Lake Erie Algae Bloom

[motocross269]

I would assume all of that crazy yellow crap in the water is algae...I couldn't see my bait in a foot of water at Colchester today....How long does that mess usually last??

[River Rat]

I was wondering about all that as well!  My wife and I were out there today and couldn't believe the water quality.  I'm hoping that was algae...

http://www.lakeeriesportfishing.com/lakeerie-satillite-image.html

RR

[Skulley]

I was out there as well yesterday.  I didn't notice it being that bad.  Although I did not go all the way to Colchester, I had clear water as far as Oxford Beach.  I caught a lot of fish from Bar Point to Oxford Beach.  Water quality was fair to good.  Didn't feel the need to go all the way to Colchester.  There are algae blooms out there however, I would say that is more mud due to the high winds we have had previous to this past week.  I will be going out there again this week as I am on vacation this week from work.  I also plan a trip or two up to LCS.

BD           

[motocross269]

I was out there as well yesterday.  I didn't notice it being that bad.  Although I did not go all the way to Colchester, I had clear water as far as Oxford Beach.  I caught a lot of fish from Bar Point to Oxford Beach.  Water quality was fair to good.  Didn't feel the need to go all the way to Colchester.  There are algae blooms out there however, I would say that is more mud due to the high winds we have had previous to this past week.  I will be going out there again this week as I am on vacation this week from work.  I also plan a trip or two up to LCS.

BD            

It cleared out as you got closer to the river because of the current I would think....It started heavy about Colchester and went all of the way to Pelee....It WAS NOT mud...It was small particles of yellowish green and almost reflective....I have seen plenty of Mud, but that is the first time I have seen anything quite like that...It was super thick around the helicopter pad at Colchester..You can see it pretty clear on the satellite imagery that River Rat supplied..

[Skulley]

I have only really gone as far as Colchester all season.  I haven't had to and I've had some of the best days of fishing out there in a long time.  Probably because it has been spring all summer long out there.  I haven't had to go as far as the copter pad.  LCS has had spring all summer long out there as well.

Sounds like the mustard algae is blooming.       Erie gets mustard algae which explains the yellow color.  It gets this rather than the other because Erie doesn't have a lot of weed beds per sey.  It has mussel beds and gravel beds and boulder beds.  Sometimes the mussels grow all over the boulder beds and the gravel beds.  The algae grows inbetween.  When it blooms you get yellow water.  It becomes a dead zone.     Along with quagga mussel areas there are more and more dead zones ( no oxygen in the water to support fish  ) and there are fish die offs or the fish move.  That probably explains why the fishing has been good at the mouth of the river as well as from Bar Point to Colchester.  I have had some real good days out there in the last 2 to 3 weeks.  I really can not complain.         

BD            

[SethV]

I was between Colchester and Kingsville yesterday.  That algae is really thick out there.  Nasty stuff, stinks bad.  I was surprised, but some of my bigger fish came right under the thickest nastest stuff.  Hard to fight the fish when you can't see them at all.  Kinda werid.

I actually did better east of Colchester in the nasty looking water than I did west of Colchester in the clean water.

Seth

[River Rat]

We were at the Colchester Reef yesterday and it was mighty thick, especially to the west!  We didn't run the shoreline out or back and it was just everywhere offshore.  As Seth stated, it stunk, but not nearly as bad as the Cormorant Condo at Peche Is...

I was out at the mouth of the Detroit River in MI waters and the "bloom" stood no chance of coming across even with the strong east winds.

[River Rat]

I've heard over the last two days that the algae is a combination of pesticides and fertilizers from farms in Ohio.  I heard it first from an uncle of mine who has no direct interest in any of this and then again on a Windsor radio station this morning.

Has anyone else found any information?!  This could be a real kick in the pants.  Looking at it again this morning the satelite images show it growing dramatically.

[EKennedy]

Never fished Erie...but I know Kent Lake has a floating layer of Goldenrod pollen on it.  Definately yellow, definately not IN the water...but floating on top.  Goldenrod is in full bloom around here.  Not tremendous fishing...but not the worst I've experienced it.  Seems where the pollen is..the bite isn't.  Guess it really depends on the way the wind blows abnd where the goldenrod is.  Maybe that helps.

[blazer64]

Whats the algae looking like on Erie is it getting any better? And hows the fishing been and what depths would one chase the smallies in right now?

[SethV]

Its even worse than it was.  It is from Colchester to Pelee and it is not just on the surface anymore.  Wind stirred it up and mixed it in the water column.  All the way down to the bottom now.  Really screwed up the bite.   

[djkimmel]

Someone sent me the satellite image. Looked like gooey pea soup. Yuck!