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Posts: 724
Location: Southern W.Va. | How bad have the crayfish hurt the weedbeds in Cass? Was there 20 years ago but that was a lifetime.
Heading to that area next year late June, any ideas on what to look for at that time of year? |
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Posts: 386
| There are virtually zero submergent weeds on the main basin of Cass. Allen's Bay has weeds. When I say virtually I mean zero. |
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Posts: 99
| Rusty crayfish have been in Cass Lake since 1998 though their population has exploded since the introduction of the zebra mussel. Apparently zebra mussels filter the zooplankton and deposit those nutrients as sediment on the lake bottom. The rusty crayfish benefit from that food source. I had my aquaview out a few weeks ago and drifted for miles along several deep breaks between 20'-35' of water and the bottom was covered with rusty crayfish inches apart from each other. Must of been thousands. Zebra mussels seemed to be 20' or less on flats and more tapered or gradual breaks and don't appear to have the ability to hold to sand bottom, they appear to be clumping together in 2-3" balls and roll around the bottom on flats and gradual slopes every 12" or so. Hard object such as rocks are covered every inch with them. These depths seem to hold the largest population though I have seen both species down as deep as 60'. I don't know if it is the rusty crawfish that is the demise of the weedbeds or just a cycle the lake is going thru, but with the lack of weeds and clear water musky fishing has been tough. |
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Posts: 1000
| Sounds like the next big smallmouth fishery
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Posts: 409
Location: Almond, WI | Maybe if they had smallies... |
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Posts: 8782
| That's one solution. Walleyes and perch eat them, too. It just takes them a while to figure out that they are food. It sounds crazy, but the rusties are far more aggressive. Instead of fleeing like the native varieties (which almost always gets them eaten in short order), the rusties will turn towards their attackers, and raise their claws ready to fight. And the fish? They don't know what to do, just like when you stop reeling when you have a follow. Over time, the fish adapt and rusties become part of their diet. The only other thing that works is trapping the little bastards and eating them. You'll never get them all, but just like we've proven with everything else that swims, we can put a good dent in the population. |
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Posts: 724
Location: Southern W.Va. | Does this mean that it's a dead sea now that the weeds are gone or have the muskies just moved out to deep water? I |
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Posts: 166
Location: Alexandria, MN | There are still weeds in Cass Lake. |
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Posts: 386
| Mauser - 9/17/2019 7:32 PM
Does this mean that it's a dead sea now that the weeds are gone or have the muskies just moved out to deep water? I
Definitely not the dead sea. It's just a different kind of fishery now. |
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