Never thought weeds would cause an issue

[Hofmeister]

Robbie and I were launching on Friday for the first time in water and ran into a problem I never thought of. Alot of milfoil was wrapping in the lines and would weight them down, almost too much to fly safely. Has anybody else ran into this problem launching, or were we just in a bad spot...Any tips/lakes that would not pose this issue would be appreciated. Dahm milfoil!

[TomG]

as a matter of fact ya .. try to stay away from it. I was trying to launch a kite one time one of the lines got caught in the milfoil. I actually got the kite launched and the one line was still under the milfoil. The weight of the milfoil caused the line to snap.

[Tighe]

yeah it can be a real problem. Feel fortunate though that our fins don't catch them like windsurfer fins. One strand of milfoil on your fin can keep a board from planing.

If you're doing an assisted launch, try to keep a slight tension on your lines...that may help a bit.

I would not recommend a drift launch if there is anything in the water.

[ice_kmauve]

I've always wondered - is there some invasive species of water insect, frog, or fish that just loves to munch down on milfoil? Hopefully it would not be a flesh-eating bacteria. Would that lead to a genetic arms race on our lakes that wouldn't have a happy ending?