Sea Lice/Fleas... what are they?

[afterschools]

So the sea lice/fleas were out in full swing today. Making a mess of things. What are they called formally? I want to look up what those pesky buggers physically are besides golden clumps of junk on my line...

[tcon]

http://www.iisgcp.org/exoticsp/spiny_water_flea.htm

Tom

[mrclean]

water fleas. I dont have much issue with them I use 30 big game line, they dont really stick to it..too thick

[LongLine]

At the State of the Lake meeting, DEC reps stated that the USGS preyfish trawls indicated that alewives do eat them, however there is not much nutritional valve in them. Also that there are two species in the lake.

Tom B.

(LongLine)

[traveling man]

i know the strain in the finger lakes is much worse than the ones in lake ontario.

[Reel Scream]

As stated there are two(2) types of water fleas. The one that is predominant in Lake Ontario is the Fishhook flea. The one most widely encountered in Lake Erie is the Spiny water flea. The loop and barbs on the Fishhook flea make it especially annoying when fsihing in Lake Ontario. As the barbs and loop on their tail make it very difficult to remove from lighter fishing line and especially braided lines. The Spiny water fleas can usually be "flicked off" with out much trouble. Going to heavier pound test lines 30 lb and up can help, though in very bad years, such as 2010 that didn't seem to help as much. I remember alot of cutting and retying going on that year to say the least. Here is a link on both types of fleas:

http://www.seagrant.umn.edu/ais/waterflea

Take care

[orangediablo]

What are they you ask? Simple answer...a pain in the ass

[Jolly II]

They were very bad for us this past Sunday morning. I usually use 30lb big game, but they still made a mess with that line. I'm thinking I'm going to have to splice in some 50lb.

They are really bad this year already.