Articles : A Look into Muskellunge Vegetative Habitat

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A Look into Muskellunge Vegetative Habitat
By: Steven James Rusteberg

Muskellunge love it, anglers long for more of it, and biologists struggle to control it. What is “it”? Eurasian Watermilfoil, more commonly known as “Coontail” by anglers, is a non-native freshwater plant inhabiting lakes and streams from Florida to Quebec and most of North America westward. Understanding more about this muskellunge habitat will likely help the average angler catch more fish. This article will focus on the growth and development of the plant, and the importance of this habitat to the muskellunge. Bear in mind that this aquatic weed we call “good structure” is a menace to most aquatic biologists. Understanding more about aquatic vegetation will likely help the angler better understand why the muskellunge prefer it. Often times, when we our looking to find a muskellunge, finding the Coontail, means finding a fish.

Coontail is native to most of Europe, but has found its way across the vast expanse of ocean to our waters, sometime around 1880. In theory this weed came over to North America by attaching to ships. It has now become a dreaded foreign invader. Most scientific papers I have read report a problem with this perennial sometime around the mid-1970. Coontail is a very fast reproductive weed that can germinate from seed, or reproduce itself from fragment. Most often this plant reproduces by fragment, much like a Geranium you might perchance from a local greenhouse. A portion of the plant breaks off (or is cut) and that piece of plant is capable of producing an exact DNA replica of the (stock plant) parent plant. Coontail can also produce itself from seed but is much more likely to reproduce from fragmenting in a real life aquatic environment. Boats, swimmers, currents, and even aquatic insects help spread the weed throughout a lake, stream, or creek.

Coontail is a perennial plant, meaning that it can (and will) survive winter months under the cold depths of an icy lake. In fall the plant tends to die back to the root ball. In this ball of root and soil the plant stores Carbohydrate for the spring. When angling, look for Coontail to grow in areas with fine textured sediments. Often times the “grayline” on a depthfinder can point these areas out to you. The bottom content must contain a high level of inorganic sediments, such as sandy muck or a pebbly bottom. The weed grows very poorly on highly organic sediments. It can grow in depths of over thirty feet, but more commonly can be found in water fifteen feet or less. Coontail needs a high amount of light in order to grow efficiently. Looking for this plant on shorelines that receive a high amount of sunlight can be a good place to start your search. The perennial plant can grow in shallow still waters, as well as turbulent deeper waters.

Often times in my travels I hear of anglers commenting on the “weed year”. Many will gather a guess as to weather or not the aquatic growth (often time directly related to the fishing year) will have adverse effects on the fishing year or not. In studding Eurasian Watermilfoil I had hoped to gather some insight into this topic of discussion. I had hoped that water temperature would have a lot to do with this nomenclature. However, it appears that water temperature dose not have as much to do with plant performance as does sunlight. Coontail can thrive in water temperature of just sixty degrees. It has evolved to live in some of the most intolerable water conditions North America has thrown at it. Coontail can tolerate pH levels as low as 5.4 and as high as 11. It has learned to live with pollutants, high levels of salt, and even extreme temperature fluctuations. Predicting weather or not it is going to be a good weed year without a “Magic 8 Ball” leaves your guess to be as good as mine. The best way to predict a good weed year is to observe the amount of high quality daylight. This tends to have more to do with the plant success than do other factors.

On several annual trips to Pewaukee Lake in Southeast Wisconsin I have seen the massive weed harvesters. Biologists consider Eurasian Watermilfoil an exotic menace. The plant can easily choke a lake to death. Using tools like the weed harvester, Lake Biologists can control the plant reproduction and growth by cutting paths through the thickest growth. Although only a temporary solution to the already out of control problem, biologists attempt to cut down on the rising pH, and decreased oxygen under the mats. Increased tempature under the vegetation, and increased nitrogen are detrimental to other naturally occurring plant and aquatic life.