Got 5 minutes to watch a new video on cleaning your fishing gear? It might just save your favorite river.
Cleaning angling gear is critical to minimize the risk of spreading threats to different bodies of water as we fish, but we know that information can sometimes be vague, confusing and a bit overwhelming.
With invasive species like New Zealand Mudsnails and Didymo threatening waters across like the Great Lakes, it’s more important than ever for anglers to make a decontamination plan.
The good news is Trout Unlimited and partners are presenting a new video with an easy-to-follow, “stomp-by-stomp” protocol on how to decontaminate waders and other angling gear using Formula 409.
The protocol was informed by the results of the peer-reviewed journal article, “Simultaneously Decontaminating Angling Gear for New Zealand Mudsnails (Potamopyrgus antipodarum) and Didymo (Didymosphenia geminata): a Comparison of Two Chemical Approaches” that was published in 2025 in the North American Journal of Fisheries Management. The study was authored by Nicole Wagner, Hailee Mersino and Scott Tiegs in the Department of Biological Sciences at Oakland University, along with Jeremy Geist of Trout Unlimited.
This video was made possible by a State of Michigan grant to Wagner and Tiegs through the Michigan Invasive Species Grant Program.
Thank you for tuning in and doing your part to protect Great Lakes freshwater resources.