How Good is Your Water Quality?

As anglers, we go out on the water and assume the water quality is good if we catch fish. However, there are things you can look for to determine whether or not the quality of water you fish is actually worthwhile. Oh sure, floating fish and a putrid smell means you might have to find another honey hole, but certain organisms and fish can tolerate a given amount of pollution while others are very sensitive. Here are some ways to determine whether you have great water or just a mud hole.

First, look for the presence of trout. Trout require very good water quality and can die off easily. Our old buddy, the largemouth bass can take a bit more pollution than say a rainbow or brown trout. Just because you catch a limit of largemouth on a given day doesn’t necessarily mean you have pristine water conditions.

There are other organisms you can look for that will determine water quality. The presence of hellgrammites means you have very good water. As prehistoric looking as these creatures are, they are very sensitive to pollution. If you find water pennies, you have good water quality as well. No, these aren’t the pennies you find in your local wishing well, they are small organisms that can get only as big as your thumbnail, are flat, brownish and translucent. They look like a tiny horseshoe crab without the tail and transport themselves in a similar manner. Look for them under flat rocks in streams feeding into a body of water. If you catch bass on a jig or crawfish colored crankbait, chances are the fish know what they are, and therefore live in the body of water you are fishing. Crawfish live in excellent to fair quality water so if you catch a fish on a jig, you at least have fair quality water.

If after an exhausted effort all you find are leeches and pouch snails, congratulations you just found a new conservation project. Put down your fishing rod and pick up the phone. Call your local health department and find out why the water quality is so bad. Remember, however, if leeches and pouch snails are the first thing you find, don’t panic, keep looking. More than likely there are other organisms in the water. Pouch snails and leeches can live in any quality water, good or bad. If the water is determined to be poor, find out why and do what you can to fix the problem. Contact your local Soil and Water Conservation Office or VDGIF official. For a visual description of the organisms described in this article and more, go to: http://projects.terc.edu/LLSeries/Risk/Session2/RiskS2Insects1.html.

Legislative Update

As of this date the only thing to report as far as bills in the Virginia General Assembly is the passage of HB1874 in the House. It has been passed on to the Senate for further review. This bill allows hunters to voluntarily contribute two dollars to the Hunters for the Hungry upon purchase of their license. Look for further updates on the VA BASS website under conservation issues for the latest on bills of concern being considered by the General Assembly.

Tad Phipps
tadphipps@hotmail.com