# Killing Phrag!!



## king eider (Aug 20, 2009)

I posted this on the airboat forum, but thought i would share over here as many of you dont frequent that forum.

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Several of us got out and tried our best at killing phrag today.

R. Jefre and crew were out at Ogden Bay
Me, Noble, and Farr were out at BRBR. It took me about 18 months of back and forth with the BRBR folks to get this to happen. I am confident that we will do this annually. We as waterfowlers should all have one main goal. killing Phargmites!!!!!! all other issues should be a very far distance to this main goal. we are loosing thousands of acres to this. precious habitat lost to this vile weed!!!

Here are a few pics of the days activities...

loaded up with sprayers ready to go.









The BRBR's fixed up phrag spraying machine. 

















There is more to this story than i knew. i guess they have had this machine which is called a "Wilco" for quite some time. when they got the machine it was a broken wreck. they have spent about 2 yrs or so fixing it up getting her ready to spray. they said that its pretty close to being fixed and they will have her out doing work this fall sometime. the spray tank on the back of that thing is pretty big. i would guess it holds 150 gallon + or so. a sprayer on each side. i must admit it looked very impressive to say the least! i pray to God that it is utilized like crazy. It was frustrating see how the Feds spend money. curb and gutter being poured out there is aggravating!!! here the habitat is being lost like crazy to phrag and they are putting in black top and curb out there.
anyhow on to the show...

Some of the lighter stuff i went through.









I pushed through what seemed like a mile of this stuff. Man its gotten really bad out there this year as compared to yrs past.
i pushed many, many yards of solid phrag. couldnt see where the heck i was going at all. just hoping i was still in the so called "flow"









Rob was one of the Fed workers. He was a pretty good guy. He was in this boat by himself. after we went down the channel we hit a few small stands out in the skinny water. we could have spent a week on the channel. I am afraid its about a lost cause. i was very disheartened about it. Greg Mullen the Fed game officer asked me if i had a pilots license to fly a spray plane as that is about the only hope for everything outside the dikes.









Some waterfowl are starting to show up. However i was surprised by the amount of birds with botulism. very surprised to see...


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## Fowlmouth (Oct 4, 2008)

Great post! and YES phrag removal should be the #1 priority in this state right now.


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## grouse dog (Jul 20, 2011)

i wouldn't mind that large tractor for rush hour on I-15. :mrgreen: 

Nice pics, good job. You just did all us waterfowlers a great service and hopefully it can be a yearly thing to get the phrags under control.


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## Bears Butt (Sep 12, 2007)

Darin,
I was told the phrag needed to be sprayed when the tassle on top was full and turning color. Is that true? I sprayed our duck club last year one week before the opener and it looks like I killed a bunch of it, but of course I will need to do it again this year.
Just wondering.


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## king eider (Aug 20, 2009)

Bears Butt said:


> Darin,
> I was told the phrag needed to be sprayed when the tassle on top was full and turning color. Is that true? I sprayed our duck club last year one week before the opener and it looks like I killed a bunch of it, but of course I will need to do it again this year.
> Just wondering.


BB,
to be honest with you i truly have no clue when the proper time to spray is. I do know that to far into the fall and the plant goes dormant and wont draw in the poison to the roots. The DWR does almost all of their spraying from august to mid sept. Marty wheelwright and R. Jefre seem to know a lot on this topic. maybe we can get them to post his knowledge on the topic. All i know is that stuff is the death of waterfowling in this state. anyone who cant see that is a blind fool. That Wilco vehicle the BRBR has is mighty impressive. my only fear is that it will not be utilized enough and it will not be utilized outside of their dikes. anyhow, i hope more waterfowlers can become just as passionate about killing phrag as they are about killing ducks.

Darin


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## rjefre (Sep 8, 2007)

As you may know, the Utah Waterfowl Association and Delta Waterfowl are involved in ongoing research that may help determine the very best time to spray for each soil type. For now, we are seeing the best results by spraying in the late summer when it goes to seed. About now, the plants will start pulling nutrients into their root structure. When you apply a systemic herbicide like Aquaneat right now (late August or early September), the idea is that the plant will suck that poison down into the roots and kill from the bottom up. We can only hope!
R


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## Bears Butt (Sep 12, 2007)

Aquaneat was what I used last fall and it worked very well!


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## Clarq (Jul 21, 2011)

Thanks for spending your time to kill those stupid weeds. I really appreciate it.


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## dkhntrdstn (Sep 7, 2007)

great job guys.


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## BBFlinger (Dec 5, 2008)

Aquaneat is the water version of Roundup. All glyphosate. When you spray it make sure you use a good surfactant to help hold it onto the plant. This will allow the spray to be more readily absorbed into the plant. The plant will begin the process of storing starches in the rhizome when the sun exposure becomes shorter. As you have noticed, the daylight hours are getting shorter. This triggers the plant into releasing the seeds and then begin shutting down for the fall and winter (periods of no growth). The whole idea of spraying now is so that the rhizome never wakes up in the spring. 

DWR, UMMA, UAB, UWA, USU and all of the volunteers deserve a great big ATTA BOY from anyone who uses the public marshes. Now we just need to get the FSSL guys on board and we should be able to rid us of most of this vile weed!!!!!!! From this part of the state, I SAY THANK YOU!!! See ya in the marsh!!!


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## 357bob (Sep 30, 2007)

That Wilco looks like it has come a long ways in the last 2 years


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## Phragmites (Sep 12, 2007)

Since your interested in killing phragmites Darrin there is a whole fruitcaging bunch from all of your uncles water overages that flow out on to the willard spur.


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## king eider (Aug 20, 2009)

Phragmites said:


> Since your interested in killing phragmites Darrin there is a whole fruitcaging bunch from all of your uncles water overages that flow out on to the willard spur.


ya, ive noticed! having that sewer flow out that way wont help any either!!! die you vile weed!!!


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## Theekillerbee (Jan 8, 2009)

It's too bad we don't have one of those phrag killin' machines for each of the WMA's around the lake!

I'm afraid both the feds and the state are fighting a losing battle. There isn't enough money in the pot to deal with it. All the government bureaucracy is ridiculous, like you said, pavement and curb/gutter instead of spending that money on a project that really matters.

Thanks for your efforts.


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