guess the
"strands" are about 4-6 inches long.

This site has a pic that's close to what I see, I don't have it this bad
though...

http://www.duluthstreams.org/underst...ilamentous.jpg

I don't remember having it in the summer or spring, when it's suppose to be
blooming. I've been fishing this pond 4-5 years and fish it 4-7 times a
week during mild weather and 1-2 times a week as long as it ain't frozen
over.

Thanks for the link, maybe I can get something that won't harm to many.





"Marty" wrote in message
...

"Steve @ OutdoorFrontiers.com" wrote in message
...

"Mike Getz" wrote in message
...
The little pond I fish is getting lot's of what I call snot grass in it
again. It's slimy bright green and has the texture of snot and sticks
to everything I throw. It hugs the stumps and weeds. The lake is 6-7
acres and 75% of it is 4 feet or less and the stuff sticks to the bottom
and everywhere in between. Any suggestions on getting rid of it without
harming the fish?

Mike,

I believe you have filamentous algae, and I agree, it's ugly, nasty
stuff, also a righteous pain the the arse to deal with when fishing.

Sounds like spirogyra, which is the brightest, slimiest and wettest of the
filamentous algae. I fish a pond that has extensive mats of the stuff in
late spring and summer. It's tough paddling the canoe over it, but it also
holds the boat in the wind so I don't have to anchor. And I catch bass
from holes in the mats, although bringing in a fish that's buried in the
stuff is not the most fun.

That doesn't answer Mike's question, but the stuff is not without some
value to me.

Maybe it's something else then. I'm not exactly an expert.

"Mike Getz" wrote in message
...
I've never seem mats of it, only clumps attached to weeds and other items
in the water even when catching a fish, only small clumps. I'll guess the
"strands" are about 4-6 inches long.

This site has a pic that's close to what I see, I don't have it this bad
though...

http://www.duluthstreams.org/underst...ilamentous.jpg

I don't remember having it in the summer or spring, when it's suppose to
be blooming. I've been fishing this pond 4-5 years and fish it 4-7 times
a week during mild weather and 1-2 times a week as long as it ain't frozen
over.

Thanks for the link, maybe I can get something that won't harm to many.





"Marty" wrote in message
...

"Steve @ OutdoorFrontiers.com" wrote in message
...

"Mike Getz" wrote in message
...
The little pond I fish is getting lot's of what I call snot grass in it
again. It's slimy bright green and has the texture of snot and sticks
to everything I throw. It hugs the stumps and weeds. The lake is 6-7
acres and 75% of it is 4 feet or less and the stuff sticks to the
bottom and everywhere in between. Any suggestions on getting rid of it
without harming the fish?

Mike,

I believe you have filamentous algae, and I agree, it's ugly, nasty
stuff, also a righteous pain the the arse to deal with when fishing.

Sounds like spirogyra, which is the brightest, slimiest and wettest of
the filamentous algae. I fish a pond that has extensive mats of the stuff
in late spring and summer. It's tough paddling the canoe over it, but it
also holds the boat in the wind so I don't have to anchor. And I catch
bass from holes in the mats, although bringing in a fish that's buried in
the stuff is not the most fun.

That doesn't answer Mike's question, but the stuff is not without some
value to me.

"Mike Getz" wrote in message
...
I've never seem mats of it, only clumps attached to weeds and other items
in the water even when catching a fish, only small clumps. I'll guess the
"strands" are about 4-6 inches long.

This site has a pic that's close to what I see, I don't have it this bad
though...

http://www.duluthstreams.org/underst...ilamentous.jpg

It seems that a lot depends on if there's current flow or not as to how much
it clumps up. I've found in as you describe, but then it seems to be less
concentrated if it's on the main lake or in a river where there's water
movement.

There's one drainage lake I fish that had "clouds" of the stuff ten to
fifteen feet across and probably three feet thick!
--
Steve @ OutdoorFrontiers
http://www.outdoorfrontiers.com
G & S Guide Service
http://www.herefishyfishy.com

It's a small pond and especially this year with the drought, there's been
very little flow. Right now the pond is about 2 inches from flowing into
the overflow pipe. Last years drought was worse and I don't remember it
being all that bad, but then again remembering ain't my strong point...

Mike


"Steve @ OutdoorFrontiers.com" wrote in message
...

"Mike Getz" wrote in message
...
I've never seem mats of it, only clumps attached to weeds and other items
in the water even when catching a fish, only small clumps. I'll guess
the "strands" are about 4-6 inches long.

This site has a pic that's close to what I see, I don't have it this bad
though...

http://www.duluthstreams.org/underst...ilamentous.jpg

It seems that a lot depends on if there's current flow or not as to how
much it clumps up. I've found in as you describe, but then it seems to be
less concentrated if it's on the main lake or in a river where there's
water movement.

There's one drainage lake I fish that had "clouds" of the stuff ten to
fifteen feet across and probably three feet thick!
--
Steve @ OutdoorFrontiers
http://www.outdoorfrontiers.com
G & S Guide Service
http://www.herefishyfishy.com