Asian Carp

[Uncle Leo]

A while back there was some interest in the Asian Carp. I found a photo of one I caught on the Illinois River Bass Fishing. This was caught on a crankbait and later in the day my partner also caught one on a crankbait. Thought I would share in case anyone was intersted. By the way they are fierce fighters. If I recall it went 18 lbs and was hard to handle, that it why it appears that I was struggling. It ran up river on me 4-5 times and took a good 10 minutes to land on a medium action rod with 10 lb line no net!

[JigMe]

Nice fish.

[J Francho]

No, not a nice fish. That fish will be the end of Great Lakes fishing as we know it. >

[Uncle Leo]

No, not a nice fish. That fish will be the end of Great Lakes fishing as we know it. >

Yes that is why it was left on the bank for the Coons. They have taken over the river.

[J Francho]

Nice 8-)

Also, I wonder what the heck they were doing eating crankbaits?  I thought they were a filter feeder.

[Uncle Leo]

Nice 8-)

Also, I wonder what the heck they were doing eating crankbaits? I thought they were a filter feeder.

I wondered that myself but both were caught on crankbaits in the mouth. They actually hit the crankbait. We also hooked one much larger in the back but could not land it. It finally straighten the hook, hope that one went belly up. Some of the Good ole Boys Bow fish them. When we launched in the morning they were coming in. I swear they had 500 lbs on the deck of their Jon Boat. Asked what they were going to do with them, they just laughed, the toothless type so I let it go.

[NewAngler]

Nice size. Those suckers are THAT big of a threat?

That sucls.

[bonzai22]

yeah they have hit some crank baits i was throwing for striper and me and my cousin got hit with one that was fun

[JigMe]

No, not a nice fish. That fish will be the end of Great Lakes fishing as we know it. >

Its that serious huh?

[TimJ]

let's see...first build a waterway from LkMichigan to the Illinois R..."no, we won't open it nor divert any water"...then open it and divert enough water to lightly affect water levels through the 4 lakes after Michigan (lsc)...then "no, we can't close the waterway, even if it will save the great lakes from the asian carp"...the powers that be are now fighting about what to do to try to keep the as.carp out of the great lakes, even as they probably swim into LkMich!

pretty sure the info is close anyways. what a bunch of crap!

TJ

[zero limit]

they are allready in the great lakes. they have found them in lake erie years ago

[Tom H.]

They are a huge pain in the arse here in Central Il . My buddies son was knocked out cold this summer when one jumped and smacked him on top of the head . I know that I have ended up with bruised ribs from them jumping into the boat . It used to be we would go to the river and enjoy a day on the water , but it seems like now I can't get the GF or kids to go with me because they don't want the d**n things hitting them. IDNR says kill every one of them that jump into the boat. Game warden told us last year if you got caught with a live one you would be ticketed . Kill em all -----------

[Daniel My Brother]

Asian Carp are ruining the rivers I fish.

You can't catch them with traditional methods (Uncle Leo is the exception). Although tasty, they are next to impossible to clean. They reproduce like crazy and detroy the food chain from the bottom up. These fish grow several pounds a month, crowding out gamefish in the process.

Worst of all, there's really no way to stop them.  But yeah, if you snag one they are great fighters.

[jeosbo01]

I believe they have a couple of pretty big money bow fishing tourneys for them each year around KY and Barkley Lakes. They donate them to local game reserves for feeding rehab animals and injured/non-releasable eagles and such.

I have been luck to not have caught one thus far...I know they are destructive and I know they should be destroyed, but I hate to kill anything I don't plan to eat. I hear they are actually very tasty, but very hard to clean!

[zach Trump]

O ya fishmaster22 i remember that. remember that one we hooked into when you were reeling in that catfish pole and it took it up river

[Eternal Angler]

They sure are an ugly fish, just hope they don't take over the Great Lakes.

Great to hear they are good fighters.

[midnighthrasher]

The government should just put up a 1$ to every asian carp killed. Have a few shops, fishing stores, marina's registered as legal check in stations that when you show them the dead fish they give you a receip and the gov sends you your money. They would have every bounty hunter catching them by the hundreds every day. You could probably eliminate them prety fast. You could do it all year round which would give people something to do when their fish of choice is out of season. Look bak in the history and when animals were a problem they give a small amount of mony and humans eradicate them. The wolves in canada is a good example. The asian carp will not get rid of themselves and poisoning them will probably hurt other native species. Fish the to extinction. Imagine the government gave out a million dollars for caught asian carp. That would be a hell of alot cheaper than doing it in any other way. A million dollars when you got biologists and game wardens dosnnt reallly go that far.

[Uncle Leo]

No sure a bounty will get rid of them. In the late 70's when I was in So. California they had a bounty on coyotes. They still exist. I believe it will be much harder with fish that can not be seen. I know of no bounty that rid the planet of anything except for a meteor.

[J Francho]

Or they could take that $$$ and fill the canals that connect and reverse the river's flow, returning things to their natural state.

[Uncle Leo]

The Asian Carp are in the Illinois River which still flows in its natural direction. The Chicago River was the one that was reversed. Let's not lose sight of the fact that these were introduced by harboring in the bilges of ships from overseas to feed our appetite of low cost goods from Asia. The Asian Carp being in the waterways have little to do with the flow of the river and more to do with not buying American, then again that is another subject. The flow of the river was changed many moons ago to filter human waste, way back when folks pooped wherever they chose.

Link provided if there is interest.

http://www.lib.niu.edu/2001/ihy010452.html

[tyrius.]

Asian carp were imported by catfish farmers to keep their ponds clean.  Some of those ponds were close to the river and during a particularly bad flood the river flooded into the ponds and the carp are now in the river.

There's talk that the carp won't be able to spawn in the Lakes.  Supposedly, they need current to suspend their eggs.  If the eggs hit the rive/lake bed then the eggs are no longer viable.

[roadwarrior]

Here's the latest development:

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/02/08/feds-commit-million-fight-asian-carp-midwest-waterways/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%253A+foxnews%252Fpolitics+%2528Text+-+Politics%2529

[SPEEDBEAD.]

I know people bowfish for them off the back of the boat, but....

How about using a shotgun?   

I mean, as long as no one else is around the area, I think that it could be quite a fun day.   ;D

You dont even have to yell, "PULL!"

[midnighthrasher]

I know people bowfish for them off the back of the boat, but....

How about using a shotgun?

I mean, as long as no one else is around the area, I think that it could be quite a fun day. ;D

You dont even have to yell, "PULL!"

That would be awesome!!!!! I got a little friend named " Benelli super black eagle II ' that would probably have some fun too!!!!

[roadwarrior]

Well, if the Feds are going to spend a wad of

dough, the solution is simple: $100 per fish

will kill every single carp in the river system!

8-)