Practice Clean Angling!

We learned some great tips to practice clean angling by helping to prevent the spread of New Zealand Mudsnails and other invasive species from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. We wanted to make sure to share them with you so that we can all work to keep our waters protected!

New Zealand Mudsnails are tough little buggers! Most chemicals, such as bleach, don't scare them. Due to their small size, mudsnails readily attach to gear and equipment and are hard to notice. They have a "trap door", called an operculum, which closes over their shell opening making them resistant to drying and many chemicals. In fact, they can survive for nearly a month out of water in a damp environment and resist bleach, ammonia and alcohol.

Before leaving a waterbody:

ALWAYS - Inspect equipment and remove attached plants and animals (required); Drain all water from equipment (required)
BETTER - Scrub equipment with a stiff brush, including crevices and rinse equipment with tap water
BEST - Soak in 2% Virkon soluion (2.7 ounces/gallon) for 20 minutes and rinse clean away from surface waters

The following methods can also reduce the risk of transporting mudsnails:

• Do not use felt soled boots
• Fish from upstream to downstream
• If you do not wish to use Virkon, the following steps are also effective at ensuring no mudsnails are transported on your gear

Before entering a NEW waterbody:

• SWITCH to a completely new set of gear OR
• FREEZE for 8 hours, OR
• WASH with 212 degree Fahrenheit water (steam clean)

Felt-soled Boots are difficult to clean. Please use alternatives. We know many prefer felt soles to the alternatives. However, they do pose an increased risk of spreading invasive species. They have been proven to harbor more invasive species and to be harder to clean.

Check out this Clean Angling Video here!