Zebra Muscles - Bull Shoals, Taneycomo And Table Rock

[Phil Lilley]

The invasive zebra mussel hasn’t found its way into Table Rock Lake, but conservation officials say it’s an ongoing concern with the species in a portion of Lake Taneycomo and prevalent throughout Bull Shoals Lake.

http://bransontrilakesnews.com/news_free/article_13f60b98-2ad9-11e3-aea2-001a4bcf887a.html

[Wayne SW/MO]

I suspected there was some in the Pothole 3 or 4 years ago. When a fish would run through one area the line would part without any warning and remind you of what a razor blades would probably do.

[MOPanfisher]

darn, I wasn't aware they were in Bull Shoals. With it so close to Taneycomo and TR it may be a matter of time before they get transported in someones livewell. Not a given though, they have been in LOZ for quite a while but so far haven't been found in Truman, Pomme or Stockton. Although I would have expected it by now. OOPS the article said they have been found in an area of upper Truman, that's not good.

[Old plug]

I amsure tgey are on trumanand every other major lake in the state. They died out on time on LOZ but have returned

[Ham]

They haven't been documented in Table Rock, but I bet they are in there. I KNOW they are in Bull, but I'd bet they are in Norfork. Has anyone confirmed Norfork?

[MOPanfisher]

Typically they will go through a boom/bust/stabilize cycle. They will explode in population for a while, then crash dramatically, finally they will stability in a population that is sustainable. Likely there will still be cycles up and down though.

[Ham]

Maybe it will help the Red Ear Sunfish population out. I rarely catch those on Bull Shoals.

[Phil Lilley]

They're in Taneycomo but only the lower end. They say ZM's won't do well in most of our lakes because they're too clear, especially Taneycomo. Where ever the water is colored more, they'll do better like the arms on Table Rock. That's where you don't want them.

[Jerry Rapp]

can anyone really say that zebra mussels have hurt anything? I was on a zebra mussle committee back in the day with the Corps, and it was funded by millions of dollars. Nothing ever came out of it worthwhile. We were designing several projects at the time and I kept asking what we should do to prevent them to attach to critical parts. Never got an answer with any value, maybe some copper based paints. I do not know of any real impacts that they have had other than clearing up the water (Great Lakes especially) and making fishing better all around. Sort of like the global warming fiasco and the swine flu fiasco back when Obamacare got rammed down our throats.

[Mitch f]

Well Jerry, I'm sure they do bad by clogging things up, but I tend to agree with you. Lake Erie and St. Clair are still fantastic fisheries. The zebra mussels sure cleaned the water up in the Detroit river as well.