Invasive Species – Flies As Vectors?
- This topic has 9 replies, 7 voices, and was last updated Mar 11, 2009 at 2:29 pm by
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The main talk out there is that boots and boats transport invasive species.
Not much mention of waders, but some. Nothing really on nets.
What about flies?
If I fish a beefy streamer with lots of nooks and crannies in its fur, hair, synthetics etc…………………………………should i clean the fly or throw it out before using it on another stream?
I have not heard or read about flies being a vector for infecting microorganisms to other streams. Could they be? Should we be worried?
would such chemicals be so harsh as to discolor the fly?
Or, would the chemicals damage materials like feathers or tinsel or thread?Boots and boats stay wet. I think the issue is that felt (for example) actually doesn’t dry completely for some time, and that these trace amounts of moisture allow the microorganisms to survive. That’s why you don’t hear much about nets, waders, etc. They dry out quickly and completely. I’ve read (I’ve found another source on this fact which I’ll put below) that you must keep things completely dry for 48 hours to kill off the bacteria.
That said I do think you bring up a good point. What about water seeping into fly box foam? What about river hopping in the same day, or heading out the next day to a new destination. People do this all the time. However I think these same people probably aren’t cleaning their boots or boats either. Maybe the idea is to get people on board with the big stuff (cleaning boots, bilge pumps, etc) before they take it the next necessary extreme?
Here is another interesting cleaning solution from the article I mentioned above.
five percent solution of salt, antiseptic hand cleaner or dishwashing detergent.
http://www.anr.state.vt.us/site/cfm/PressRel/Detail.CFM?ID=1193
This is an interesting topic, but it is pretty nickle and dime to the angler. I mean if we have to start cleaning our flies we might as well pack it in. Sorry, I am not trying to be rude but I think that it is micro managing at its finest/worst
I kind of agree with Danny. I do think that with in reason we should try and do our part to slow it down but we will never stop as long as there are birds like ducks, geese, herons….they are all huge contributors to the problem.
Joel
I would think that there is a set inoculation number of organisms that must be present in order for these invasive species to copulate and produce a viable population that might contaminate a new system.
Joel,
good point. animals that move from water to water. something i did not consider.
i was thinking as a fisherman not biologist!
and just over thinking in general. the thought came after watching a movie i shot in colorado with us moving from colorado river to blue and tom tapping a frozen streamer against his net and the noise it made. it came out of the colorado wet and froze. then was used in the blue (not to mention the blue eventually dumps into the colorado if we had fished vice versa)I was quite surprised, at US Customs in Dallas this week (returning from a Patagonia trip) that they dipped my felt soled boots in a disinfectant, wrapped them in plastic bags and returned them to my duffel.
I appreciate their effort, but I’ll still put the waders and boots in the freezer for a few days after they have a week to dry. Maybe I’ll add the streamers also.
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