New Zealand Mud Snail found in Little Lehigh

[afishinado]

Article found in the PFBC site about NZ mud snails in the LL.

NZ Mudsnails LL

 

[Mike]

Wildlands Conservancy is about a mile, give or take, below the upper fly stretch.

Saw a photo of a tiny mud snail from Spring Ck clinging to the edge of a shoe lace or the rough material next to it on a wading boot. I am not so sure that most people would have looked closely enough at their boots to have spotted it. After having seen that photo, I wonder whether feltless, boot-foot waders would be less likely to pick up or provide a suitable surface for mud snails. There aren't nearly as many nooks and crannies on a rubber boot and the surface is more slippery. Additionally, clinging critters would be easier to spot.

 

[jifigz]

Eventually they will be everywhere. All famous trout streams will have them and there is really no stopping it. Now, this is a serious question. What is their habitat like in New Zealand and if they are so terrible how does New Zealand have spectacular brown trout fishing?

 

[Dave_W]

Dang.

Thanks for the heads' up. As far as I'm aware, Spring Creek is the only stream in PA with these critters(?). They have really colonized the stream bottom there.

 

[dryflyguy]

Mike wrote:
Wildlands Conservancy is about a mile, give or take, below the upper fly stretch.

Saw a photo of a tiny mud snail from Spring Ck clinging to the edge of a shoe lace or the rough material next to it on a wading boot. I am not so sure that most people would have looked closely enough at their boots to have spotted it. After having seen that photo, I wonder whether feltless, boot-foot waders would be less likely to pick up or provide a suitable surface for mud snails. There aren't nearly as many nooks and crannies on a rubber boot and the surface is more slippery. Additionally, clinging critters would be easier to spot.

IMO, lug - or vibram - soles, offer a lot more nooks and crannys for mud snails to get into and stay, than felt.

 

[afishinado]

NZ Mud Snail Fact Sheet

 

[jifigz]

It sucks that they are established in one of the most waded streams of our state. It also sucks that many will probably fish Spring and then without giving it any thought head to Penns, Little J, etc. Call me a pessimist but I don't think those other streams will be safe from the snail for long.

 

[salmonoid]

jifigz wrote:
It sucks that they are established in one of the most waded streams of our state. It also sucks that many will probably fish Spring and then without giving it any thought head to Penns, Little J, etc. Call me a pessimist but I don't think those other streams will be safe from the snail for long.

For long? I'd bet they are already present. I've talked to a number of folks on Spring and some of them are completely ignorant of the fact that NZ snails are present, despite the posters at various places and other PFBC attempts at education. I don't see how they haven't hitchiked to various locations across the state.

Kind of ironic that we talk about invasive snails from NZ and you ask about browns thriving in NZ ;-)

 

[dryflyguy]

I'm not surprised to hear this.
And fear that they're only going to spread further

Spring creek feeds into Bald Eagle, which feeds into the West Branch Susquehanna River. Gonna be pretty much impossible to contain them IMO

 

[jifigz]

salmonoid wrote:

jifigz wrote:
It sucks that they are established in one of the most waded streams of our state. It also sucks that many will probably fish Spring and then without giving it any thought head to Penns, Little J, etc. Call me a pessimist but I don't think those other streams will be safe from the snail for long.

For long? I'd bet they are already present. I've talked to a number of folks on Spring and some of them are completely ignorant of the fact that NZ snails are present, despite the posters at various places and other PFBC attempts at education. I don't see how they haven't hitchiked to various locations across the state.

Kind of ironic that we talk about invasive snails from NZ and you ask about browns thriving in NZ ;-)

Well seriously, if NZ boasts some dang good brownie fishing, what there keeps these evil snails in check? Is there some critter that is able to feed on them and destroy them that we don't have? Maybe we need shellcracker populations here in our waters.....not that they would be all that at home in a trout stream.

 

[salmonoid]

jifigz wrote:

salmonoid wrote:

jifigz wrote:
It sucks that they are established in one of the most waded streams of our state. It also sucks that many will probably fish Spring and then without giving it any thought head to Penns, Little J, etc. Call me a pessimist but I don't think those other streams will be safe from the snail for long.

For long? I'd bet they are already present. I've talked to a number of folks on Spring and some of them are completely ignorant of the fact that NZ snails are present, despite the posters at various places and other PFBC attempts at education. I don't see how they haven't hitchiked to various locations across the state.

Kind of ironic that we talk about invasive snails from NZ and you ask about browns thriving in NZ ;-)

Well seriously, if NZ boasts some dang good brownie fishing, what there keeps these evil snails in check? Is there some critter that is able to feed on them and destroy them that we don't have? Maybe we need shellcracker populations here in our waters.....not that they would be all that at home in a trout stream.

I'm not sure it is known what affect they have on a stream. It's assumed their sheer volume could put a hurting on a macro population. But maybe the concern is overblown. Given their density on some of the rocks at Spring, I don't see how they could NOT have an affect on aquatic life, but who knows?

If there is a critter there that keeps them in check, introducing it here would probably have some sort of unintended consequence.

Apparently, in NZ, they are infected by parasitic trematodes (flatworms/flukes), which sterilize enough of them to keep the population in check. Can't see what would possibly go wrong with releasing a few million of them

 

[jifigz]

https://www.nzgeo.com/stories/attack-of-the-clones/

Here is a good link to an interesting article on them. There is definitely a parasite that helps keep them in check in NZ. Also, I believe I remember that we should all thoroughly dry our gear after being in infected waters but this article makes it sound like they can live for days out of water and the only surefire was is to freeze your gear or heat it up. I can't imagine heating my waders and boots to the "kill temp" is very good for their lifespan.

 

[lycoflyfisher]

Freezing seems to be the best method imo, its easy to put breathable waders into a garbage bag and put in the freezer overnight. For people jumping watersheds on back to back days this seems to really be the most reasonable method if you have the time. Industrial 409 and heat area definitely tough on gear.

 

[dryflyguy]

lycoflyfisher wrote:
Freezing seems to be the best method imo, its easy to put breathable waders into a garbage bag and put in the freezer overnight. For people jumping watersheds on back to back days this seems to really be the most reasonable method if you have the time. Industrial 409 and heat area definitely tough on gear.

Unless you're on an extended fishing trip and camping out

 

[lycoflyfisher]

dryflyguy wrote:

lycoflyfisher wrote:
Freezing seems to be the best method imo, its easy to put breathable waders into a garbage bag and put in the freezer overnight. For people jumping watersheds on back to back days this seems to really be the most reasonable method if you have the time. Industrial 409 and heat area definitely tough on gear.

Unless you're on an extended fishing trip and camping out

At that point though are you truly jumping to an entirely different watershed? For me if I have an interest in fishing multiple streams but am considering to fish spring creek in a day, I always make spring my last stop or I have a pair of rubber hip boots that I will wear on spring and not on other streams.

 

[dryflyguy]

lycoflyfisher wrote:

dryflyguy wrote:

lycoflyfisher wrote:
Freezing seems to be the best method imo, its easy to put breathable waders into a garbage bag and put in the freezer overnight. For people jumping watersheds on back to back days this seems to really be the most reasonable method if you have the time. Industrial 409 and heat area definitely tough on gear.

Unless you're on an extended fishing trip and camping out

At that point though are you truly jumping to an entirely different watershed? For me if I have an interest in fishing multiple streams but am considering to fish spring creek in a day, I always make spring my last stop or I have a pair of rubber hip boots that I will wear on spring and not on other streams.

I sometimes take off fishing for 8-9 days in a row.
And my travels often take me to many parts of the state.
This past spring, I even wound up in west virginia for a bit - before heading straight to central PA
So, yeah I usually fish my way through many different watersheds.

I've been carrying two - and sometimes even three - sets of waders and boots with me.
Besides mud snail concerns, some of my other haunts contain didymo.

As for freezing to kill mud snails - I've done it to my boots when I finally get home.
But just can't bring myself to stick my Simms G4Z's in the freezer!

 

[salmo]

Found this article informative on the NZMS. http://www.walpa.org/waterline/march-2013/the-invasive-new-zealand-mud-snail-may-be-hitchhiking-on-your-field-gear/

 

[afishinado]

Article about NZMS from the Lehigh County Authority;

NZ Mud Snails