Miami county lake WEEDS

[perchgeezer]

Last June (2014) I drove out to the lake and it was so choked with weeds it looked like a solid carpet with a few small holes here and there.
Is it going to be treated for this?

[skinner80]

Waterville City Lake is the same way.

[Craig Johnson]

Last June (2014) I drove out to the lake and it was so choked with weeds it looked like a solid carpet with a few small holes here and there.
Is it going to be treated for this?

perchgeezer,

I contacted Lucas Kowalewski, KDWPT Kansas City District Fisheries Biologist, to get your question answered. Lucas started in the KC District in September 2014 when he replaced Andy Jansen, the previous fisheries biologist.

Below is the answer that I received from Lucas in response to your question.

Craig

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Miami Co. State Lake has been overtaken by curly-leaf pondweed. So if an angler was there in May or early June, then yes I heard the vegetation coverage was very bad 90%-95% covered. Miami Co. State Lake is shallow and allows for perfect growing conditions across most of the waterbody.

The good news is curly-leaf dies off on its own in the summer heat, and I was told that by Father's Day most of it had died off. By the time I arrived in September you could not tell there was a vegetation problem at all. I received a lot of compliments on the vegetation management we were doing at Miami when the problem had resolved itself. More good news is the crappie population looked good this fall with decent numbers and size structure.

There has been some discussion about spot treating some areas this spring, because Miami Co. does receive a fair amount of pressure and from what I understand it was nearly unfishable last spring. We are going to wait and make the call sometime in April... Most likely something will be done and we will clear some areas around the jetties.

Hopefully this answer satisfies the angler, let me know if you want some more information.

Thanks,

Lucas Kowalewski
Kansas City District Fisheries Biologist