Dave Allen of Dave’s Bait and Tackle, Bunker Hill Road, Mayfield, has announced the results of his July monthly fishing contest.

John Zeis of Wells took all three places in the walleye division of the event with 27 1/2, 26 inch and 25 3/4 inch entries.

Bill Harrington of Northville took first place in the northern pike category with a 35 incher, followed in second place by George Albert of Rotterdam and George Keohan of Mayfield who both brought in identical 30 inchers. Bill Harrington also took third place in that division with a 27 incher. In the trout division, George Albert of Rotterdam brought in the first place entry - a 21 incher. Larry Downing of Mayfield took second place trout honors with a 19 1/2 incher, followed by Jen Whiting of Rotterdam with a 19 1/4 incher.

Dan Looman of Edinburg took the top spot in the yellow perch segment of the contest with a 13 5/8 inch entry, followed by John Zeis of Wells with a 13 1/2 incher and Jim Sheldon of Mayfield with a 13 1/4 incher. In the white perch division, Dan Looman of Edinburg and Ted Kroup of Gloversville shared first place honors with identical 13 1/4 inch entries. Dan also took second place with a 13 inch entry and Ted took the third spot with a 12 3/4 inch entry. The bass division was also a real crap shoot with Luke Olsen of Northville in first pace with a 19 1/2 incher, followed by Scott Luzinas of Amsterdam with a 17 1/2 incher, and Bill Herrington of Northville and Don Town, also of Northville, sharing third place with identical 17 inch entries.

The Dave’s Bait and Tackle contest will continue this month and I’ll have the results this month’s contest for you in my Sept. 6 column.

COMING EVENTS

The next few items on our August calendar are the Fish House Fish and Game Club Contest which will be held at Captain Nauti’s on Saturday, August 11 and the release date of the 2012 - 2013 hunting, fishing and trapping licenses on Monday. Aug. 13.

SOME BAD NEWS

Now you can add Lake George to Great Sacandaga Lake, Lake Ontario, Stewarts Bridge Reservoir (below the Conklingville Dam on Great Sacandaga), Peck’s Lake, Sacandaga Lake (Hamilton County), the Champlain and Glens Falls Feeder Canal,the St. Lawrence River and other New York State waters in which the presence of the spiny water flea has been confirmed. It’s just a short hop from Lake George to Lake Champlain and since the critters have already been discovered in the feeder canals, Lake Champlain may be next.

Early last week the Lake Champlain Basin Aquatic Invasive Species Rapid Response Task Force released some recommendations for slowing or otherwise mitigating the effect of this invasive species’ spread, including redirection of the Champlain Canal into the Hudson River and exploring the feasibility of a hydraulic barrier between the Champlain Canal and Lake Champlain. The presence of this invasive pest was confirmed through the sampling efforts of the Lake George Association on July 31. Now they’ll determine the extent of the invasion.

The presence of the spiny water flea was first reported on July 27 by an invasive species steward at DEC’s Mossy Point Boat Launch near the north end of the lake. An angler had reported a clump of small organisms on his line after spending some time trolling the waters off Mallory Island along the east shore of the lake. A sample of the “clump” was provided to the Darrin Fresh Water Institute and was later identified as the spiny water flea.

A native of Eurasia, the spiny water flea feeds on tiny crustaceans and other zooplankton that are food for fish and other native aquatic organisms. The tail spines of the water flea get hooked on fishing lines and can create a real mess, especially for trollers.

Anglers on Lake Ontario had to switch to larger, heavier 30 pound test lines to help avoid this problem. The tail of the spiny water flea is not prehensile - in that it can’t be moved or withdrawn - so when some of them get hooked on your fishing line, others get hooked on the ones that were there before it and you eventually get a collection of the critters that can be dense enough to prevent your line from passing through the rod guides.

There are lines specifically designed to minimize the affect of spiny water fleas and to make their ultimate removal easier but I’ve never used them so I can’t comment on how effective they are, though fellow anglers who have used those lines tell me they do work well.

How the spiny water flea reached Lake George is anyone’s guess but most likely the introduction came from boaters or fisherman who had previously been to other waters where the critters are already present. That’s undoubtedly how they reached Great Sacandaga and other area waters.