Didymo

[lannie]

What's happening these days. It was a common topic not too long ago but currently I don't hear much on it. Anyone with current news?

[Mr Flyguy]

What's this got to do with fly fishing?

Anyway, it's Didymos and Bruce Willis is on top of it, or soon will be.

[brewster29]

Didymo is aka rock snot. Google that.
It’s a diatom (algae) that makes long sticky fibers...

[Mr Flyguy]

Whoops, my bad.

That stuff grows in the water fountain for my cats at home!

[lannie]

Originally Posted by Mr Flyguy

Whoops, my bad.

That stuff grows in the water fountain for my cats at home!

I thought it was the main reason for fisherman not to wear felt soled boots if they fished different drainages as it was easily spread that way.

[thumper]

Didymo was a huge issue a few years ago, but just kind of fell off the public radar. I don't even know if it's still a big issue, or if it ran it's course and now is not such an issue.

[JReed]

Like carp and other invasive species, good luck getting rid of it once its introduced. Embrace the suck. I’m surprised it hasn’t shown up in any of the tribs, unless i’m oblivious to its prescence.

[bessiedog]

It’s crept up the Crow quite a bit.
It’s big time below the falls

It’s up around the Waldron.

Ran into it on the upper Om at km 17 or so.

It’s still a thing....

Interesting thing though.... the stuff currently on the spillway section of the OMDam seems to be way more fragile now.

Dragging a streamer there.. a guy can shake the stuff off. Used to not be able to do that before.

[lannie]

I was surprised to see it on the Crow as far up as Sentinel.
Wonder what can be done to stop it from spreading or to actually reduce it? Ugly crap that does terrible harm to the rivers ecosystem.

[thumper]

Find a carp that eats it ?

[kilgoretrout]

Its still a problem and cleaning your gear is the only way to stop it from spreading further its too bad we do not police ourselves better than we do.... we could probably learn a lot from how they treat these issues in New Zealand where all your gear is scrutinized to the nth before they will even allow you in the country ..... its easier to just take new gear with the tags still attached

[lannie]

Originally Posted by kilgoretrout

Its still a problem and cleaning your gear is the only way to stop it from spreading further its too bad we do not police ourselves better than we do.... we could probably learn a lot from how they treat these issues in New Zealand where all your gear is scrutinized to the nth before they will even allow you in the country ..... its easier to just take new gear with the tags still attached

Great to hear them working on it but it has been there since 2004.

I was surprised to see didymo within spitting distance of Crowsnest lake. I think it may be time to make some hard decisions with recreating on the eastern slopes. Want to give those those trout every opportunity to thrive and that didymo is as bad as it gets for the eastern slopes.

[kilgoretrout]

Hence why they put the restrictions in place to prevent further introductions of other diatoms and perhaps worse

[goldscud]

Here is some information about the native diatom species Didymo:

https://secureservercdn.net/198.71.2...ime=1616946513

I have seen Didymo create large mats one year and then be gone the next year. Being a native species it has always been here.
Each year the spring run off complete with ice gouging probably does some good scraping of the substrate.
Keeping your footwear clean between waterbodies is always a good idea. There are disinfectants (quats) available to do that job.

Didymo is far from as "bad as it gets" for the eastern slopes. Nice try though.

Here is a paper to read (one of the authors is now the president of the University of Calgary):
https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/f07-152

[lannie]

Here is some more info on Didymo.
It is very serious stuff that needs more attention.



http://www.outdoorsmenforum.ca/showthread.php?p=1400246

[goldscud]

Thanks Lannie for raising concerns about the waterways. There are many threats to the ecology of the streams in Alberta.

Here is some info I found that the BC government offers their employees for cleaning gear after being in the water:

Procedures:
All removal of fragments or dirt should either take place when leaving the site or in a location where
run-off is not going into a water body. DO NOT clean the gear with water from the site as you might just
re-contaminate it, unless you use additional disinfection procedures afterwards.
Level 1: General disinfection procedures followed whenever possible as you move to a new site:
 When leaving a waterbody, remove any visible plants and animals from your gear and boat.
 Remove any mud and dirt since they might contain Dydimo or New Zealand mud snails
 Eliminate water from any conceivable item before you leave the visiting area
Level 2: Field gear disinfection procedures:
To disinfect your waders, nets, sieves, buckets, floats, gloves, etc., use ONE of the following procedures
(see Table 1 for effectiveness). Make sure that all parts of the equipment get fully submerged for the
whole time period required:
 Submerge all gear in hot water (45ºC - uncomfortable to touch) for at least 10 minutes, or until
soaked through. Felt-soled waders or other absorbent materials need to soak for 40 minutes
OR
 Freeze all gear until solid (> 4hrs)
OR
 Soak in a 2% solution of household bleach for 1 minute
OR
 Soak in a 5% household bleach solution and soak for 15 minutes