Skinner lake - possible Bluestoning ?

[gletemfeelsteelgary]

Heads up, it's my beleif that the lake has been bluestoned and the bite shut off from around new years day.

By all means if anyone has any info otherwise (as to the bite etc.) please share.

Again, this is not a confirmed report of the bluestoning but if anyone is heading there...beware

[castone001]

excuse my ignorance here.....what is "Bluestoning"?

[Bradakas]

http://www.insideline.net/cgi-bin/ez-forum.pl?noframes;read=16417

[sweetfish]

Hey Gary,

I was at Skinner on New Year's Weekend, and the fish seemed to be non existant. There was not any shad activity at ramp 2. This would explain the lack of catching around that time.

Wouldn't it be fairly accurate that the bluestoning effect to be gone by now? They are suppose to have a trout plant tomorrow and was hoping to go out there this weekend for another shot at giving the jailbirds another round of a blood bath. What do you think?

[gletemfeelsteelgary]

I can't pretend to be a biologist so I won't wax intelexual on the subject, below are a few details on it but they are very complex and are far from conclusive.

I personally cannot give you the lowdown why exactly, things are detrimental to the bite but I can say from my own experiences that when blue stoning occurs, it really messes the bite up, usually for a month or sometimes more.

Blue stoning is when they put chemicals into the water to reduce algae and such, the little bit of technical data I have found lends itself to the great possibility of human error when too much chemical is added etc.

Again, I do not have all the real hardcore detailed data to relay any info in any great degree, sum it up by simply knowing that if that occurs, the chance of a bite developing plummets.


I'd REALLY love to see an article on this subject written by a fishery biologist who may put in into terms relative to fish and the anglers, basically, a laymen’s term article which us anglers can digest.

I am still trying to learn all about these complex chemicals.

I’ll sum up by noting that everyone should not go into a widespread panic though, I’m not suggesting the fish have died etc. just that the bite may have a great potential to be shutt off for a while

That is under the assumption that the blue stoning did indeed take place – still no verification on that but all sign lean towards that (why):

3 weeks ago: water clarity was only fair and the bite was strong.
2 weeks ago till present: Water is Gin Clear and the bite is SHUT OFF….very difficult to even meter any fish.

I’ll remind everyone that these are my conclusion and mine only, no lake official or such has supplied me with data.

I’d love to hear what others may know.

Hope this at least helps.
Gary

blue stoning
Blue stoning is the application of the hydrated blue crystalline form of copper sulfate (toxic to fish in high concentrations) to control algae. It's use as an algicide is, oddly enough, controversial. Do a search with your favorite search engine using "copper sulfate" and you'll see what I mean. As is typical, the chemical manufacturers and public agencies (including DWP) will tell you it's completely safe when used properly. That, of course, is THE problem. Human error. People who care about fish and wildlife and the environment will tell you it is a dangerous chemical whose benefits don't warrant the potential disastrous effects if/when misused or misapplied. I tend to believe people with no apparent vested interest in these cases. Go to http://www.fishdoc.net/faq/faq_details.php?faqId=125 for just one opinion. The stuff does kill salmonids (trout and salmon) w/o doubt. Is it good for bass? I doubt it. Bass are just a little "tougher" than salmonids. But...

Also some Copper sulfate queries :
http://pmep.cce.cornell.edu/profiles/extoxnet/carbaryl-dicrotophos/copper-sulfate-ext.html

Hey Gary,

I was at Skinner on New Year's Weekend, and the fish seemed to be non existant. There was not any shad activity at ramp 2. This would explain the lack of catching around that time.

Wouldn't it be fairly accurate that the bluestoning effect to be gone by now? They are suppose to have a trout plant tomorrow and was hoping to go out there this weekend for another shot at giving the jailbirds another round of a blood bath. What do you think?

I can't tell you what to do for sure but if I were you, I'd lay low for at least 3 weeks (maybe 4) unless our wonderfull conrads in the fishing comunity come forth with any info that steers in another direction..

Seems you experience the same as me out there and a few others...somethings wrong..

[sansou]

I've never heard of lakes getting algaecide in the winter months.

As for water clarity at Skinner, I would attribute it to late fall "turnover" (given our weather pattern up until the last few weeks) That would explain the extreme clarity now.

[GdHkSet1]

gletemfeelsteelgary

My son and I did some trollin for some jailbirds on the 2nd, I recall the day had blueskies with a light breeze, I would guess visibility was 4-8', we did meter plenty of fish in the R2 area made several passes but they did not like what I was offering-so we left with skunkage early afternoon. No floatin fish that I can recall on that day we cruised all over metering fish here and there.

[vanillagurilla]

i talked to a person responisble for managing the water in a lake once and questioned him about "copper sulfate" and why do they use it if it can potentialy kill fish. He said it would take ALOT to make the fish sick or die.

[pwynn]

being someone that is in the water business... i called a friend and he told me that they dont bluestone when the algae is not growing. i am not sure what is going on out there that is for sure. But i am thinking the fish have gone deep. but i am no expert.

[K.C.K.]

Skinner turned over a couple of weeks ago the bait and stripes have gone deep use your electronics and slow your bait down you will get bit. its like this every year.... oh and Bluestoneing doesn't hurt the fish.. I used to breed fish and we used copper sulfate all the time overdose them it burns there gills a little but they always recover I have had some of my best days the day after a stone...

[HuskerRod]

Okay,

Now I'm more confused then when this thread first started....ughhhh!!!

[kwin]

Usually when the lake is to be bluestoned, I or my boss are notified. They notified neither of us of an application recently....and they really shouldn't have to. Copper sulfate is used to treat phytoplankton blooms in summer/fall which cause taste & odor issues with the water for it's customers (Temecula & south). The water clarity change is likely related to the lake "turning over". Once the lake turns over & settles (which it did real quick due to the lack of wind over the last couple of weeks) the lake has stabilized & the water temp & oxygen content is usually the same or real close top to bottom and those fish will be as deep as they want to be. There is also the quagga mussel dynamic in play at Skinner which could contribute to the lake clearing quickly through their filter feeding activities.

Quinn Granfors
DFG Diamond Valley Lake/Skinner

[sansou]

Thanks for the "real deal" info Kwin.

In my years of fishing, I had never heard of algaecide being applied in the cold months...but it helps to hear it straight from a biologist!

[gletemfeelsteelgary]

Usually when the lake is to be bluestoned, I or my boss are notified. They notified neither of us of an application recently....and they really shouldn't have to. Copper sulfate is used to treat phytoplankton blooms in summer/fall which cause taste & odor issues with the water for it's customers (Temecula & south). The water clarity change is likely related to the lake "turning over". Once the lake turns over & settles (which it did real quick due to the lack of wind over the last couple of weeks) the lake has stabilized & the water temp & oxygen content is usually the same or real close top to bottom and those fish will be as deep as they want to be. There is also the quagga mussel dynamic in play at Skinner which could contribute to the lake clearing quickly through their filter feeding activities.

Quinn Granfors
DFG Diamond Valley Lake/Skinner
1st and foremost..
Thanks for that info, that helps, doesn’t explain it all but it certainly helps to know that you weren’t notified of a treatment and that a colder weather treatment most likely would not be applicable.



I don't think everyone has a 100% clear picture of what we experienced when we were out there....

SAHARA DESERT !
I can't make it any more clear.

Couldn’t figure out where the fish had gone, the only area we couldn’t explore was right near the dam behind the bouy line. Everywhere was barren !

It WASN’T like we metered fish scattered around here and There and they wouldn’t bite, which is the patterning I’ve seen exhibited before when a lake turns over.

Man, it was like a UFO came down and took all the fish..

I've been to and metered a number of lakes in my years and seen the patterning when a lake turns over, I'm pretty familiar with that too.

This did not exhibit those characteristics...at least not that which I’ve experienced to date, I guess you learn something new everyday.

At one point we made a long pass trolling....8 /10ths of the lake in fact, I was running a trolling grid to locate fish-from deep to shallow.....we metered 4 fish on that run..

Tried baiting, jigging too, on what was relatively barren water.

Even fished for some LMB which were shut off also..


Wow, I didn’t know those quagga had that high of level of filtering affects on the water.

Interesting !

Well I guess only time will tell, one can hope for the lake turning over scenario, that would have a greater potential to turn back on more rapidly.

The reason I say what I say is that the lake demonstrated a 180 degree switchup, not only water clarity but the bite as well, for 2 weeks and standing.







i talked to a person responisble for managing the water in a lake once and questioned him about "copper sulfate" and why do they use it if it can potentialy kill fish. He said it would take ALOT to make the fish sick or die.

Just FYI
I was trying to be clear that I was not suggestion the fish are sick or have died, the lakes patterning is way out of wack...and I wanted to be sure people are aware before they go there.

[sweetfish]

Thanks Kwin. Very helpful indeed.

Gary as always, thanks for the input. Will give it another go on Saturday in hopes of some jailbirds, but if the action is slow, I will go after the trout in hopes of erasing the skunk.

Tight lines.

[HuskerRod]

Gary,

i'm gonna report that alien friend of yours on your knee to the DFG. He is responsible

[gletemfeelsteelgary]

Gary,

i'm gonna report that alien friend of yours on your knee to the DFG. He is responsible
It was TIME to go fishing !
http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn284/garywuebben/gary-CLOCK.jpg
But then an Alien ship came by and beamed all the fish up their ship…
In the process, I was scooped up as well…..but I made my way back using an alternate method of transportation: (of course loaded with an arsenal of defense weapons !)
http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn284/garywuebben/garywithrocketlauncherdeer-joke.jpg
We became pals after we took an intergalactic trip !
http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn284/garywuebben/garyandAlien.jpg
They have since told me where they beamed the fish back down to but it’s top secret….do not enter..Authorized personel only
http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn284/garywuebben/gary-notrespassingw-gun.jpg
Me and my Pal Bernie can be seen below hanging out and discussing the bass bite
http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn284/garywuebben/gary_bernie.jpg

[HuskerRod]

hehehe...good one, Gary...hehehehehe. where the heck did that Bernie manackin come from? That thing is down right spooky.

[pwynn]

i went out 4 times over the 2 weeks to last weekend. i could find the striper but i could not get them to bite. they have really been playing with the water level up down up down.....and it is winter who know..

[gletemfeelsteelgary]

hehehe...good one, Gary...hehehehehe. where the heck did that Bernie manackin come from? That thing is down right spooky.
It's actually the one from the movie beleive it or not, I work in the entertainment industry

How do you like what we did with his fingers.....he's a balla' !

Ha ha ha ha

P.S.
That Alien is from one of the movies as well

[HuskerRod]

Hey Gary,

That alien looks like the little fella from the incredible, out of this world, "I can't beleive it didn't win movie of the year", went straight to DVD movie "Alien Autopsy: Exposed". I had a hunch that sucker was fake.