(Wahpeton)– Clean, drain and dry. That’s the plea protective associations in the Iowa Great Lakes Area are putting out as hundreds of anglers make their way to the area for Walleye Weekend. Pete DeKock is the President of the Okoboji Protective Association…
“With so many boats coming in for Walleye Weekend from other watersheds, it’s essential that if you’re going to be enjoying the fishery and getting out there hopefully catching that tagged walleye, that you do it in a responsible way. Because when we all kick in like this, we can better create a sustainable future for our lakes. But it does take everybody doing these simple things.”
DeKock says all it takes is just one instance of that not being done…
“One particularly nasty invasive plant species that we’re watching for and that’s eurasian milfoil. This can be become an incredibly dense weed mat that almost makes it impossible to fish in areas when it gets its foothold, and we’ve seen some examples of that in the watershed over the past few years, but fortunately our friends at the Department of Natural Resources and other groups like the Okoboji Protective Association have been able to step up to make sure that we corral those and get those under control before they can take foothold in some of the parts of the watershed. But the threat’s always in front of us. And so making sure you’re cleaning boat, not bringing any of that milfoil along or another invasive plant species, is really critical.”
DeKock says while an entire region’s economy is riding on that, so is the legacy of the Iowa Great Lakes…
“The fishery in the Iowa Great Lakes is so special. I’ve been an angler my entire life. I learned how to fish on West Okoboji. It is still one of my favorite places to do it and I want to make sure that’s available for my kiddos to do it with me and generations after that. If we end up with these invasive species we can very quickly be in the spot where the quality of the fishery, the quality of fishing for different species, is imperiled. So let’s do our part now so we have good fishing for decades to come.”
While some invasive species such as zebra mussels, have already found their way to the Iowa Great Lakes, others pose even more of a threat. Extensive monitoring operations continue in an effort to catch any infestations early. That’s especially the case with Eurasian Watermilfoil.
