Controlling Milfoil in Dam

[Jacquesdw]

Hi I have a dam on the farm that is being covered with milfoil. I have grass carp in but they are too few and would need to get some more (at a price!). But for the next few years the milfoil will just keep on growing. The bass and kurper that are stocked are doing very well and I would love to keep catching them. I am now restricted to using weedless, weightless soft plastics as the milfoil is just too hectic.

Tried to trek the stuff out yesterday with a 40m piece of cable with thick rope either end, and two tractors. Just ended up getting nearly drowned and breaking the rope.

Swam around afterwards with a diving mask and basically the whole bottom is covered.

Does anybody have any advice? BTW the dam is 1.8 hectares in surface area.

I could imagine that the milfoil provides great habitat for small fry but can bigger fish get inside it. Seems incredibly dense.

 

[Jacquesdw]

http://sealine.co.za/view_topic.php?id=8817&forum_id=3

http://sealine.co.za/view_topic.php?id=85759&forum_id=32

Previous posts about the dam FYI

 

[Jacquesdw]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myriophyllum

http://des.nh.gov/organization/commissioner/pip/factsheets/bb/documents/bb-1.pdf

 

[axle]

It's caused by an abundance of nutrients entering your dam. I see you have blue kurper in there which is strange cos they usually sort it out. Obviously your nutrient load is very heavy.
Basically what it means is that too many nutrients are entering your dam. If you fertilize the area around the dam it can run-off into the dam when it rains. It could be coming from the Breede too. The best is to create a buffer. Basically its a "barrier" that can filter out some of the nutrients before it enters the dam. This can be tall grass, or a "wetland" or similar.
A quick solution is to use 2 or 3 layers of steel wire and drag it to "cut" it and clear it out.

 

[Jafta1]

You can use Midstream as this will sort out your problem. Midstream is a herbicide that can be used for floating aquatic weeds as well as submerged aquatic weeds and can be used in fish-bearing dams without any danger to fish or birds. You can contact Charl Carey on 082 388 0907 or charl@laeveld.co.za. He will be able to assist with proper calculations on what amount can be applied either by inflow water or spot treatment with a knapsack spray pack.

 

[Jacquesdw]

Thank you! I appreciate it!