Plants.
What would we do without them?
For starters, we would have some trouble breathing.
Our need for oxygen is largely dependent on plants and the same can be said for fish with regards to aquatic vegetation.
Despite sometimes being a nuisance, aquatic vegetation brings balance to our fisheries and plays an extremely important role in the ecosystem.
Aquatic vegetation offers shade for aquatic species, acts as a food source, soaks up excess nutrients, provides fish with a surface to lay eggs on, and most importantly helps in providing dissolved oxygen.
Below we highlight some of the more common aquatic vegetation seen throughout the United States as well as a few talking points for each.
Lily Pads
This type of vegetation is a favorite among many anglers because of the exciting topwater frog bites that are a result of fishing this stuff.
The most common "lily pad" known by anglers is the American Water Lily
Oftentimes lumped into the same category are plants such as the Lotus and Spadderdock who closely resembles the American Water Lily yet have flowers and leaves that mature and actually grow out and above the waters surface.
All of the above three plants mentioned are typically found in shallower regions of a fishery that have a softer, more silty bottom.
For most fisheries this means finding them along shallow shorelines, drainage areas, or the backs of creeks that include a shallow flood plain.
Lily pads provide an abundancy of shade to fish and other organisms inhabiting the area which acts as a double-edged sword.
Yes they are great in providing shade for fish seeking cooler water and cover from the sun, but lily pads also block out so much sunlight that they typically prevent other aquatic vegetation that require certain amounts of sunlight from growing in the same area.
Cattail
Mostly seen in the marshy wetland regions of the country, cattails add beauty and balance to ecosystems.
If you see a plant that looks looks like it has a corndog growing on it you're probably looking at a cattail.
Cattail is commonly referred to as 'blade grass' since having long, narrow leaves with sharp edges.
These plants are typically found in shallow water areas, both freshwater and brackish, where the water depth is 2ft or less.
Wherever cattail is found there is normally dense patches of it which make it great for providing cover and shade to aquatic animals
Many predatory fish hide in cattails waiting for the opportunity to ambush nearby prey fish that pass by.
Because of this, a favorite among many anglers is to run lures parallel to any areas with long stretches of cattail.
Watermilfoil
There's a few different species of watermilfoil but a common one found in the U.S. is Eurasian watermilfoil.
It can be identified by its spaced out, fine, needle-like leaf arrangement formed around a white to reddish colored stem.
Watermilfoil is a rooted, submerged aquatic plant with the ability to grow upwards of 20ft but most often seen being anywhere from 3ft-8ft tall.
The reason it is considered submerged is because the plant cannot grow out of the water due to having a too flimsy of a stem to support such.
Watermilfoil has amazing survivability since being very resistant to weather and the changing of seasons.
It can survive in both cold winter and hot summer conditions as well as areas that experience a lot of turbulence from things such as recreational boating.
Once watermilfoil reaches the surface it will begin to mat up and provide a canopy-like form of cover for fish.
When the vegetation is thick enough, some anglers will choose to punch lures through watermilfoil mats in hopes of getting bit.
Coontail
Native and found throughout the US, coontail can be identified by its coniferous, bushy, spruce-like leaves that branch out from the main stem.
Think of a racoon's tail.
It's one of the most commonly found submerged aquatic vegetation in the US.
Coontail can grow in very shallow water or water as deep as 20ft.
The plant grows up to 8ft in length and typically has a leaf arrangement, or whorl, of 8-10 leaves that form around the stem.
Depending on water temperatures and climate, coontail may remain green for the entirety of the year.
Even in areas where coontail loses some of its color it will typically do so after hydrilla and watermilfoil.
Coontail is interesting in the way that it gets nutrients typically from the water rather than the sediment of a river or lake bottom.
This allows certain species of coontail to actually be rootless and not have any physical connection point to the bottom of a fishery.
Waterweed
Waterweed is another native plant that can be found throughout most of the country.
It is a submerged aquatic plant that remains green all year.
Colder, winter months may brown the plant slightly, but the greenish color should still be evident.
Waterweed is commonly found in ponds, rivers and places with an abundancy of nutrients such as agricultural areas, septic systems, etc.
Waterweed closely resembles hydrilla in many ways but one way to tell the two apart is the leaf formation on the stem.
Waterweed typically has a whorl of three smooth, drooping leaves around the stem and along the whole stem whereas hydrilla has a whorl of four to five pointy-edged leaves around the stem of the plant.
Hydrilla
Also known as waterthyme, hydrilla is most commonly found on the props of outboards and trolling motors.
All kidding aside, hydrilla is an invasive plant species that is spread out through much of the U.S. but is predominately found in the southern and southeastern areas of the country.
Hydrilla can be easily identified by the pointy-edged leaves of the plant and how it appears to bloom and fold over away from the stem in whorls of four or five.
Much like coontail, hydrilla can grow is just few inches of water to as deep as 20ft of water.
It doesn't require hardly any sunlight for survival (as little as 1%) which allows most plants to survive through all seasons.
Eelgrass
As the name suggests, eelgrass can be identified by its wavy, ribbonlike appearance.
Eelgrass can grow to just being a few inches long to lengths up to 5ft depending on various external factors (temperature, sunlight, current, etc.).
Eelgrass is a submerged aquatic plant that is most commonly found in tidewater regions and can survive in both freshwater and brackish water.
Many birds and turtles feed on eelgrass but for anglers it's considered home to smaller forage fish still in the juvenile stages of life.
In Conclusion
We've listed some of the more popular forms of aquatic vegetation that you may see while fishing but by no means is this a complete list.
If you don't know what vegetation you have in your fishery don't be afraid to ask.
Whether it be us through a contact form, a quick internet search, or another local angler that you encounter, remain eager to learn.
In being able to identify aquatic vegetation you broaden your horizon on being able to understand how fish use each type for each season of the year.
That way when you fish another body of water with similar vegetation you can already begin forming a game plan based on prior knowledge and experience.
Time to go catch em'!
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