Lake Mattamuskeet SAV

kahunter

Eight Pointer
Havent heard about the state of the lake in a while. Has their been any updates?? I had talked to a grower who was approached about growing some aquatic grasses for the lake but It didnt go anywhere. Was wondering if anything new has happenned with getting this place back to where it should be.
 

JONOV

Old Mossy Horns
Havent heard about the state of the lake in a while. Has their been any updates?? I had talked to a grower who was approached about growing some aquatic grasses for the lake but It didnt go anywhere. Was wondering if anything new has happenned with getting this place back to where it should be.
Isn't that kind of a moot point if you don't get rid of the carp? Drain the whole lake. It's been done at plenty of lakes before, for the express purpose of getting rid of the carp and motivated in large part by duck hunters.
 

Downeast

Twelve Pointer
The lake is to a large degree a man-made entity and should be managed like any other impoundment. Years ago they dug a ditch to drain it into the Sound (Outfall Canal) and built the largest pump in the nation to pump what wouldn't drain and grew crops. There is nothing natural about the lake now.
 
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kahunter

Eight Pointer
Isn't that kind of a moot point if you don't get rid of the carp? Drain the whole lake. It's been done at plenty of lakes before, for the express purpose of getting rid of the carp and motivated in large part by duck hunters.
I agree with you 100%. Hopefully they will reverse the issues and get it back where it should be. No reason that lake should be devoid of plant material. Sad really.
 

shurshot

Ten Pointer
Wish it was as simple as removing the carp. Lots of other factors but according to a big study by wildlife biologist, the main concern deals with the watershed runoff from the agriculture fields into the ditches and subsequently finding their way into the lake. I think a lack of water quality is a concern for all estuaries, rivers, bays and sounds. The Chesapeake is having it’s issues as well. I well remember the times when you had to be extra cautious running the Pamlico so as not to drive right into mats of eel grass when hunting.
 

coachcornbread

Ten Pointer
Wish it was as simple as removing the carp. Lots of other factors but according to a big study by wildlife biologist, the main concern deals with the watershed runoff from the agriculture fields into the ditches and subsequently finding their way into the lake. I think a lack of water quality is a concern for all estuaries, rivers, bays and sounds. The Chesapeake is having it’s issues as well. I well remember the times when you had to be extra cautious running the Pamlico so as not to drive right into mats of eel grass when hunting.
I was at a meeting a couple of years ago at Mattamuskeet HS held by the feds. The feeling I got leaving that meeting was the contributing factors were both runoff from neighboring fields and mismanagement by the refuge staff. There was some pretty colorful commentary from the locals about the subject during the meeting.
 

shurshot

Ten Pointer
I was at a meeting a couple of years ago at Mattamuskeet HS held by the feds. The feeling I got leaving that meeting was the contributing factors were both runoff from neighboring fields and mismanagement by the refuge staff. There was some pretty colorful commentary from the locals about the subject during the meeting.

Oh I’m sure it was very colorful, lol! And yes, there has been a lot of finger pointing at refugee management, particularly concerning the flood control gates where salt water intrusion is a big concern.
 

JONOV

Old Mossy Horns
Wish it was as simple as removing the carp. Lots of other factors but according to a big study by wildlife biologist, the main concern deals with the watershed runoff from the agriculture fields into the ditches and subsequently finding their way into the lake. I think a lack of water quality is a concern for all estuaries, rivers, bays and sounds. The Chesapeake is having it’s issues as well. I well remember the times when you had to be extra cautious running the Pamlico so as not to drive right into mats of eel grass when hunting.
Stupid question obviously...But shouldn't there be good with the bad on that one? Fertilizer to encourage growth as well as herbicide runoff?
 

shurshot

Ten Pointer
In a nutshell, too many nutrients can cause algae blooms which block sunlight from reaching SAV. They also deplete the oxygen levels needed to sustain both plants and animal life. Clearing of land that contained these sponge like filters has allowed too many pollutants into our once protected waters.
 

Hydemarsh

Six Pointer
I go to all the meetings and have read every study. It seems the government people just want to study and not act. The state biologist and the DU people utter the same scripted mantra as the Fed's.

The big problem is no action. Requiring settling ponds on the canals that drain into the lake. Measuring water content when farmers are spraying crops (or just after a rain) to determine the Atrazine levels. Netting the d%!##@* carp. Replanting SAV after getting rid of the carp.

Just as a note: a lake is considered past the point of no return for SAV when carp numbers are 90 per acre. Electro shocking shows a population of about 110 per acre. They are an invasive non native species.

The salt water thing was BS. Some salt water would probably help. When the lake was at its peak for waterfowl and grass there where no gates. The gates caused it to be more fresh. Hence the Redhead grass, widgeon grass did not do as well and was replaced by celery. The carp have eaten the celery and there is nothing to replace it. Nothing to consume the nutients and we have large alge blooms, which makes it harder for anything to establish.

Net the carp, plant sago and Naidia. the celery will returm
n on its own when the water clears up.

High water levels have hurt as well.

I heard the refuge manager was retiring this Oct, does anyone know if it happened.
 

Hydemarsh

Six Pointer
I talked with a commercial fisherman in Swansquarter who said he could get most of the carp in a few weeks. If the feds will allow it I would pay him just to try and save the place. Wish DU would get behind this.

There are almost 5,000,000 grass eating carp in Skeet. bow hunting will not touch that number.
 

Wanchese

Twelve Pointer
If the government actually decided to do it, they would probably say $100,000,000.00.


Reality...............You give commercial fishermen the green light and pay $1 per fish, they would be gone. They're in a lake, they can't get away and they're big enough that the nets you would use wouldn't catch the panfish or very many of the bass.
 

darenative

Twelve Pointer
If the government actually decided to do it, they would probably say $100,000,000.00.


Reality...............You give commercial fishermen the green light and pay $1 per fish, they would be gone. They're in a lake, they can't get away and they're big enough that the nets you would use wouldn't catch the panfish or very many of the bass.

Carp and gar derby open to all commercial fishermen in the state for a week. Grand prize is a new Ford f350 and $10k in cash with a 200hp suzuki outboard as second place prize. Close the lake for a week and let the boys have at it.?
 

ducknut

Eight Pointer
Carp and gar derby open to all commercial fishermen in the state for a week. Grand prize is a new Ford f350 and $10k in cash with a 200hp suzuki outboard as second place prize. Close the lake for a week and let the boys have at it.?
Heck yeah. I'd pay good money just to watch
 

JONOV

Old Mossy Horns
If the government actually decided to do it, they would probably say $100,000,000.00.


Reality...............You give commercial fishermen the green light and pay $1 per fish, they would be gone
. They're in a lake, they can't get away and they're big enough that the nets you would use wouldn't catch the panfish or very many of the bass.
I don't know how it works here, but there are guys that commercial fish the Mississippi for carp and Buffalo without being paid by the state. They're mostly shipped to Chicago and New York. No reason we couldn't sell our carp to NY.
 

Wanchese

Twelve Pointer
There's not much demand for them. What little market there is, stays flooded. The ones we catch in the sound, you can't hardly give away. When we do sell them, we get 5 to 10 cent per pound. No one in going to target them for that.

The state's out there have tried all kinds of stuff to create a market and can hardly get rid of them.

Lake Mattamuskeet is going to be a one and done deal. You can't create a market for something that the supply of is going to be gone in a short time period.

The cat food companies don't even want them.
 

woodmoose

Administrator
Staff member
Contributor
There's not much demand for them. What little market there is, stays flooded. The ones we catch in the sound, you can't hardly give away. When we do sell them, we get 5 to 10 cent per pound. No one in going to target them for that.

The state's out there have tried all kinds of stuff to create a market and can hardly get rid of them.

Lake Mattamuskeet is going to be a one and done deal. You can't create a market for something that the supply of is going to be gone in a short time period.

The cat food companies don't even want them.

Build a fish cannery
Buy a bunch of pickling spices, vinegar and white wine
Start marketing online targeting eco-fresks and Norwegians,,,call it “Save the SAV pickled fish”

Heck bet I can get @nccatfisher to sign on as an early investor! :p:LOL:
 

nccatfisher

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Start marketing online targeting eco-fresks and Norwegians,,,call it “Save the SAV pickled fish”

Heck bet I can get @nccatfisher to sign on as an early investor! :p:LOL:
Naw, I am too old. I am not in the high risk market anymore. I don't think there are that many foreigners that have fickle taste. :p I would have to have a sure return on my money at this point. Maybe a squirrel and gravy type of thing. LOL
 

Hydemarsh

Six Pointer
Wanchese, Darenative and woodmoose those are some seriously good answers.

There is a lot of Chicken manure spread on the fields on the north side of Skeet in the spring, I have not heard this discussed, does anyone know the impact?
 

nccatfisher

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Wanchese, Darenative and woodmoose those are some seriously good answers.

There is a lot of Chicken manure spread on the fields on the north side of Skeet in the spring, I have not heard this discussed, does anyone know the impact?
Depending on the state it is spread, mainly how dry, that stuff is full of nitrogen. If there is a major rain/runoff it would have an impact.
 
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