The Quagga Mussel could possibly be the single most important issue threatening our angling opportunities in San Diego County. We all know the problem that we face with inconsistent launching conditions, changing lake hours, the number of open days in a week, and permit fees, but a new threat is emerging with full force. This new threat has already caused wide-spread action by water district's across the state of California.

The Quagga Mussel has recently been discovered in several of our Southern California lakes, including San Vicente, Dixon, Murray, and Miramar. Lakes which either do not have the mussel, or simply have not yet discovered it are taking drastic measures to keep them out.

Lake Poway, a county favorite, has outlawed float tubes, bait purchased off-site, personal motors on row boats, and anchors. Wohlford has banned private boats indefinitely. Beautiful Lake Cuyamaca, a quaint little lake in our local mountains has temporarily stopped allowing private boats until a high pressured wash station is implemented at the lake. 

Several lakes across the state are considering with all seriousness, closing down entirely for a period of time until another resolution can be found. Lake Casitas, in Ojai California has been publically considering closing down the lake all-together until further notice. They have enacted strict boat inspections for all private boats entering the lake. Anglers have reported extremely strict requirements, such as requiring that all compartments on the boat be empty and free from ANY debris. Leaving a jig skirt or split shot weight in one of your compartments could keep you off the lake for a week. Any water found in the boat is grounds for denying the boat access to the lake for one week. Essentially if its raining on your way to the lake, your odds of getting on are slim to none.

There are still several lakes which have taken little to no action at all, at least not publically yet. Those include the city lakes such as El Capitan which share water from the aqueduct with Otay and San Vicente. It is highly unlikely that El Capitan DOES NOT have the mussel already, which may be why there has not been much effort to deny access to private boats. 

While the discovered presence of the mussel means likely that our recreational access to the lake will be hampered, there is still obviously major cause for concern. This is not a problem that is going to go away, the mussel will make a negative impact to the fishery and the lake's access sooner, rather than later.  Their presence in the lake's aqueduct and water storage plants pose a serious problem for water districts, at some point they will have to take some sort of action to remove them which will undoubtedly affect the fishery at each reservoir, or at the very least our absolute access to it.

I encourage all anglers to make themselves aware of the Quagga and its threat to our lakes, there is a lot of information available on the internet about them and their similar cousin, the Zebra Mussel. 

You can read more on the spread of the Zebra and Quagga Mussels by visiting this link which describes their history in the United States, and their spread to the Western region through Lake Mead;

    "Wish You Weren't Here" by Michelle Nijhuis in the High Country Times

The California Department of Fish & Game has a webpage dedicated to the Quagga and Zebra Mussels. There are alot of links on the page providing info about the issue and what we can do as anglers to stop the spread.

    Deparmtent of Fish & Game: Quagga Mussel in California