Ice out Pine Lake -- March 25, 2007

SWIM I

A little over a week after the first application I donned the mask and snorkel to view the effects. The water was cold so I contained my curiosity to the north east corner, between our dock and the Methodist's swimming area. Not much was growing in shallow water but a few of the plants, not milfoil, showed signs of chemical burn. I had thought that large bio-raft that sat a few inches below the surface last fall had sank to the bottom of the lake. It hadn't. About eighteen inches below the surface the large bio-raft was melting -- turning to green slime and clearly dying. It was some spectacular carnage. My brief reconnoiter also brought encounters with several perch, dozens of monster blue gills and a thirty pound plus carp with a tail as big as my head.



Later...



The water is much warmer and mask, snorkel and I have circumnavigated the lake. There is still plenty of milfoil growing but there is also a tremendous amount of milfoil that is no more. There are many long "nothing growing" zones which I will watch for signs of new life. Now that I've learned the name of one of the weeds in pine lake it's time to learn the names of all our aquatic inhabitants so I can tell you the names of the ones that are thriving, several are.