Lake Winnipeg algae bad for business, fisherman says

Algae in the middle of Lake Winnipeg is causing some problems for a fisherman from Gimli, Man. 

Robert Kristjanson has been fishing in the area for more than 60 years and he said the lake's algae is bad for business. 

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Kristjanson told CBC News that the algae is like a thick green soup and it's clogging his fishing nets, preventing the fish from getting in. Instead, the fish swim around the algae-coated nets. 

"It just goes inside the net. It sticks to the net. It's got little hooks on it and the net becomes a blanket. Just like a blanket. And the fish just lead around it and keep on doing whatever there is to do," he said Monday. 

In all his years of fishing, Kristjanson said he has seen the algae closer to shore before, but not typically in the middle of the lake. 

"It's it's just unreal. Like soup coming. It's green green. And you can see it on the north end of Lake Winnipeg. I know they had a satellite shot of it there. And it's not a very pretty sight," Kristjanson said. 

He hopes that it is the hot and humid weather causing the algae problems, so that as this weather passes, so too will the algae.