Quagga at Lake Piru confirmed

Bass Pro Shopper · Post by **Bass Pro Shopper** » Thu Jan 09, 2014 4:51 am

According to this article, DNA testing proved it was quagga that was discovered there a few weeks ago. Here we go!

http://www.noozhawk.com/article/lakes_c ... n_20140105

mark poulson · Post by **mark poulson** » Thu Jan 09, 2014 6:18 am

That's bad news for all of us who fish Piru.
Since the mussels were between 1/2" and 3/4", according to the article, they are mature, so they have been there for some time. That means that all of us who had tags from Castaic who were able to fish Piru, and then be retagged, are potential vectors/spreaders of the mussels to where ever we fished next.
I drain my bilge, and my boat sits for a week before I fish again, but the carpet on the top of the bunks is still wet when I launch again, so there is a chance the veiglers (immature larval stage) of the mussels could have hitched a ride with me right into Castaic.

This is truly a lousy situation, and I blame the State of California.
The failure of the State to establish an overriding boat inspection protocol and treatment regime when they first became aware of the invasion is monumental. It shows a total disregard for the threat to our water infrastructure, and leaves us, the taxpayers, exposed to huge costs to keep our water systems clear.
I'm guessing the State didn't want to be the one responsible for establishing overarching regulations, so they couldn't be held financially responsible when a lake that followed their protocols became infected anyway.
What a bunch of short sighted, gutless wonders!

knight · Post by **knight** » Thu Jan 09, 2014 6:36 am

Well then I guess the guys that fished Piru and then went back to Casitas may have done the same thing. It's only a matter of time man. The clean and dry only temporarily prevented the inevitable. Isn't there a fish or some other creature that eats these things? There's gotta be.

gixxer464 · Post by **gixxer464** » Thu Jan 09, 2014 8:23 am

knight wrote:Well then I guess the guys that fished Piru and then went back to Casitas may have done the same thing. It's only a matter of time man. The clean and dry only temporarily prevented the inevitable. Isn't there a fish or some other creature that eats these things? There's gotta be.

I believe the red ear sun fish a.k.a shell cracker can and do eat quagga muscles. I believe that's why they get so large on Lake havasu.

elfish16 · Post by **elfish16** » Thu Jan 09, 2014 8:43 am

knight wrote:Well then I guess the guys that fished Piru and then went back to Casitas may have done the same thing. It's only a matter of time man. The clean and dry only temporarily prevented the inevitable. Isn't there a fish or some other creature that eats these things? There's gotta be.

The issue that I noticed at Piru when I ever fished there during the "clean and dry inspections" was they didn't even check the boat i was fishing out of... granted it wasn't my own boat. I fished derbies at Piru over the last few years and their rules weren't very good, they invited this infestation. hey...on the bright side, one more year of this weather and Piru will be dry as a bone and it can kill the mussel that way.

Sadly, people forget BIRDS carry these things in their poop. There is NO way to stop this.

Kelly Ripa · Post by **Kelly Ripa** » Thu Jan 09, 2014 5:45 pm

I would think the ultimate indicator that wildfowl can move quagga is when they do show at Casitas. I don't agree at all with ya on this one Ralph. It might have been sloppy elsewhere but at Casitas Ranger Robb and crew kept us clean and dry and still you had a (back then) 10 day wait. I believe the goby in the great lake chain is responsible not only for the demise of a large portion of the mussel's but also 6 pound smallmouth. I would agree that a shell cracker can eat the mussel but not in the juvenile stage.