Tri-County Powerboat Alliance Annual Wolf River Clean up

Tri-County Powerboat Alliance Annual Wolf River Clean up

May 20, 2007


Saturday June 2nd at 8:30 AM, the Tri-County Powerboat Alliance will hold its annual Wolf River clean up. It’s the Water Day version of Earth Day each year as members and the concerned citizens are welcome to join the river clean teams as they remove azardous materials and debris not only from the navigable river channel but also from the shores of the river. Last years event produced over a dozen drum barrels, buckets, along with various metal and garbage, both up and down river from Fremont.

All interested persons are to meet at the Partridge Beach on Wolf River Drive in Fremont at 8:30 A.M. If you have a watercraft such as a flat bottom boat able to get into shallow waters or a pontoon able to hold debris please bring it. It is recommended to wear gloves and waders or boots. With a great turn out last year and boat use donations from Ted’s Grandview, Pine Grove Resort, Blue Top Resort , Wolf Ridge Cottages, and Wolf River Marine, they were able to send teams each direction up and down river to cover more area.

The Tri-County Powerboat Alliance is a nonprofit organization dedicated to making the waterways from New London to Lake Winnebago a safe place for recreation. It’s goal is to promote safe boating and to preserve the Wolf River while maintaining its navigational use for all.

TCPA regularly conducts safe boater education classes, organizes river clean up projects, provides signs and other navigational aids, sponsors informational meetings, provides funds for dredging projects and works with state and local government officials to protect the waterway and its natural resources.

If you happen to see Alliance volunteers working on Saturday, June 2nd please wave and say thank for their work. Or join them for the annual fund raising brat fry at Gill’s Landing, Weyauwega, Saturday August 4th from noon till 4.

For more information contact TCPA@centurytel.net or Mike at 920 841-8372 or Judy at 920-450-7327. Or visit Tri-County Powerboat Alliance http://tcpaweb.googlepages.com

VHS Confirmed in Lake Winnebago

Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia (VHS) Confirmed in Lake Winnebago.

Menasha lock to resume operation at 4:00PM today, May 18, 2007. The lock will stay open for the season.

Questions and Answers on Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia (VHS)

Important Questions and Answers on Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia (VHS) in Great LakesFish.

During the past two years, the fish kills on Great Lakes have involved thousands of fish infected by the Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia Virus (VHSV); this virus was not previously known to exist in the freshwater environment of North America.Here is some information on VHS compiled by NY Sea Grant.

What is VHS? What is the significance of the recent discovery of VHS in the Great Lakes?
Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia is an infectious viral disease of fish that has been found in fish from the AtlanticCoast of Europe and Atlantic and PacificCoasts of North America. Historically, VHS was known as a very serious disease of freshwater-reared rainbow trout in Europe. At least four different genetic strains or forms of the virus are known to exist. The North American marine strain has a relatively low infection rate compared to that of the European freshwater strain.Until 2005, VHS was only found in the marine environment in North America. Several fish kills in the Lower Great Lakes since 2005 have been associated with VHS. To date, VHS has been confirmed from wild fish in the Bay of Quinte Lake Ontario, Lake St. Clair, Lake Erie and the St. Lawrence River. Scientists believe that this appearance may represent an invasion of the freshwater strain in North America.

What North American freshwater fish species are affected?
In the Great Lakes, VHS has been found in smallmouth bass, yellow perch, crappie, muskellunge, northern pike, bluegill, walleye, round gobies, sheepshead, and some sucker species. Scientists are concerned; however, that VHS could also strike native salmonids such as trout, salmon and whitefish in the wild, and salmonids in hatcheries and net pen operations.

How did VHS get here?
It is unclear how the virus spread to the Great Lakes; it is possible the marine virus may have been introduced to the Great Lakes some time ago and it simply evolved to live in freshwater.The VHS virus is a strain that undergoes rapid mutations (spontaneous genetic changes) and may have adapted to freshwater environments in North America. Recently, VHS was found in stored fish samples that were collected in the Great Lakes during 2003, suggesting the virus has been present in the Great Lakes for some time.

How does VHS spread?
It is unclear exactly how the disease is spread but it appears that the virus can be shed by infected fish into the water through metabolic waste materials, particularly by fish that survive the disease and become carriers. It also appears that carrier fish or offspring of carriers become more resistant to the disease. The virus can infect fish of all ages. It may enter a host fish through the gills or food or contact with some contaminated object. It does appear that stressed fish more vulnerable to viral infection. Typical fish stressors include sudden water temperature changes, crowded hatchery conditions and, spawning activity.The timing of the recent fish die-off in the Great Lakes coincided with the spawning by some of the fish species, such as muskellunge.

What does it do to fish? What are the symptoms of a fish with VHSV infection?Like many fish diseases, the type of symptoms present in a fish change with the severity of the infection.At low infection intensity fish may display few to no symptoms as is the case in most wild disease outbreaks.Hatchery or pen-reared fish are much more susceptible because of the confined conditions. As the infection severity increases, fish become darker and the eyes bulge with some bleeding around the eye and base of the fins. The gills are usually quite pale with some pin point bleeding.Mortalities appear at this point because hemorrhaging reduces the oxygen carrying ability of the blood. Dark red patches may appear on the front and sides of the head.
If the fish is opened up, bleeding on the surfaces of the intestine, liver, swim bladder can be seen. Fluid also builds up in the body cavity giving the fish a swollen belly. Later, if infection increases, the body continues to darken and the eyes really stick out of the head. At this point, the gills look gray or even white and the fish may swim in a corkscrew pattern. Most fish kills from VHS occur in water temperatures from 40 to 60 F (3-12 C) and few occur at temperatures above 62 F (15 C).NOTE:The detection of a VHS infection can only be made from sophisticated laboratory testing.A diagnosis cannot be made based solely on the observation of visible signs because many different diseases of fish have very similar signs of disease.

What is the long-term outlook for VHVS in the Great Lakes?
Diseases like VHS run their course just as they do in human populations. At first mortalities may appear to be large, but many biologists believe that most fish can survive the disease if they are not otherwise stressed because mortalities generally occur in weaker, stressed fish. The remainder will build up a natural immunity to the virus and the numbers of fish killed by the virus will decline.

Is it a health risk to people?
There is no apparent health risk for people contracting VHS.Because it takes a long time to identify the causes of fish kills in lab studies, people should be cautioned against handling or eating any fish that does not act or appear to be healthy because of the risk of contracting avian botulism a bacterial disease that does pose a human health threat.

What is being done to control it or prevent it?
One of the best management options is containment.Efforts should be made to eliminate or reduce the potential spread of the virus from the locations where it is known to exist.Actions such as not moving fish from the endemic area to areas outside the Great Lakes may be important.Many of the same preventative actions that are taken to reduce the spread of invasive species may also be appropriate.These include cleaning of boats before moving them between different bodies of water; cleaning, draining and drying of live wells and not moving bait minnows or other live bait from an endemic area to a non-infected area.To be fully effective, these containment efforts will need to be practiced by all users of the aquatic resource.

In a hatchery, the best means of controlling the disease is to prevent the contact of the virus and fish. This can be done by hatchery disinfection, egg treatment with anti-viral agents, and using ultra-violet light treatment of hatchery water. It is important to stock disease free fish and to monitor freshwater populations for signs of further spread.Information on diseased wild fish is difficult to obtain because they often die undetected and fish can decompose rapidly making disease diagnoses very difficult.New research is being developed that would allow more rapid detection of the disease.

What should I do if I see a fish kill?
If you observe a fish kill on the Great Lakes, please contact the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources at (608) 266-8782 or your local DNR office. If you see fish with any of the outward signs of VHS as described above please mention this as well.This will help biologists keep track of where the disease may be appearing.

Source

Notice: Menasha Lock Closed as of May 12, 2007

Notice: Menasha Lock Closed

The Menasha lock has been closed as of Saturday May 12th.

The Menasha lock closed at the request of the DNR after the discovery of a virus in fish that were harvested in Little Lake Butte des Morts in Menasha.

Official release #1)

(Appleton, WI) The Fox River Navigational System Authority suspended the operation of the Menasha Lock today in response to a report that the Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia (VHS) virus was preliminarily discovered in a fish sample taken from Little Lake Butte des Morts earlier this month.Two samples of freshwater drum, (sheepshead), were collected on May 2, 2007 from Little Lake Butte de Morts by DNR fisheries staff. On May 11th the University of Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Lab informed the DNR that the samples tested positive for VHS.

Additional testing is being done to confirm the presence of the virus.“Protecting our waterways and our fisheries from Aquatic Invasive Species has been the number one pledge of the Navigational Authority since work began to restore and operate the 150 year old historic lock system on the lower Fox River,” said Bob Stark, chairman of the Authority. “When we received word that a preliminary positive test for the VHS virus was reported in Little Lake Butte des Morts, our immediate response must be to honor that pledge and to do what we can to fight the spread of AIS,” he added. “Therefore, I have ordered the Menasha Lock to be closed and not to be operated until further notice.”According to the DNR it is not known how the virus entered Little Lake Butte des Morts. The virus is carried in live and dead fish and on fish eggs.

Equipment that comes into contact with fish (live wells, bait buckets, nets and the like) is also a possible vector. Additional testing of fish in other areas is now being done, including Lake Winnebago. The virus poses no risk to human health.The DNR is asking all anglers, boaters and others using the water to take voluntary steps to prevent the spread of this deadly disease. The preliminary message is that all anglers and boaters need to take personal responsibility for not spreading this virus (and other invasive species) by:

• NEVER moving live fish or fish eggs (including bait) to other waters

• ALWAYS draining all water from their boats after use

• ALWAYS obtaining bait minnows from approved sources (WI bait dealers or harvest yourself in the water you'll be fishing)

• RINSE the boat with hot water or let it dry in the sun for 5 days before moving to new waters

• Clean equipment (live wells, nets etc) with a bleach solution, (1/3 cup bleach to 5 gallons of water, in contact with equipment for 5 minutes)

Notice of the Menasha Lock closure will be sent to boat clubs and marinas on the system.

Questions regarding the operational status of the Menasha Lock can be directed to Harlan Kiesow, CEO of the Fox River Navigational System Authority at (920)759-9833.

Release #2)

DATE: May 12, 2007
CONTACT: Mike Staggs, Fisheries Director, (608)220-2609George Boronow, Regional Fisheries Coordinator, (920)662-5426
SUBJECT: Fish likely infected with deadly virus found in Little Lake Butte des Morts;Menasha Lock closed; Public asked to take steps to stop the spread

MADISON – The Department of Natural Resources announced Saturday that two fish from Little Lake Butte des Morts in the Lake Winnebago chain of lakes have preliminarily tested positive for the deadly fish virus called viral hemorrhagic septicemia or (VHS).

Additional dead fish samples taken from Lake Winnebago, itself, appear to have the virus.

Though VHS is not a health threat for people who eat or handle fish infected with the virus, it can infect more than 25 game fish, panfish and bait fish species. State fish managers had suspected it to be present in Lake Michigan and possibly in Lake Superior and in the Mississippi River. This would be the first infection to be confirmed in Wisconsin inland waters. Wisconsin recently enacted emergency rules for boaters, anglers and people who harvest wild bait to prevent the spread of VHS in inland waters http://dnr.wi.gov/org/caer/ce/news/rbnews/BreakingNews_Lookup.asp?id=497

“This is a major fish health crisis,” said Fisheries Director Mike Staggs, “We have to take aggressive steps now and enlist the help of the public to stop this spread.” Fish managers met Saturday to implement immediate steps to deal with the infection and limit its spread. DNR asked the Fox Locks Authority to close the Menasha Lock immediately and to keep it closed until more information about the spread of the disease could be confirmed; boaters can expect to be turned back from the lock starting today. In addition, DNR began the process of posting all boat launches with actions boaters should take to avoid spreading the disease. “We need to err on every possible side of caution,” Staggs said. “Believe me, nobody wants to see this disease get into more of our lakes. Do not take live fish (including unused bait minnows) away from the landing or shore. Drain all water from bilges, bait buckets, live wells, and other containers when leaving the landing or shore.” Little Lake Butte des Morts is downstream from Lake Winnebago and separated by one dam and one functioning lock, which has now been closed. The Lake Winnebago chain is home to Wisconsin’s unique sturgeon population. On May 11, 2007 the University of Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Lab (WVDL) informed DNR that two samples of freshwater drum taken from Little Lake Butte des Morts on May 2, 2007 had tested positive for VHS. The samples have been sent to an approved federal lab for confirmation. The fish were collected by DNR fisheries staff during muskellunge spawning netting and were submitted for testing because they had shown external signs of VHS. Since that time, DNR has been receiving reports of hundreds of freshwater drum dying on Lake Winnebago, itself. On May 9 and 10 samples of those dead fish were sent to WVDL for testing. A visual inspection of the Lake Winnebago fish by DNR’s certified fish health inspector showed the same external signs of VHS as the Little Lake Butte des Morts fish. Also the DNR staff that collected the fish on Little Lake Butte des Morts reported seeing dead and dying drum washing over the dam separating that water from Lake Winnebago. Because the virus can infect so many different ages and species of fish, VHS could spread more quickly in inland lakes, which are much smaller than the Great Lakes, potentially devastating fish populations and fishing opportunities. Walleye, spotted musky, yellow perch, bluegill and northern pike are all susceptible to the virus, as are common bait species such as emerald and spot-tail shiners.

DNR is appealing to anglers, boaters and other water users to help prevent the further spread of VHS by taking a few simple steps:

• Never move live fish or fish eggs to other waters and always buy bait minnows only from Wisconsin bait dealers because bait from other states may not have been tested for VHS. These steps are required by the new emergency rules.

• Inspect boat, trailer and equipment and remove visible aquatic plants, animals, and mud before leaving the lake launch.

• Drain water from boat, motor, bilge, live wells, and bait containers before leaving a lake. This step is recommended for boaters on all waters and is required under the emergency rules for boaters on the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River and their tributaries up to the first dam.

• Dispose of leftover bait in the trash, not in the water. Do not take live fish or live fish eggs away from the boat landing.

• Rinse boat and recreational equipment with hot water OR dry for at least five days.

• Report large numbers of dead fish or fish with bloody spots to your local DNR fish biologist or conservation warden.

Wisconsin already has taken steps to deal with VHS. The state Natural Resources Board on Wednesday, April 4, unanimously passed emergency rules prohibiting anglers and boaters from moving live fish, and requiring them to drain their boats and livewells, before leaving Wisconsin’s Great Lakes waters, the Mississippi River and those waters’ tributaries up to the first dam.

Fishing in Wisconsin is a $2.3 billion industry.

More information on aquatic invasive species and Wisconsin’s programs to prevent their spread is available on the DNR Web site.


For more information about VHS please see http://dnr.wi.gov/fish/pages/vhs.html

Menasha lock to being opening for 2007 boating season May 11

The Menasha lock will being opening for 2007 boating season on Friday May 11, 2007 at 10:00 AM.

Photo from www.gwo-main.com

Hours of operation are:
Monday thru Thursday 10:00 AM until 10:00 PM
Friday thru Sunday 8:00 AM until 10:00 PM

The cost to use the lock has been raised to $6.00 for boats less then 26 feet and $12.00 for boats 26 feet and up. If you are going to go back thru the lock the same day they will give you a ticket stub and there is no additional fee for this return trip.

You can also purchase a seasonal ticket for $120.

This lock is hand operated and is a enjoyable experience for the family.

Sea Ray Sundancer 240 cabin cruiser w/ trailer used boat for sale

***** Update May 25, 2007 SOLD *****






Sea Ray Sundancer 240 cabin cruiser w/ steel ShoreLand'r trailer

This is the perfect sized express family cruiser. The size is not too big for skiing, tubing, or fishing and not too small for 4 adults to spend the night in the cabin.


The boat comes with a full Camper top with enclosure. You can use the top for shade on those hot summer days or completely enclose the cockpit area for those cooler times allowing you to use the boat for an extended season. There’s even a windshield wiper. The Cockpit has a port lounge and a table giving you plenty of room to entertain 8 adults.


The cabin has a galley with dual voltage refrigerator, sink with pressurized water, a separate head compartment and a table that can be lowered for an oversized V-berth for two adults. Abaft the galley is a mid-birth that is plenty large enough to sleep two additional adults.

Also, the boat has a swim platform with a shower / wash down and boarding ladder.

This boat is built Sea Ray strong and is powered by a fuel ejected 5.0 L V8 Mercruiser with only 394 hours connected to the very reliable Alpha I gen II Inboard/Outboard drive.

This boat has been professionally serviced my AJ Marine. The outdrive has been pulled, inspected, serviced, replaced and is very clean.

The boat comes with 120V shore power + battery charging system, dual deep cycle multi-purpose marine batteries that are new in April 2007 and built-in battery selector switch, dual voltage fridge, gas stove, separate head compartment with pump-out.

This boat passed a coast guard voluntary vessel safety inspection May 3rd 2007. The examiner kept commenting how nice the condition the boat was in and even complemented the cleanliness of the engine compartment. A copy of this inspection is available upon request.

This is a 1998 Sea Ray 240DA Sundancer and the price includes the trailer. This is a versatile, fun, economical family express cruiser.


We are not boat brokers. Buy direct from the owner and save the 10% broker commission.

This is our personal boat and we are motivated to sell to move to a larger boat.

For sale at $26,900.

Please call *** SOLD ***