I went to Casitas today 1/8/08 and was told by the gatekeeper that the water board wants to close the lake to all boating. To keep this from happening be at 1055 N Ventura ave tomorrow 1/9/08 at 4:30 pm to attend the meeting and let your voice be heard. This is at the water co just north of Santa Ana in Oak View and is on the west side of Ventura ave
Rich

More info...

http://www.westernbass.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=35394&f=3

I attended the meeting and there was a good showing. The board has not voted on this issue yet and will hold another meeting that all can attend on Wed Feb 13th 2008 @ 4:30 pm. They are currently trying to determine the location due to an expected large turn out and I will let you know where when I finnd out. The meeting went fairly well and there is hope, but we can help. Boats need to be clean and dry including livewells and bait tanks. Just take the time to wipe down and dry out. What I feel would be the best solution is for there to be a computerized database on line. This would track boats by CF #'s and allow lake staff to tell where we have been and if there has been enough down time between an infected lake and one that has not been infected. It would take all California lakes participation and a nation wide data base would be even better. We need to take the honesty factor out of the equation or eventually other lakes will get infected. It only takes one person to fish an infected lake and then lie about where they have been to get on an uninfected lake. The necessary time has to elapse for the mussle to die or else we risk infecting a new body of water. Wiping and drying of boats is great but it will not purge the water out of lower units, bait tanks, livewells, bilge or any of its plumbing. The male and female mussle do not have to make contact to mate they only release the eggs and sperm. This can be transported via boats in the larval stage which is not visible to other lakes and then spread the mussle. Bleach and hot water over 104 degrees can kill the mussle and a washing station is a great idea if we run that hot water through our plumbing too. We need to do more than it takes to temporarily keep our boats on the water before the quagga mussle is spread to another lake and it causes a closure. We need to lobby to have the DFG finish a program that it has started like the one I mentioned to track boats. They are already looking in to this but this is a big agency and these things can take quite a while. Trust me I work for the state myself and the logistics will be very challenging. We need to let the DFG know that we feel this is important to protect our lakes and that if necessary we are willing to pay a little more to off set the funds for putting the data base together. Please be honest about where you have fished, and when, it only takes one lie to spread the mussle and infect a new lake. Lets be good ambassadors of our lakes and help educate the public as well. Write the DFG and let them know how important you feel this computerized tracking system is and how much we appreciate what they do. Those Casitas bass would not be the size they are without the DFG feeding them rainbow trout. That is a major reason why the HBC Big Stick tournament will be held there on the 25th. Casitas is a trophy lake and you can thank the DFG for it. let the DFG know how important our lakes are to us. Water is one of the most precious elements on the planet other than air and if we want to be able to play on it and drink that same water we need to recognize that and act accordingly, that means no urinating in there either. Please keep it clean and dry and write the DFG and let them know how you feel about this issue and that you support and thank them and all their hard work. I know all fishermen are not enviromentalists but you can care for the enviroment and catch fish too. We need to be forward thinking, not the IGM attitude. It is all about delayed gratification. Do you want to fish there in the near future or for the rest of your life and know your son, daughter and grandkids will be able to enjoy your passion for fishing just like you do? and if you want to fish it and dont have a boat just call (805) 407-3331 and I will show you some Oak View hospitality.
Peace Richard Lund
Oak View, Ca

Thanks for the update on this. I've been reading up online to get up to speed and everything I see points to this being a big issue - one that is not going away any time soon, if ever.

The idea of a database is interesting, but still complicated. Most lakes I fish use "iron rangers" to collect your money, ostensibly because the lakes are already strapped for cash. An iron ranger can't scan your boat to determine whether to let you in or not.

And what about hand launched craft like float tubes, kick boats, and kayaks? If I have my float tube in the back of my truck under my camper shell and there's a quagga mussel inside the nylon lining around the inner tube, who is going to scan me or check me - and how? I've taken my float tube from lake to lake while it's wet on many occasions. People who operate these lakes are going to realize this real quick - and I don't see good things in the future for hand launched boats as a result.

My gut feeling as it pertains to boats is that there are going to be major lake closures throughout the state in the near future. Water means too much to too many people to give a damn if people get to fish on it. I hope some creative solution can be worked out, but I cannot think of any right now. Clean and dry is a good idea, but how do you dry tubing that runs inside the boat - or check it for that matter? As this comes on to more water district radar screens, they will be thinking very carefully about all possible ways for the mussel to be transferred.

It's also worth noting that the DFG site reports that 90 out of 80,664 trailered boats that were checked at CDFA border stations were quarantined, which I assume means they had the mussels. If that number is greater than zero, water managers will be fearful. If they are fearful, they will go to great lengths to protect water supplies.

I don't know why Casitas is getting all the attention right now, other than that that particular district may have a lot of money or resources to throw at the problem. But what they do will no doubt serve as a baseline for other districts, especially those with less money to research and analyze the issue.

Maybe in the end it will come down to some kind of cost benefit analysis where lakes look at how much revenue they get from boating and camping and compare that with what it would cost them to mitigate mussel infestation. But if your recreation revenues are being used to mitigate mussels, you're out a whole bunch of money. So I don't see how this is all going to work out.

Shore fishing anyone? I'm not joking...

Wednesday Feb 13th will be the next meeting @ 4:30 pm and Ranger Rob of Casitas said so far it is to be held @ 1055 N Ventura Ave in Oak View, Ca. Ranger Rob and I talked for a while today and he stated that if Casitas closes next may be Piru, Castaic and Cachuma. It seems other lakes will be looking to see how Casitas handles this issue. It is a drag that the meeting starts early for those who will be working. It is very important that there is a large attendance of fisherman so we can show how important the lakes are to those of us who recreate on them. The last meeting went a couple hours so if you get off work @ 5:00 just get there when you can. Imagine Casitas did not allow you to bring your boat to fish and Piru, Castaic and Cachuma followed suit. What do you think would happen to Perris, Diamond Valley and other lakes? Those lakes are close to Lake Mathews that already has Quagga mussles in it and this could really take off like a snow ball down hill. I will request to speak at the meeting and I will be requesting that we do everything to keep the lake open while keeping the mussel out and if that means raising fees to pay for equipment to wash boats or fill whatever logistical needs are necessary I would support that. This is a very serious issue and has to be addressed. I feel that if we are to keep these lakes open we must show the water board that we are very willing to help them to make this happen. There is no easy fix to this and these meetings very well may determine the future for many years. If you can attend please do so and be polite. If you want to speak you can fill out the appropriate paperwork to do so. The rumors before the first meeting were pretty grim and that meeting I thought went pretty well. The board is a good bunch of people that happen to be in charge of one of our most precious resources and they do value our opinions, insight and suggestions. I suggest if you want to speak that you take the time to write down what you will say so you look professional and come off as respectable as possible. If the location changes I will post that when I find out. If you have any questions or need directions call me and I will assist however I can.
Peace
Richard Lund (LCL) Lake Casitas Locals
(805) 407-3331

We here in Chicago/Illinois/Midwest/GREAT LAKES AREA, have been dealing with this for quite a while now with the Zebra Mussels. For us, there have been some GOOD, as well as bad, repercussions from the invasive mussels, and GOBYS as well (Asian and Bighead Carp: ALL BAD!) . The whole 'Ocean Going Ship's Bilge Water Issue' should have been addressed DECADES ago,and the indusrty cry of: "but it's cost prohibitive", has and will continue to cost, EXPONENTIALLY, far more than any preventative/protective programs ever would have... The biggest problem with invasives is that almost NOTHING can stop their spread once they are in a waterway, and a biologic and environmental snowballing effect results. If it's not boats, it WILL be a bucket, a reel, someones boot, they will spread if we, as people (hikers along shorelines,BIRDS and ANIMALS, not just fishermen), are moving from one stream/pond/lake/resivoir to another. They WILL spread, the RATE at which they spread IS something we can hopefully affect. I WISH and HOPE all the best on this issue for you guys, as there are MUCH bigger forces out there than 'sportfishermen' that will drive this issue to a TOTAL ban on boats on your California fresh waters (saltwater is their NEXT target (AGAIN)... re:Marine Sanctuaries...etc.) I found this link to help explain some of the issues and basic info. http://www.parks.sfgov.org/wcm_recpark/marina/QuaggaQA.pdf I had REALLY hoped to come out there this year and fish these famous lakes, from a boat... GOOD LUCK TO ALL OF US! (once the Hyper-Left,Hollywood,PETA,etc. get a hold of this, I fear "the boat is sunk" ...... THANKS RICH for being the "POINT" on this and letting folks know... Be Well, Alex

I talked to a guy today that has worked on lakes that have this type of problem. He stated that they used a boiler to backflush the system and kill the mussels in the resevoir piping. He said this is done once a month and it maintains the system. The water board is having a meeting on the 23rd of this month that is closed to the public, would love to be a fly on the wall there. If the lake was to close to incoming boats it would be an annual loss to the lake of approximately $590.000. The docks have been attained with the help of the Department of Boating and Waterways and that opens up legal issues and would probably cause the dock monies to be paid back to the Department of Boating and Waterways. There have been other grants that would probably have to be paid back. I really do not believe closing the lake to incoming boats would be financially feasible and think it would place the lake in debt. I think it is an option and the board realizes that it would put them in debt. I am hoping this is true and the real issue is how to keep the mussles out with preventive measures. If you do come to the lake make sure your livewells and bait tank are dry or you will be turned away.
Peace
Rich