West Virginia Wildlife from Eyewitness News

Didymo

Anglers alert! Protect West Virginia's trout streams from Didymo!

May 20, 2009
Reporter: Patrick McMurtry
Videographer: Brad Rice

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"Didymo is either light in color, tan, brown, it is never green."

And it's never good, either. This stuff is flat nasty and it's infecting some of the best trout streams in the state including glady creek, gandy creek and the Elk River around Webster Springs.

Mike Shingleton/DNR says:
"We just found it in some of our streams last year about this time. It's been moving from surrounding states over the last several years. Here in Seneca Creek, it was the first time we've found it here in 2009."

The problem is cross contimination from other creeks. All this single cell organism needs is a microscopic piece on your waders or pole and it has a place to ride into the next stream you fish. Once in the stream, it's impossible to kill, so Shingleton says keeping your gear clean is critical.

Mike Shingleton/DNR says:
"Use a salt solution, five percent salt solution, five percent dishwater solution, use a fifty fifty 409 solution or a two percent bleach solution."

Make sure you spray everything that could have possibly come in contact with the stream you just left before you fish the next one.
Shingleton says you don't want to let this nasty pest start taking root in your favorite stream.

Mike Shingleton/DNR says:
"If the mats develop enough, it gets thick enough covering up the bottom of the creek, it could eventually affect the aquatic insects, it misght displace stone flies, mayflies for less desireable aquatic insects."

And once that happens, you'll probably see the fish in the streams be affected as well. Didymo is a big problem, one that we'll have to deal with, but with a little help from you every time you fish, this pest might not be something you see in every stream. For West Virginia Wildlife, I'm Patrick McMurtry, Eyewitness News.