Pond Boss Forums AQUATIC VEGETATION Controlling unwanted plants How to control slender spikerush

Our E. TX 3 acre lake has slender spikerush growing along shorelines, and it also grows on top of floating mats of soil/decomposing matter that rises to the top during the hot days of summer's end. We've had no real rain for 6 months, levels are down 2 ft., and the heat is 105 degrees most days. The lake has more mats than usual, and more spikerush floating on top than usual. Is there a product now that will kill slender spikerush, and what is the best way to get rid of the floating mats with spikerush growing on top?

Napalm works on slender spikerush - sometimes. Otherwise, it is one of the toughest aquatic plant species I've ever encountered - and extremely difficult to control.
I've had limited success with tank-mix treatments of 2,4-D and carfentrazone - but not consistently enough to encourage their use due to the tricky application technique.
I think slender spikerush enjoys dining on the standard aquatic herbicides for dessert (diquat, endothall, fluridone, copper).
This is one of those situations where a grapple on a long rope, combined with a lot of sweat, might be the best recipe.
PS: I haven't yet tried CLIPPER or CLEARCAST on slender spikerush. Based on past experiences with other products, I'm not overly optimistic; but who knows.....

Right now the only control method I've heard of is grass carp but, since it's shoreline, idk if that is feasible.

Thanks. I am going to revisit the grass carp issue, which I had really hoped to avoid for so many reasons, just to control the floating mats of slender spikerush.

Look up a perferred food list of GC and see where rushes comes in at......

CLEARCAST is labeled for slender spikerush, but I have no first-hand experience with this product on this specie.
I'm skeptical by nature; so I'll believe it when I see it (as with any product).

I used it on spikerush with a surfactant this May and it looks dead , dead , dead. I will take a pic and post it soon. On the other hand I used it on pondweed and it acted like a contact product ( all died and sunk , dissolved but came back in about 90 days).

Which pondweed specie?
And, what was your treatment rate/method on the spikerush?

Variable-Leaf Pondweed - Potamogeton diversifolius

I will check. I only treated a limited part of the lake (2 places around the dock area and across the lake around a point). Mixed in a hand sprayer and sprayed. It is only in shallow/bank area above water mostly. Most likely way over treated as it was a test to see if it would work.

Has anyone had any luck getting rid of spikerush lately. I used fluridone before I started reading this forum and the spikerush loves fluridone. It's about 5 times worse than it ever was.