Greetings fellow fishermen. I hate for this to be my first post but I've been following the condition of LA through you guys and this is where I thought I might look for help.
Just a brief introduction. I live close to LA and recently bought a 20 yr old Stratos to hopefully spend some quality time with my stepdad fishing LA since we'd been kind of taking for granted living so close to it. I spent about 2 months straight restoring this boat. I put in new carpet, seats, mechanical, and wet sanded and polished like a day laborer to get the oxidation off.
(all from a wheelchair at that)
So, you could imagine my disappointment after all this work and expense to learn that the lake just down the road from me was turning into a stinky septic pond because of the carp.
I've been lurking here since then, reading and following certain members efforts and such, which I am truly grateful for. Especially John and the others who are obviously dedicated to trying to make a difference.
Recently there has been concern with the water quality in the Lake Austin Estates neighborhood and people were complaining about the smells, the chlorine amounts etc.. After following things here and seeing the news reports as well as the back and forth with the CoA and TP&W, I thought I would try and make my contribution by alerting the neighbors of the carp and loss of habitat situation. I'm no biologist, but it doesn't take one to understand that that lack of plant life to filter the water and imbalance of carp is definitely making an impact, especially after reading all of your stories here and being on the water myself.
I may have bitten off more than I can chew when I posted this to the neighborhood news group, but the frustration with the situation had taken over and I pulled the trigger. Here is what I wrote:
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Concerned about the water quality? GET RID OF THE CARP! 13h ago
You can thank Eric Moreland Meet Our Members | Elite 25 Austin...
and FOLA (Friends of Lake Austin) for kneejerk reacting and dumping thousands and thousands of carp in Lake Austin because they didn't want the icky hydrilla touching their precious babies' feet when they're wakeboarding. (wakeboarding is also eroding and tearing up the lake with no vegetation to stop it) The carp have eaten ALL (and I mean ALL) of the plant life and completely destroyed the ecosystem balance of the lake. Even the new plant life they're trying to re-plant hasn't been successful. Now that there's no plant life to FILTER the water and GIANT carp are pooping in it, it smells and tastes well...like...POOP....You can believe the "algae bloom" story if it makes you feel better, but It wouldn't be able to bloom so wildly if it didn't have so much POOP/fertilizer in the water... I think it's a cover story personally.
I've spoken to a couple of long time Lake Austin fishermen and they've said that this species of carp is adapting to the "no food left" situation by eating OTHER fish (when they were supposed to be vegetarian) I can't confirm this, but it makes sense. Not to mention that the baby fish have no place to hide and grow since the carp ate ALL of their habitat. People clear the forest and wonder where all the animals went....o_0 SMH
So, what once used to be the 3rd best fishing lake in Texas and top 10 in the nation is now turned into a rotten pond. Nothing short of mass collective pressure put on FOLA, CoA, and TP&W to remove at least 15,000 of the roughly 20+k that were put in will give the lake at least a remote chance of recovering, otherwise it could be 10+ years if that.
As a boater and fisherman and all round fan of the lake, it's literally depressing to see all the garbage and septic stench on the upper end of the lake and elsewhere. Apparently, in our "instant gratification" society, a tiny handful of waterfront real estate agents and other movers and shakers couldn't be bothered with doing environmental studies or looking at how other lakes in Texas have been destroyed by massive carp introduction, they wanted the icky plant stuff GONE yesterday. Well they got their wish.
Once again, it will take massive collective effort and pressure to get open season declared on the carp that have destroyed our lake/water supply. Remove most if not ALL of the carp, let the plant life and health of the lake rebound, and then SLOWLY add carp if necessary. And don't let a small group of elites that have favor with the govt. screw it up for the rest of us again.
LESS POOP=LESS CHLORINE.....MORE PLANTS=HEALTHY LAKE
Roughly 12-20 people with influence are responsible for this happening. If we had 2000 people taking some sort of collective action maybe we could save our lake, otherwise it's only going to get worse.
/rant
PS, If there is enough concern about the issue above and people are willing to organize in mass, I will be happy to put the pitchforks and torches in touch with a local fisherman who has been spearheading communication with all of the parties involved and maybe the right pressure can be put in the right places to make something happen. Otherwise it will not only get worse, but the carp are infiltrating Ladybird Lake and it's only a matter of time from there.
------------
And here is one of the responses I've gotten from a person who begins their credentials with being part of the "******* Fishing Tournament" but then discounts my info from "bubba from the fishing hole." I'd really like to educate this person without coming unglued and humbly seek your counsel as you guys obviously care about and are more closely involved with the situation than the average "bubba." Any input as to how to respond to this would be greatly appreciated. And thank you for this forum as well. I have learned a good deal since I found it. Feel free to dive into this conversation if you wish. I thought it would be a good idea to alert 1500 or so neighbors as to what was going on with their water supply (right or wrong)
https://austinlakehills.nextdoor.com/news_feed/?post=21291581
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Cindi Summers from Austin Lake Hills 6h ago
Ummmm, what????
You might want to research the carp issue a little further. There are many species of carp and these are not the invasive kind you see up north in the rivers. I have been an avid fishing person for over 40 years and am happy to show you the difference. I also am from the area of Bath, Illinois - home of the ******* Fishing Tournament - you will be quite entertained if you look that up.
Carp are not destroying the water quality. The carp that were released were sterilized. There is not a shortness of food- we were in a several year drought, I am sure you remember the lakes being about 1/4 full? Some stuff got pretty concentrated.
Fish naturally secrete hormones that determine how big and how many fish can survive a body of water. Research this stuff before blowing the panic horn. Don't take my word for it- research it. And that means REAL research, not bubba at the fishin' hole.
You might try looking up what happened to Red Bud Trail Park when everyone kept leaving their dog feces and not picking it up..... they closed the park because the run off was highly concentrated with bacteria. It was pretty bad for Lady Bird Lake.
Our water comes from surface water.... so you might want to make sure of the crap you are putting in your yards.... the fertilizers, pesticides, bad septic systems out here, bubba's oil change, and all those dog feces that nobody wants to pick up and take with them....
I guess we all have opinions.... mine is that chlorine is pretty poison and there are plenty of bacteria that don't respond to chlorine. Follow the money. Spend the money on better ways and don't become Flint....
-----
I'm open to any constructive criticism of my article or corrections of any kind as I defer to your expertise in these matters. I felt like I had a grasp on the situation, but please let me know where I'm wrong if I am. I'd like to be able to educate the community without alienating them, but persuasive writing was never one of my strong suits.....
Just a brief introduction. I live close to LA and recently bought a 20 yr old Stratos to hopefully spend some quality time with my stepdad fishing LA since we'd been kind of taking for granted living so close to it. I spent about 2 months straight restoring this boat. I put in new carpet, seats, mechanical, and wet sanded and polished like a day laborer to get the oxidation off.
(all from a wheelchair at that)
So, you could imagine my disappointment after all this work and expense to learn that the lake just down the road from me was turning into a stinky septic pond because of the carp.
I've been lurking here since then, reading and following certain members efforts and such, which I am truly grateful for. Especially John and the others who are obviously dedicated to trying to make a difference.
Recently there has been concern with the water quality in the Lake Austin Estates neighborhood and people were complaining about the smells, the chlorine amounts etc.. After following things here and seeing the news reports as well as the back and forth with the CoA and TP&W, I thought I would try and make my contribution by alerting the neighbors of the carp and loss of habitat situation. I'm no biologist, but it doesn't take one to understand that that lack of plant life to filter the water and imbalance of carp is definitely making an impact, especially after reading all of your stories here and being on the water myself.
I may have bitten off more than I can chew when I posted this to the neighborhood news group, but the frustration with the situation had taken over and I pulled the trigger. Here is what I wrote:
----
Concerned about the water quality? GET RID OF THE CARP! 13h ago
You can thank Eric Moreland Meet Our Members | Elite 25 Austin...
and FOLA (Friends of Lake Austin) for kneejerk reacting and dumping thousands and thousands of carp in Lake Austin because they didn't want the icky hydrilla touching their precious babies' feet when they're wakeboarding. (wakeboarding is also eroding and tearing up the lake with no vegetation to stop it) The carp have eaten ALL (and I mean ALL) of the plant life and completely destroyed the ecosystem balance of the lake. Even the new plant life they're trying to re-plant hasn't been successful. Now that there's no plant life to FILTER the water and GIANT carp are pooping in it, it smells and tastes well...like...POOP....You can believe the "algae bloom" story if it makes you feel better, but It wouldn't be able to bloom so wildly if it didn't have so much POOP/fertilizer in the water... I think it's a cover story personally.
I've spoken to a couple of long time Lake Austin fishermen and they've said that this species of carp is adapting to the "no food left" situation by eating OTHER fish (when they were supposed to be vegetarian) I can't confirm this, but it makes sense. Not to mention that the baby fish have no place to hide and grow since the carp ate ALL of their habitat. People clear the forest and wonder where all the animals went....o_0 SMH
So, what once used to be the 3rd best fishing lake in Texas and top 10 in the nation is now turned into a rotten pond. Nothing short of mass collective pressure put on FOLA, CoA, and TP&W to remove at least 15,000 of the roughly 20+k that were put in will give the lake at least a remote chance of recovering, otherwise it could be 10+ years if that.
As a boater and fisherman and all round fan of the lake, it's literally depressing to see all the garbage and septic stench on the upper end of the lake and elsewhere. Apparently, in our "instant gratification" society, a tiny handful of waterfront real estate agents and other movers and shakers couldn't be bothered with doing environmental studies or looking at how other lakes in Texas have been destroyed by massive carp introduction, they wanted the icky plant stuff GONE yesterday. Well they got their wish.
Once again, it will take massive collective effort and pressure to get open season declared on the carp that have destroyed our lake/water supply. Remove most if not ALL of the carp, let the plant life and health of the lake rebound, and then SLOWLY add carp if necessary. And don't let a small group of elites that have favor with the govt. screw it up for the rest of us again.
LESS POOP=LESS CHLORINE.....MORE PLANTS=HEALTHY LAKE
Roughly 12-20 people with influence are responsible for this happening. If we had 2000 people taking some sort of collective action maybe we could save our lake, otherwise it's only going to get worse.
/rant
PS, If there is enough concern about the issue above and people are willing to organize in mass, I will be happy to put the pitchforks and torches in touch with a local fisherman who has been spearheading communication with all of the parties involved and maybe the right pressure can be put in the right places to make something happen. Otherwise it will not only get worse, but the carp are infiltrating Ladybird Lake and it's only a matter of time from there.
------------
And here is one of the responses I've gotten from a person who begins their credentials with being part of the "******* Fishing Tournament" but then discounts my info from "bubba from the fishing hole." I'd really like to educate this person without coming unglued and humbly seek your counsel as you guys obviously care about and are more closely involved with the situation than the average "bubba." Any input as to how to respond to this would be greatly appreciated. And thank you for this forum as well. I have learned a good deal since I found it. Feel free to dive into this conversation if you wish. I thought it would be a good idea to alert 1500 or so neighbors as to what was going on with their water supply (right or wrong)
https://austinlakehills.nextdoor.com/news_feed/?post=21291581
-----
Cindi Summers from Austin Lake Hills 6h ago
Ummmm, what????
You might want to research the carp issue a little further. There are many species of carp and these are not the invasive kind you see up north in the rivers. I have been an avid fishing person for over 40 years and am happy to show you the difference. I also am from the area of Bath, Illinois - home of the ******* Fishing Tournament - you will be quite entertained if you look that up.
Carp are not destroying the water quality. The carp that were released were sterilized. There is not a shortness of food- we were in a several year drought, I am sure you remember the lakes being about 1/4 full? Some stuff got pretty concentrated.
Fish naturally secrete hormones that determine how big and how many fish can survive a body of water. Research this stuff before blowing the panic horn. Don't take my word for it- research it. And that means REAL research, not bubba at the fishin' hole.
You might try looking up what happened to Red Bud Trail Park when everyone kept leaving their dog feces and not picking it up..... they closed the park because the run off was highly concentrated with bacteria. It was pretty bad for Lady Bird Lake.
Our water comes from surface water.... so you might want to make sure of the crap you are putting in your yards.... the fertilizers, pesticides, bad septic systems out here, bubba's oil change, and all those dog feces that nobody wants to pick up and take with them....
I guess we all have opinions.... mine is that chlorine is pretty poison and there are plenty of bacteria that don't respond to chlorine. Follow the money. Spend the money on better ways and don't become Flint....
-----
I'm open to any constructive criticism of my article or corrections of any kind as I defer to your expertise in these matters. I felt like I had a grasp on the situation, but please let me know where I'm wrong if I am. I'd like to be able to educate the community without alienating them, but persuasive writing was never one of my strong suits.....
