Zebra's loosing their grip?

[Walleye Express]

When I pulled my Big boat 2 weeks ago after it sat in the marina water for about 100 days, I was shocked to see very few Zebra Mussel attached to the outdrives, protective boots or trim tabs like in years before. I'll bet there wasn't 100 mussels all together on the whole thing. This compares to about the 3,000 I estimate were there last year. I thought that my decision to paint my outdrives with the usual copper anti-fouling bottom paint last spring was the reason, and I was kinda proud of myself. But now I hear that everybody is seeing less mussels this year then in years past. Could it be that the goby populations are thinning them out? Anybody else who leaves their boats in the water all summer on the Great Lakes or connecting waters seeing the same thing?

[Priority1]

It does seem like we pull up less Zebras on our fishing lures, and anchor. I also noticed less Zebras washing up on the beaches. A few years back if anything bumped bottom, we would have clusters of zebras hanging on to it.

[Walleye Express]

I E-mailed my DNR bud about this and heres his answer.

Dan:

I am only speculating, but I doubt its the gobies, instead we are seeing far more quagga mussels in the bay and far fewer zebra mussels. What has changed to give quaggas the upper hand over zebras I don't know. The benthification process (the filtering of organic matter from the water cloumn) that is playing out in Lake Huron is continuing and in ways we don't exactly understand right now.

[Walleye Express]

And now the worst news. http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=423678

[shu9265]

Dan,

I know when we are perch fishing, the fish are full of zebra mussels!

I for one was under the impression that the only fish eating them were sheephead. And we are getting far fewer of them when dragging lures that are bumping the bottom. A least here in the central basin of Lake Erie.