The Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) Patrol is a dedicated group of volunteers who patrol Conway Lake in kayaks, canoes and on paddle...

I paddled from our home to the town beach and back covering Zones 2 and 3 with near perfect conditions - it was sunny day with minimal wind. Zone 2 covers most of the northern shoreline along Mudgett Rd and is shallow and sandy with fairly sparse vegetation. I did see some floating fragments of native naiad and purple bladderwort, some aquatic moss along the bottom, and the usual floating plants. The naiad was easy to identify as the native form by simply grabbing fragment

I didn’t have my phone for Zone 8 on August 2nd but tracked today’s paddle thru Zone 9 using Strava. All looking good!!

August 5, 2026 second paddle in S Cove, did a big loop this time. Saw lors of friendly healthy natives, nothing troubling and did find what I believe is one lonely Lobelia dortmanni which was kind of cool. I picked it, it was past prime, but feel a little guilty. It's native and definitely in Carroll County lakes and ponds. Photo below, anyone correct me if I am wrong. And I found this native giant bur-reed kind of broken off which is probably why it was noticeable.

The surface of the lake was smooth and the sun was out, so it was a perfect day to be able to look below the surface and check aquatic plant growth. I paddled all of Zone 17 and adjacent portions of Zone 1 and 16. Portions of the shallow shoreline were rocky and plant growth was sparse except for floating lilies and pondweeds. But I found areas with spiral pondweed, purple bladderwort, aquatic moss, tape grass, pipewort, grassy spike rush, ribbon leaf pondweed, watershield

Sunday July 26, I zigzaged 664,665,669,35,41 and 30. Nothing new thank goodness. Lots of pink and white water lilies and Yellow water lillies starting to show. I can't bring my phone as I often fall in and out of my old kayak!

Spent about 3 hours this morning in zone 4 and traveled to the edges of zone 3 and 5 as well. Since it was my first patrol of the year I tried to traverse from the shoreline out until the water was too deep to see much plant life. Like others who have posted I am happy to report I didn’t see anything suspicious. Some areas were loaded with yellow water lily and floating heart. Other areas had a lot of spike rush and pondweed. There was also submerged spike rush and waterweed

July 26th offered another morning of bright sun and calm waters that just had to be taken advantage of. I headed out and even tried my hand at dropping some pins during the patrol to mark where I had some interesting finds...outside of the first one I was almost on target. The second and third landed almost on top of each other. (More practice needed.) The aquatic plants I found in Zone14 offered few surprises. That said, given it is relatively early in the growth season, I f

July 25th and patrolling another sunny morning with very calm winds – so perfect. Started at bottom of Zone 15 and found nothing unusual other than in grid 485 where there is still the amazingly thick layer of Aquatic Moss, now at least over 1.5’ in one section. Scattered within the moss was a good mix of Elodea, red Water Naiad (pic attached), Thin-leaf Pondweed, and wispy strands of Floating bladderwort. Naturally, a fine coating of Filamentous algae was everywhere. Met up

July 25th and patrolling another sunny morning with very calm winds – so perfect. Started at bottom of Zone 15 and found nothing unusual other than in grid 485 where there is still the amazingly thick layer of Aquatic Moss, now at least over 1.5’ in one section. Scattered within the moss was a good mix of Elodea, red Water Naiad (pic attached), Thin-leaf Pondweed, and wispy strands of Floating bladderwort. Naturally, a fine coating of Filamentous algae was everywhere. Met up

Perfect Day to patrol. Snapped a shot of the beaver dam on the south side of Picnic Island Cove. We tried our double kayak this time (twice as many eyes!). Very sparse plant cover out on the points but still packed with the usual suspects and abundant algae back in the coves. There was one exotic find however....we ran into Maria coming up from the south👍. Strava recorded our southerly coast path but not the last part across the rocks and island at the front of Picnic I

July 24th was finally a sunny day with calm winds(!) Throughout the zone I found the water was a combination of easy viewing to the lake’s floor and very fine dust or debris on the surface with a good many floating strands of young bladderwort, thin leafed Pondweed, Elodea, and/or native Water naiad. The Maidens of the Mist and Gull Rock had barely any plant growth that was visible but there were the familiar bright green Fresh Water Sponges of previous years, stuck to many

July 24 and wind is still a hinderance. I patrolled Paige Brook for the second time this season. First patrol was in June. All the usual suspects (not suspicious) and more of it since June patrol. Pickerelweed, bur-reed, Pipewort. White, pink and yellow waterlily, floating heart. Bladderwort, native naiad, pondweed, native milfoil and several grasses. Patrolled the channel while conditions were favorable from Gloria’s and around the shore toward boat launch to other shore bac

Paddled Zone 2 today and all looked good. Noted lots of submerged blobs/clouds of filamentous green algae. These create bubbles of oxygen and if trapped in the algae it will float to the surface of the lake. See photo below. Made a detour from my patrol to photo the north shore loons and chick. Filamentous Green Algae Native Water Naiad - can be distinguished from the invasive form by the smooth edges of its leaves.

Bladderwort

I was out for a paddle this past week through Turtle Cove in Zone 1 and spotted this nice example of Floating Bladderwort (Utricularia inflata). There are four types of bladderworts that have been identified in Conway Lake, and this is the least common form. There are two quite different types of leaves on Floating Bladderwort. The lower leaves alternate on the stem, are up to 3 cm long, and are divided many times into hair-like leaflets, each bearing many tiny bladders.

July 18, 2026 First AIS Patrol of Zone 11 this morning. Weather was perfect, winds calm, and light was good. I stayed in Zone 11 to get a more thorough look at what's growing. While seeing nothing invasive, white and yellow pond lily (much in bloom), Potamogeton natans (pond weed), bladderworts (Utricaria spp) including thin-leafed, floating hearts (Nymphoides cordata), watershield (Brasenia schreberi) with its gooey underside, and tape-grass (Vallisneria americana) were all

'Avenza', the mapping app that served us so well in tracking our patrols, is now charging a fee to download custom maps. You will find that if you try to use it, it will no longer allow you to download and use the AIS Zone map of the lake. You can however use their generic basemap to track your path on the lake. To use the app and download the AIS map you now have to pay an annual fee of $35. I've opted to pay the annual fee but if you prefer you can use the free version

The lake is warming up, and aquatic plants are beginning to take off. It’s time to pull out your gear and reacquaint yourself with the native plants in Conway Lake, as well as the invasive species we are watching for. I patrolled most of Zone 1 this past week and noted many floating aquatic plants, including water lilies, watershield, floating burr-reed, and floating pondweed, as well as lots of submerged grassy spike rush, two large patches of native Elodea (doted circles on

Summary Notes 2025 AIS Patrol Roundup Meeting October 5 Proposed 2026 KICKOFF - JULY 11 TH @ 9:00 place TBD. Attendees: Maria Gross, Tom Gross, Tim Keith, Bette Jacques, Cindy Hall, Tim Lohe, Thia Siegel, Christie and Richie Girouard, Gloria Brennan, Don Yurewicz 1. Opening and Attendance The meeting opened with informal sharing among patrollers about late-season lake conditions, new plant observations, and experiences learning to identify aquatic species. Several