TROUT
by Wes Malmberg
Toxic algae blooms have come to be an expected condition on a handful of lakes in Washington,
especially in September and October, so it was no surprise when I rolled up to Black Lake south of Olympia in midfall to find a sign alerting the public to the condition.
Still, in all my outings here, I had never seen it posted. The sign basically said to stay out of the scum line and to clean your catch thoroughly. Made sense to me. I mean, after all, the powers that be would not put me in danger if it was that serious, right?
Still, as we prepped the boat for launching, I noticed that we were going to have a problem right away: The scum line started at the boat ramp. But it can’t be that much of a risk if the lake is still open, right?
Working the lake I found it quite difficult to stay out of the scum. We would travel along free and clear of it and then all of a sudden be in a patch.
BLUE-GREEN ALGAE BLOOM ON LAKE STEILACOOM, PIERCE COUNTY, WASH. (WASHINGTON DEPARTMENT OF ECOLOGY)
But not to worry, it can’t be that bad unless we ingest it – and we sure weren’t drinking it and definitely not washing our hands off in the lake. Besides that, if it was really that much of a danger, the lake would
be closed, right? I mean, surely someone is looking out for the public safety, right?
We finished fishing, but to get back to the launch, had to go right back through the scum line then wade around in it to get the boat on the trailer. Strapping it down we had water dripping down on us. I pulled the plug to drain the boat and then headed down the road.
It never really occurred to me at the time how much I had really exposed myself to the toxic algae. The water from my boots and neoprenes was now on the inside of my boat, and my hands had been exposed while I stripped line in, netted and released fish.
Well, with any luck I won’t die, I thought to myself.
I have often asked what causes this algae growth and it seems the standard answer has always been, “When the conditions are right, usually when the water gets too warm, it accelerates the growth of this algae.”
Made sense. Weeds also grow when the water’s warm, so I naturally assumed the same thing happened with algae, which otherwise is naturally occurring. I never gave it to much more thought, figuring that in another few weeks, with the water getting colder, it would subside and my angling would be right back on track.
NOVEMBER ROLLED AROUND and it was brought to my attention that nearby Offut Lake – which I had written about for that month’s issue, even mentioning the scum line – had been posted.
But wait, how could that be? It was now cold out, we’d received rain and the water had cooled down substantially. Maybe, I thought, I should do some calling around and find out what is up with this late bloom.
Maybe, just maybe, there might be a few things I might want to know before I go fooling around in this stuff again. Indeed, I remembered I had gotten sick just a few days after the Black Lake outing. I wondered what the symptoms might be, how harmful this stuff really is, and hoped to get a better definition of “when the conditions are right.”
UNDERWATER IMAGE OF AN ALGAE BLOOM, BATTLE GROUND LAKE. (DOE)
I contacted Kathy Hamel, who tracks these things at the Department of Ecology (360-407-6562), to ask a few questions. What I learned was a bit surprising.
Hamel explained that it was really a cyanobacteria, and it looked like green or blue paint had been dumped in the water and with that type of consistency. As for symptoms, she explained that there were several different types of toxic algae. Of the two tested for in Washington, one is a liver toxin, and its effects are diverse and can include rashes, skin lesions, nausea, vomiting, gastroenteritis, conjunctivitis, headaches, and eye, ear and throat irritations. Exposure to neurotoxins is more severe, and includes loss of muscle coordination, difficulty swallowing, labored breathing, complete muscle paralysis, and death.
Shocking, to say the least.
But I also found out that no one really knows what the right conditions are for blooms to occur. What they do know is that pollution – road and driveway runoff, sewage and fertilizers – is one contributing factor. Then there are leaky or damaged septic systems beside lakes; even if repaired, how many more years will the sewage that’s been deposited in the soil continue to run into the water?
I also found out that the state processes samples sent in, but it is up to each county
to take the samples and monitor the waterways.
It may not surprise you, but not every county does this, even though there are grants available to help cover the costs.
Is this a real and alarming problem that trout anglers should be following? Should we now be double checking the stocking report with the latest county public health bulletins before we fish? Watch here as I dig even deeper into this situation.
TWO TYPES OF SIGN YOU MIGHT FIND AT WESTERN WASHINGTON TROUT LAKES, ONE A GENERAL WARNING THAT THE LAKE IS SUSCEPTIBLE TO BLUE-GREEN ALGAE THOUGH A BLOOM MAY NOT BE OCCURRING AT THE MOMENT, AND THE OTHER A MORE CLEARLY STATED ONE.
