River Duckweed

[The Old Buffer]

Azolla really is the stuff of nightmares as regards fishing.

Last week the Sibsey Drain north of Boston in Lincolnshire was almost clear of the dread weed. Today, despite the recent cold spell, it was so thick that a goose could have walked across it. The worse case scenario states that the weed can grow to a depth of 30cm in hot weather, though to be fair I have yet to see it deeper than two or three cm



Apparently the E.A. are going to place booms across the feeder drains in an attempt to keep the main drains clear. Hopefully this will have some effect.

A 2mm-long North American weevil Stenopelmus rufinasus has been used as an agent to control the weed naturally.



It has been resident in the UK since 1921 and has been used to great effect to control or even eradicate azolla. It is also said to be completely harmless to everything other than azolla but one always has concerns over the cultivation of alien species in our environment. I do not know if it has been used in Lincolnshire but all talk now is of booms to prevent the entry of the weed to the deeper drains. One can but hope for the best.

[Julian]

I've posted this before - but for those who haven't seen it, it appeared on a 2 acre old carp pool I used to fish.
I was told this was definitely a type of salvinia, which starts off green then turns red.
After the weevils were introduced it disappeared in a few weeks and never returned:

Here it is being held back ( but only briefly ) by a boom of fenceposts strung together with ropes:



Eventually it completely covered the entire pool:

[Santiago]

Just been scouring a map of the UK, but I'm blowed if I can find the River Duckweed. Exactly what part of the UK does this river flow through?

[The Old Buffer]

Just been scouring a map of the UK, but I'm blowed if I can find the River Duckweed. Exactly what part of the UK does this river flow through?

[RBTraditional]

Gonk?......now there's an interesting word.....Iike that