Algae- Whats the truth Algae- Whats the truth Algae- Whats the truth Algae- Whats the truth
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  1. #1

    Question Algae- Whats the truth

    I read already that they are estimating that this years algae bloom could be as high as a 9.5 rating out of 10. With all the run off from the high water this summer that it is going to be another pretty bad bloom.


    How does this effect fishing? Can you still catch fish in areas covered with Algae or will it deplete the area of Oxygen so much the fish will move or die?

    What are the concerns with the algae, and what are the bloviated myths?

  2. #2

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    No one has an opinion on this? I was just looking for prospective.

  3. #3

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    I've heard mixed advice on how it affects fishing, but I don't know how accurate it is. Wish I had more facts also. A couple links added if you care to research more about causes, concerns, etc.

    http://www.heidelberg.edu/academicli...ncwqr/p#Maumee

    http://epa.ohio.gov/habalgae.aspx#14...-helpful-links

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Dec 2014
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    Beavercreek, Ohio
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    Two or three years ago I was fishing for perch south of Kellys and the water was so stained that boats going by created green wakes. The algae seemed to only be at the surface since only the foot or so of anchor line at the surface was stained. The fish were down on the bottom and didn't seem affected. The were biting ok. I just hosed them off later and then cleaned them as usual. They were fine on the table. Now if it gets as bad as they say it might, maybe it will affect the fish and they will move east. I don't know. we'll find out soon.

  5. #5
    Join Date
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    My opinion is that the nutrient runoff caused by the abnormal amount of rainfall has created the perfect storm for algae blooms this year. Those nutrients come from a variety of sources. Namely cities that have an inadequate raw sewage water containment and treatment system, all town and villages with little or no treatment facilities, regular farms and especially factory farms with large livestock feedlots and caged egg facilities as well as urban areas that use large amounts of fertilizer for their green lawns and landscaping.

    The phosphorus loads are way more than the rain water can safely dilute, the resulting overload flow slows once it get to the lake and increases the amount of available food for the algae blooms. If the overload kept flowing out of the lake at the rate it flows into the lake then there would most likely not be the large damaging algae blooms. Unfortunately the lake acts like an over sized septic tank and the concentrations of nutrients become more pronounced at the points of entry into the lake.

    The Maumee River Water Shed with drainage of 8,316 square miles of surface area is the largest drainage area of all the great lakes. Most of this drainage area is of course farmland which by no means is the only major stand alone source for the phosphorus overload. But, just the sheer magnitude of the size of the drainage area would indicate that the problem holds some significant obstacles in solving the phosphorus overload. Unfortunately the Maumee River drains into the warmest and most shallow area of all the great lakes which intensifies the problem with near perfect conditions for the dreaded algae to bloom and to flourish far beyond any type of naturally occurring algae bloom would otherwise.

    I feel this situation could result in one of the worse algae blooms since the 1960s when there were large mats of dead algae floating on the western basin of lake Erie.

    Here is a link to the over all size of the Maumee river drainage area as well as some other information.

    http://www.epa.gov/greatlakes/aoc/maumee/index.html

    DISCLAIMER: This post is only my opinion on what is causing the algae blooms and what my research has lead me to believe. I in no way blame the regular Farmers for the overall problem but to leave them out of the equation would be wrong also.
    Last edited by wakina; 07-14-2015 at 10:01 AM.
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  6. #6
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    Dead and decaying algae depletes the oxygen levels in the water and any living organism that cannot escape the low oxygen levels will perish. So don't be to surprised if the fishing goes south this summer.
    Wakina
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  7. #7

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    Wakina, is it really opinion when it's well thought out and supported by exceptional amounts of data (as your "opinions" usually are)? I think it's time to fire everybody and bring in more people like yourself that use common sense to assess a given issue and then maybe we can actually apply the correct solution for once.

    Thank you as always for the information. Keep up the good work, sir!

  8. #8

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    Wakina, is it really opinion when it's well thought out and supported by exceptional amounts of data (as your "opinions" usually are)? I think it's time to fire everybody and bring in more people like yourself that use common sense to assess a given issue and then maybe we can actually apply the correct solution for once.

    Thank you as always for the information. Keep up the good work, sir!

  9. #9
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    Is it ironic that the current algae problems really began to show itself at the same time that nw ohio lost 10s of thousands of acres of crp ground. And is it ironic that we over the last decade have seen thounds of additional acres of farm ground tiled. And is it ironic that over the same time period we have seen countless tree lines removed and wood lots cleared and converted over to farm ground. All this has been happening at the same time that the phosphorus load running into our water ways from municipal sources has been significantly reduced, as was mandated by the epa. I don't want to point fingers at anybody but writing is on the wall.

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by ErieEye View Post
    Is it ironic that the current algae problems really began to show itself at the same time that nw ohio lost 10s of thousands of acres of crp ground. And is it ironic that we over the last decade have seen thounds of additional acres of farm ground tiled. And is it ironic that over the same time period we have seen countless tree lines removed and wood lots cleared and converted over to farm ground. All this has been happening at the same time that the phosphorus load running into our water ways from municipal sources has been significantly reduced, as was mandated by the epa. I don't want to point fingers at anybody but writing is on the wall.
    Interesting post! I do have a couple of questions about your information. 1. Could you provide a link to the information "that nw ohio lost 10s of thousands of acres of crp ground"? 2. What replaced the crop ground? Edit~~ I think that you meant soil erosion and that went over my head sorry for those 2 questions! 3. Could you also provide a link that shows "the phosphorus load running into our water ways from municipal sources has been significantly reduced, as was mandated by the epa." ? Toledo's sewage upgrades are only 68% finished so that leaves 32% uncontrolled.

    Here is a link to a thread on this site that shows what the flow rate of the Maumee river was during the time frame of the thread. As You can see the Maumee River was running at very fast rate and the city of Toledo supplied the Maumee river with 377,000,000 gallons of raw sewage. There is also a colored graph in this thread that shows the amount of rainfall for the month of June. That Chart indicates that approximately 1/3 of the normal annual precipitation of 35 to 38 inches fell in the time frame shown on that chart. Since that time there has probably been an additional 6 to 7 inches of precipitation in the first 14 days of July, bringing the total precipitation for just that 45 day time span close to being 1/2 the normal annual precipitation. It is not the Farmers fault that mother nature produced more precipitation than would be normally anticipated over a 45 day period!

    http://community.walleye.com/showthread.php?9328-Sewage

    The top contributors to high phosphorous would be surface runoff from Farm's, lawns, golf courses ect and the untreated(raw) sewage contributed to the watershed from all of the villages, towns and cities as well as those foreign owned factory farms that allow manure to accumulate and get washed into the nearby steams to eventually end up in the lake.

    The addition of tile to farmland has cut down the flow of phosphates considerably due to the water being filtered thru the soil covering the tile. The amount of water that can be diverted to the tile and out as drainage has not changed, but the amount of water that needed to get away was considerably more than what the tile could remove so the excess water that was not trapped in the soil became phosphorous rich surface runoff into the creeks and ditches and finally the rivers feeding the Maumee and then to Lake Erie.
    Last edited by wakina; 07-14-2015 at 06:33 PM.
    Wakina
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