Harvesting wild rice...?

[Timmy727]

Does anyone have any experience harvesting wild rice? I posted a thread not too long ago about the wild rice choking up the bay of many lake front properties. Anyways, a fellow applied to harvest the rice and there's many mixed feelings. Some say that the harvesting will reduce the wild rice and make the plant recede back into it's original bay it came from. Others think that the harvesting will make it thicker and more dense. Does anyone know if harvesting the rice in fact makes it thicker or thinner ? Any information is greatly appreciated.

[dodgeboy1979]

There was a group harvesting it at Keeley lake last fall when i was fishing up there. They had an air boat with a rake/catcher on the front and would just drive over the rice and it fell into the catcher. I think traditionally people used canoes and would pull the rice in the canoe and shake the rice out of the tops.

[35 whelen]

This is what I used to use airboat with screen on front.