Snail Die Off in Lake Davis

[OceanSunfish]

Immediately after the treatment in 1997, the lake was planted heavily...... I bet more fish were put into the lake post 1997 then post 2007. HOWEVER, post 1997, the lake was allowed to fill to capacity and if it wasn't, was sure close as many of the back bays were full of water right on into early November...... BTW, it's really pretty when the water is right up high on the shoreline with the trees in the background in Freemans, Fugawe, etc. And, you can actually launch at Lightening Tree!

Anyway, I surmise the number of fish planted per acre foot of water was probably less in 1997 even tho more fish were put in post 1997 vs. post 2007 when the pool was much smaller to assist in the treatment. And, there were a '****-load' of fish planted post 1997!

I think the explanation from DFG is pretty adequate and sensible. I've always said that if the 'powers that be' allow the lake to fill and stay filled for a few annual cycles, balance maybe restored quickly. If not, we've got an overcrowded "jail" situation without "AC" and "soap/water"..... Not a pretty picture.

[1flyfisher]

I am happy she took her time and went and took a look for some snails and found some. If they are still there they cancome back in time. It may be a while but that's the way it is. Better late than never.

Nothing can be done about the parasites cadfg can only plant new fish and hope the old infected ones stop spreading it and that they die off and decline in number. I have to believe they will decline to past numbers at some point. Who knows when but sooner or later they will fade away. I HOPE.
They will die off with higher colder water perhaps or when the fish that are infected die off and new fish cycle takes over and replaces older fish..

When you rotenone a lake it completely disrupts the balance of the lake. It will take some time before things return to normal and a stable environment. Maybe a few years from now the snails will return.


She looked into the snails and has stated the dfg's position on the parasites.
Works for me. I will send her a thankyou letter and ask why the snails declined significantly from 2003-2007.

I'm curious about why we should expect a personalized response to a number of inquiries about the same subject

Seems to me that the info in the note addresses the questions that have been raised by posters on this BB. Snails are still in the lake but maybe in a down cycle and Copepods were already in the lake and will probably die off during periods of cold water.... Since there doesn't seem to be anything else look in too, they probably won't spend much time on it. But, I'm sure they don't hope that "....it...." will just go away.

IMHO, the DFG response seems adequate for the questions asked whether in a form letter or not. If their response doesn't satisfy, ask a new question(s)....

[Jgoding]

I wonder if the older fish might have been more resistant to parasites or something as well. Not much you can do as when you see the anchor worms they're pretty much releasing gametes at that stage. I always make the point of removing them before releasing a fish as well.

[Darian]

Good point about potential natural resistance, Jeff. One of the points that DFG made was that these copepods were already in the lake and that restocking with large numbers of Trout just increased the number of hosts (Trout) for them. So, stocking has the unintended consequence of contributing to that increase.

Might be a good time to reduce the population of Trout up there by catching and keeping a few (according to DFG, the copepods aren't a danger to humans).

[1flyfisher]

I got a call from Amber Rossi from CADFG yesterday regarding the snail die off in Davis lake.
Basically she said that At this point there is no clear cut answer as to why the snails have vanished and/or gone into such a massive population decline.

She has answered my questions. If anyone has some particular question or concern regarding lake davis I suggest you direct them to amber rossi.

I am going to fish the lake in the near future for a day or two just to see if there are any half way decent size fish around. I will report back what I see and catch.

[OceanSunfish]

I really appreciate your efforts to keep us informed of the goings-on at Lake Davis. It's a special ecoysystem that, when healthy, develops big trout fast and provides a beautiful backdrop to a day's fishing.... There are an awful lot of trout fisherman and towns across this country that would just love to have a "Lake Davis" near to them.... Shame on us if we ever take this lake for granted or allow it to be yet another marginalized fishery by politicians, water grabbers, et. al.

Continue to care about the lake and keep inquiring with DFG. Politicians and water grabbers just love it when nobody cares about a body of water, fish, or ecosystem....

[gene goss]

I got a call from Amber Rossi from CADFG yesterday regarding the snail die off in Davis lake.
Basically she said that At this point there is no clear cut answer as to why the snails have vanished and/or gone into such a massive population decline.

She has answered my questions. If anyone has some particular question or concern regarding lake davis I suggest you direct them to amber rossi.

I am going to fish the lake in the near future for a day or two just to see if there are any half way decent size fish around. I will report back what I see and catch.

THANKS for taking the time to follow this through.....i'll be up there next week enjoying what we do have....c u on the water.