Ski lake weed control

[Dockoelboto]

Historically the lake I live on has done annual treatments to the lake to keep the weeds at Bay. These are herbicides that I'm sure aren't the greatest for the environment or the humans. We are considering transplanting grass carp to take over weed control. Anyone have any experience with these fish? Work well/terrible/smelly? And advice would be appreciated. I'm in the pnw and the local wildlife department does approve as the fish are all sterile.

[jpwhit]

We just had them stocked in our ski lake to control hydrilla. I can let you know in about 6 months......

[jayski]

Grass carp for sure!! Put about 150 in my lake last March and dang they got busy! Not a weed left by fall and they had some eatin to do!! They were bellyin up on the shore in fall to eat whatever they could find, probably too many to begin with but worth every cent!

[MitchellM]

I don't know the answer, but I applaud your desire to avoid putting unnecessary and potentially dangerous chemicals into your lake.

[Horton]

grass carp work awesome if you can get them. I control my lake just by using dye.

[keithh2oskier]

Where does one get grass carp for the purpose of weed removal?

[Bruce_Butterfield]

The white amour (grass carp) are by far the best solution, but unfortunately the state by state regulations vary widely. We have used them twice and lifespan is about 20 years.

[ETskier]

Sonar, environmentally friendly, kills all the weeds. Dye, controls growth.

[BobF]

We had great luck with the carp. We had dense weeds growing out to a 7 foot depth, and all the way to the surface. 20 acre lake, 100 fish mowed it all down in a season. Still going strong after 7 years. Rarely see them, but they can get pretty big.

 

If it's legal to stock them where you are, your can buy them from a hatchery. Our lake is in NC.

[Dockoelboto]

Thanks for the input. Very helpful. Wa state allows them if you get a permit and you can buy them from a few hatcheries. Most of the neighbors are in favor of a more environmentally friendly alternative. We do dye the lake but in wa where weeds are the state flower they still grow. The only major concern was about possible massive fish death at once and a bad smell and a mess to clean up. Probably not a major concern.

 

The sonar option sounds interesting. Is that a yearly service? Expensive?

 

 

[Skoot1123]

We have grass carp in our lake too. I know some are three feet or longer (5 yr old lake). This season we had very little weed growth, and it seemed like they kept up with the growth we did have. I have also put dye in our lake as it looks great and helps shade the more shallow areas of the lake.

 

Sonar is interesting. I’d like to hear more about that as well.

[jimski]

Talk to John Goodman

He did this a boarder line

[scuppers]

Sonar works period!

Very expensive.

Hydrilla so bad you could walk across our lake. Sonar perscription and in 3 months all gone. In some areas hydrilla 18 feet long. PM for details on how we did it.

PS. 22 acres, average depth 18 ft. 600 grass carp didn’t even come close to making a difference.

[liquid d]

@scuppers If you put 600 grass carp in, they did not survive. Grass carp recommendations are about 2 per acre. Several things can kill them: not acclimated to the water and shocked them, carp too small to start with and become a buffet for bass are the main issues. Get them in the 12 inch range. Hydrilla is like candy to them.

[BCM]

@Dockoelboto - I am assuming you are in WA based upon your state flower comment. I would recommend reaching out the WSU Ag Extension program, they will often provide weed management advice at little to no charge. My professional specialty covers controlling unwanted vegetation and though there is some good information on here there is also some less than ideal advice. Contact a professional and do it right. Herbicides can be a very safe and low cost solution and can also be a problem if not used properly. Using a non-native species can also be a great solution and can cause large issues if not used properly. Please contact a qualified professional.

[scuppers]

@liquid d Yes for sure 300 were too small and probably few survived the bass. The second 300 were all 13” and larger. We waited 9 months to get big ones. They all survived and we could see them swimming and eating grass. They couldn’t eat as fast as it grew. After sonar our hydrilla is gone.

[Dockoelboto]

@BCM we have used professionals to come and provide recommendations and treatments. We have been using various herbicides for the past many years and they work ok. Annually we spend approx $4k in herbicide treatments plus we add dye. We as a community are interested in non-herbicide alternatives, if possible. We reached out to the WA Wildlife Department and they do grant permits for grass carp as long as they are sterile. One of the local hatcheries does sell them with a permit from the state. The wildlife department gave us recommendations on how many fish we need/acre. We estimate approx $2500 for this alternative. Not that cost is everything but it is potentially a big savings. I was just hoping to see if this is actually a good idea, if others had experiences, positive or negative. One family in our community was worried about smell from fish die-off.

[BobF]

@Dockoelboto We haven't seen any dead ones in our lake yet, but other fish (bass, catfish, sunfish) far outnumber the carp, and turnover of those fish doesn't present a problem. Although the carp are much larger, I would assume that scavengers might take care of one or a couple dead ones at a time. Even though they have an advertised shelf life, it's doubtful that you would get a massive kill all at once, as long as you don't way overstock and therefore they don't have enough food. They ONLY eat weeds.

[MichaelGoodman]

@Dockoelboto Just curios about the cost of the fish how many

does $2500 get you?

[BCM]

@Dockoelboto - One of my topics of professional inquiry is controlling unwanted vegetation. When these conversations come up I feel obligated to post the 'contact a qualified professional' comment. Think of it similar to 'consult with your medical provider' or 'utilize a licensed engineer/contractor'. It sounds like you have done your homework. Thank you.

[Dockoelboto]

@MichaelGoodman, that is for about 144 fish. Wildlife department recommended 12-15/acre, lake is 12acres. They are $18/fish, so technically it is $2592.

[keithh2oskier]

We ended up going the route of a harvester. It's a pretty cool process to have them cut and physically remove the weeds. Its basically an underwater hedgetrimmer. I haven't got to ski yet but it's weird not seeing all the weeds.

 

https://photos.app.goo.gl/PPKCqPduCTS5pJJaA

 

https://photos.app.goo.gl/4UgRetQqwz7ggQMm8

[LeonL]

Dead carp. No problem, as racoons will eat 'em up over night.

[igkya]

To anyone that has used sonar, I read there's no temperature restrictions and to apply apply at first sign of weeds and it may take 30+ days to fully work.  What would happen if I used it before weeds started to grow?

[DW]

Here is the product label:
https://www.sepro.com/documents/Sonar-H4C_Label.pdf

[Golfguy]

Sonar requires contact with the weed and is absorbed in the plant. This is the mechanism for control. So appealing it when the weeds have not emerged will not be effective.

[igkya]

Thx @Golfguy

 

[rico]

I understood sonar requires 60F + Temp

[Golfguy]

True on the temperature. Keep in mind that the temp. requirement is based on at what temperature the weed is growing. The weed must be relatively active in order to uptake the chemical in Sonar.