Springmillvol
Member
Family obligations have kept me off the water for a month or so and I was wondering how the grass is coming along this year?
Thanks
Thanks
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How is the grass coming along this year?
- Thread starter Springmillvol
- Start date
FishingwithRusty
Active member
from what ive seen theres plenty of it, hopefully itll be a good grass year
FirstLight
New member
It is growing. But the aquatic herbicide air boats usually start showing up in FULL force about now - so there's that.
FishingwithRusty
Active member
ive been thinking about this. if TVA says they only spray public access points and swim areas and home owners can only pay to have the area around their docks sprayed.................if we see spray boats ANYWHERE else we should challenge/question them and what the hell they are doing.
seriously, if they are not around private docks or public access areas they are not supposed to be spraying as far as i know. someone educate me if im wrong
FirstLight
New member
A of couple years ago we witnessed them spraying in the entrance to possum creek while we were frogging. The creek channel was clear so not sure why they were doing that. They also ran across the river bar out from bear branch with sprayers on. I am not sure, but I would think that any aquatic herbicide(s) that are sprayed in or near the flow of the river will affect water below that application. Might be why in some areas that had clean bottoms in years past have that dead, slimy, gunk infested in them?? - can't make bottom contact or your lure gets mucked up.
FishingwithRusty
Active member
I PERSONALLY WILL CALL THE LAW AND HOLD THEM UNTIL THE LAW SHOWS UP IF I CATCH THEM SPRAYING ANYWHERE THEY ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE
FishingwithRusty
Active member
dunno, but if i see them not running in areas they should be, im going to assume they are spraying and address it
FirstLight
New member
he had a spray wand in his hand.
FirstLight
New member
TVA has a treatment schedule and map on their website.
https://www.tva.com/environment/env...tic-plant-id/aquatic-weeds-treatment-schedule
if you go by that map, there should not be much spraying AT ALL. at least on chick.
https://www.tva.com/environment/env...tic-plant-id/aquatic-weeds-treatment-schedule
if you go by that map, there should not be much spraying AT ALL. at least on chick.
FishingwithRusty
Active member
there it is folks, if you see them outside of these areas or adjacent to homeonwners docks we should question what they are doing! SERIOUSLY, the only thing keeping chick from becoming a dead sea is the grass!
Rusty, this fight started long ago. I sat at the table with lake "stakeholders" and TVA when they came up with the new "rules". and they are not legal rules., but an agreement amongst the stake holders. I was president of CBA at the time and felt like we needed to be involved as much as possible and I think the fishermen in general did a good job putting pressure on TVA to stick to their agreement. Im not gonna rehash what the agreement says because its there for you to read. But, the contracted Sprayer; Aquaservices, has their shit together. They have all of the TDEC (State arm of the EPA) permits, which BTW are not hard to get. And they follow the rules. Their herbicides are weighted with chelated copper, so they sink. They have a main tank that has rubber hoses that hang behind the boat and are released subsurface so you wont ever see an actual "Spray" coming from the boat. TVA doesnt want to spend the money to treat any more areas than they have to, and Aqua services is not going to treat an area just because they dont like the grass. Does that make sense? I guess Im trying to say, I dont believe these guys bend the rules, because they have no motivation to do so. its too expensive to pay for chemicals and labor to do it for free, the other end of that is how are they gonna make any more money if all of the grass gets wiped out of the lake? Let me be clear, I am 100% anti-herbicide!!! I fought my ass off and spent a lot of time working to keep 1988-91 from happening again, and its not. Back then, it was a lake wide aquatic vegetation extermination project and it worked for years. what they are doing now is more of management.
We followed spray boats for years and annually hear people saying they were spraying the main river and all this and that, but no one has ever offered proof. If you do see what you think is wrong doing, I suggest you make a call to TDEC, and the Hamilton County office of the Dept. of Agriculture.
pinsandfins
New member
From what I understand, TVA contracts out most of the spraying. And from what I know about spraying chemical, you can’t leave any chemical in the tank and lines, and they have to be washed out daily. That being said, any time they spray an area they are hired to spray and they have chemical left over, they go get rid of it somewhere else. I have witnessed it on the lower chick where they have gone up into sloughs with no docks in them to get rid of the rest. Very unfortunate and they should be regulated and monitored better than they are.
In reality, TVA could not care less about aquatic vegetation if it does not impact power plants. But when it does or threatens to clog intakes, once through piping, or any plant equipment they will take action. There has been a big eel grass problem on Guntersville for the past couple of years in particular with the grass breaking loose and getting into Browns Ferry's intakes. Besides hydro, nuclear power is the least expensive to produce. You can bet TVA will do all they can to protect power generation which I agree they should. I don't like spraying of any type anywhere, but sometimes it is necessary in some places unless you want to live by candlelight or you think wind and solar power will allow you to live as you do now.
FishingwithRusty
Active member
if i see this i will call them on it and call as many agencies as possible, video and pics as well!!
FishingwithRusty
Active member
certainly this post got off track from the OP's intent but im pretty sure he got the info he was looking for and i hope everyone else reading picked some info.
if we see spray boats in the main channel or uninhabited areas we should take note, watch, record and question them.
if we see spray boats in the main channel or uninhabited areas we should take note, watch, record and question them.