Bass and Carp

[slolane]

We use dough balls to target bugle mouth bass ( carp ). If you have never caught one you don't know what you are missing. They pull like a freight  train and are a blast to catch. I have caught many over 30 inches they are fun!!!

[Darth-Baiter]

I’ve only caught one carp in my life and it was a giant.  I took a tiny treble hook and wadded a bit of rice crispy treat on. I flipped it out and let it drift to feeding carp.  It was so much fun.  What a battle.  

[The Bassman]

Looks like this thread has morphed into a thread about carp only (I'm guilty, too). The take away for me here is that carp and bass can co-exist under most circumstances. Problem for me is that I'm dealing with them in relatively small bodies of water. As @WRB cited I can see them eventually outcompeting the bass.

[FrankN209]

Yes, where I fish at, the carp have become really thick the last 2 years. During the summer months, they destroy all the vegetation while they're spawning. I've seen balls of them just tearing up everything.  

[king fisher]

Over all I believe carp are a negative for bass fishing.  They stir up the bottom making the water dirty, and eat lots of small organisms that the juvenile bass eat.  This can make a difference in early growth rates for bass, and is a huge problem with growth rates for trout.  It may help the fishery as for trophy size  bass, but hurt overall numbers and the average size of younger age classes.  

      In the West they will poison some lakes to remove the carp, and the results are impressive.  Game fish especially trout growth rate sky rockets, and the water clears up a significant amount.  Problem is some carp survive overpopulate and have to be killed off again every few years.  If the lake is on a river system it is impossible to kill them off so once populated fisherman simply get used to what ever balance that particular fishery has.

        Most places carp have simply been there so long people view them as a native species.  As far as bass coexisting and feeding around carp, there are times when they are right next to each other, and times when they avoid each other.  Only way to tell for sure is cast a lure and see.

[cheezyridr]

a buddy of mine had a little 10' boat he used to throw in the back of the truck so we could fish a couple of private ponds he had access to.  we were out there one morning and he foul hooked a massive carp.  in the boat is 2 men and a coleman cooler full of ice with drinks and bait.  that's over 400lbs in the boat. that carp pulled us all the way across that pond, probably a few hundred feet

[GreenPig]

On 12/20/2021 at 12:20 PM, gimruis said:

Bowfishing seems to have added a few more participants here in MN.  Their rigs are easy to spot at night time with all their heavy flood lights and loud generators.  I say have at it.  Remove as many as possible.

Bowfishing is a blast. My Yamaha generator is very quiet. 

[gim]

3 hours ago, GreenPig said:

Bowfishing is a blast.

Fantastic. Keep it up

[Buzzbaiter]

Maybe I’m not being smart, but carp and bass don’t eat the same things or live in exactly the same places. I don’t see how they can outcompete bass. 

[king fisher]

1 hour ago, Buzzbaiter said:

Maybe I’m not being smart, but carp and bass don’t eat the same things or live in exactly the same places. I don’t see how they can outcompete bass. 

     Adult bass and carp do not eat the same things or live in the same places, but juvenile bass do.  They both east insects, small invertebrates, snails, fresh water shrimp, and many other small organisms.  When bass fry grow to a few inches long, they switch to larger prey, and no longer compete with carp.  Also many of the adult bass prey species compete with carp.  Carp constantly root the bottom, making the water dirty, and disturbing bass nests.

        Obviously bass and carp thrive in the same water all over the country, but that doesn't mean carp do not have a negative impact on the bass population.  In general, most bass fisheries would be better off without carp.  Survival and growth rates for bass would improve.  Water clarity would increase an improvement not only for bass, but also for many prey species of bass.

      I have fished a number of lakes, that the water was muddy, and sport fish almost non existent do to over populating from carp.  After the carp were removed, followed by planting of bass, trout, and other sport fish, the lakes became excellent fisheries.  The water became clear and the annual growth rates of planted trout almost doubled.  In a few short years the bass fishing was far better than when the carp were there.

[cyclops2]

In my bay the carp & bass maintain a so so level. Carp FORCE TEIR WAY INTO THE REEDS AND LAY EGGS.

 

The bass simply wait for all the baby carp to come out of the weeds. YUM  YUM

 

I never fished or watched bass spawning.  I have seen the GOBIES gobble up every egg in any type of fish nest if the guard is not RIGHT ON TOP OF THE NEST.  You hook a nesting bass ?  You destroyed ALL of the bass.  Gobies love you very much. 3 to 5 seconds the nest is eaten completely.

 

I rate the gobies to be just like waiting piranha. They form a safe distance circle around the nest. And wait.

 

 

[TnRiver46]

52 minutes ago, cyclops2 said:

In my bay the carp & bass maintain a so so level. Carp FORCE TEIR WAY INTO THE REEDS AND LAY EGGS.

 

The bass simply wait for all the baby carp to come out of the weeds. YUM  YUM

 

I never fished or watched bass spawning.  I have seen the GOBIES gobble up every egg in any type of fish nest if the guard is not RIGHT ON TOP OF THE NEST.  You hook a nesting bass ?  You destroyed ALL of the bass.  Gobies love you very much. 3 to 5 seconds the nest is eaten completely.

 

I rate the gobies to be just like waiting piranha. They form a safe distance circle around the nest. And wait.

 

 

I’ve heard the smallies do pretty well eating gobies too……..

[cyclops2]

Bingo Tn. 

The St. Lawrence & Lake Ontario Are COVERED with them. Why we have MASSIVE    SMB   but few smaller ones. Problem is Botulism carried by some types of gobies. We get bird & fish kills sometimes.  Bellies are full of gobies & other invasives.

 

I have caught BIG gobies on the 1.5" Rapalas dragged on the bottom.  Mouth hookups.

[WRB]

If you have a choice to carp free lake any bass angler with 1/2 a brain would choose it.

Tom

[TnRiver46]

21 minutes ago, cyclops2 said:

Bingo Tn. 

The St. Lawrence & Lake Ontario Are COVERED with them. Why we have MASSIVE    SMB   but few smaller ones. Problem is Botulism carried by some types of gobies. We get bird & fish kills sometimes.  Bellies are full of gobies & other invasives.

 

I have caught BIG gobies on the 1.5" Rapalas dragged on the bottom.  Mouth hookups.

I caught a goby with a night crawler in Michigan this summer. After checking the legality with some other bank fishermen, I used it as live bait but unfortunately got stuck and lost it 

[PressuredFishing]

On 12/20/2021 at 7:03 AM, Bluebasser86 said:

In just an everyday situation, I don't worry about them. In fact, smallies will even follow feeding carp as they'll dislodge prey from the bottom as they root around the bottom.

 

When carp are spawning, bass seem to avoid the area. When bass are spawning, carp can be a big issue because they can destroy a bed very easily. 

 

They've coexisted for over 100 years now though, I don't worry about it too much. 

This^^^^ 99% of my fisheries I don't worry about them but here in SOCAL smb are not that common and it really upset me one time when I saw a row of 7-8 smb beds, 3 of which where overrun with carp, it was interesting how the some  males just kind of let them have the bed and didn't want to pick a fight,  others told the carp to stay away and they got the message, but this is a niche situation, overall they just create those bubbles and lazily swim around the shallow flats chillin

[The Bassman]

6 hours ago, PressuredFishing said:

 overall they just create those bubbles and lazily swim around the shallow flats chillin

Life lessons to be learned from laid back carp?

[CrashVector]

I've never seemed to do well in areas where there are lots of carp, especially when they're gulping air on the surface.

 

I'm thinking it correlates with lowered O2 levels in the water.

[PhishLI]

13 hours ago, WRB said:

If you have a choice to carp free lake any bass angler with 1/2 a brain would choose it.

The only good thing about the bucket brigades here, especially the eastern euro variety, is that they target carp specifically and none get released. It's not unusual to see them with a stringer of 20 lbers. I guess that's a small price to pay for the 100 or so cigarette butts they'll flick in the water over the course of a night.

[A-Jay]

 Here in the north woods, most all of the mid to larger sized inland lake (and rivers)

have a very health carp population. 

It's part of the deal.

I see them but rarely catch & never target them.

But I am very happy to have them.

Because the 1- 3 or 4 lb carp are a most favorite food source for the Pike & Musky

that also inhabit these same lakes.

I'll often see carp in the shallows recovering from a run in with a big toothy critter.

They usually look like they went most of the way through a meat grinder.  

I've also read, the pike will eat the winter kill carp off the bottom at times although I've never seen it.

So there's that.

A-Jay

 

[gim]

21 hours ago, king fisher said:

In a few short years the bass fishing was far better than when the carp were there.

Additionally, waterfowl also benefit with the removal of carp too. A bunch of shallow marshes here have been treated to remove all carp and other unwanted fish to specifically improve water quality that benefits waterfowl.

[cyclops2]

I have caught SMB on pieces of CHICKEN  NECKS. I wanted perch.   C & R the SMB.

[Luke Barnes]

So ponds that stay murky could very well be from carp? I know other things contribute to water clarity but ive suspected there were carp in a few ponds I fish but never actually seen one or caught one. I want to target them but i want to know there are some in there first. 

[cyclops2]

Buy a small can of Jolly Green Giant Extra crispy corn.  Slide kernels to cover ALL of metal hook . 1 or 2 past the hook eye is best..  DO NOT leave rod out of your hands.  If you do leave it ?  BACK THE DRAG .....Completely to LOOSE.  Then tighten drag adjustment before yanking to set the hook. 

[scaleface]

23 hours ago, CrashVector said:

I've never seemed to do well in areas where there are lots of carp, especially when they're gulping air on the surface.

Do you think they are gulping air ? I always thought they were feeding on plankton , algae or something .