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  1. #1
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    Apr 2007
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    Asian carp/Kentucky lake

    I just got back from Kentucky lake for the fourth trip this year. Each time I've noticed the number of asian carp have gotten larger and larger. It's not just a few it's hundreds of them at a time. I haven't heard nothing from the department of fish and wildlife about correcting this matter other then carp tournament. Fellas that's not going to do it. I don't know if there's anything that can be done. I do know that unless something is done one of the finest fisheries in United States will be ruined it in the next few years. What are your thoughts about this.
    Likes Kentucky_Bass_Kid liked this post

  2. #2
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    I have been considering buying a house there but I admit I have thought about about how this could end up negatively effecting the home values at the lake.

  3. #3
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    Jan 2000
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    There are commercial packing plants in the area, whose sole purpose is to send these carp to market. Commercial Fishermen are netting them & taking them to these plants.
    Also, believe me ... the KDFWR biologists are hard at work trying to come up with eradication plans for these intruders, but will have to take into account any negative effects that might occur to the rest of the fish population from any of those plans.

    ... pappy

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by crappiepappy View Post
    There are commercial packing plants in the area, whose sole purpose is to send these carp to market. Commercial Fishermen are netting them & taking them to these plants.
    Also, believe me ... the KDFWR biologists are hard at work trying to come up with eradication plans for these intruders, but will have to take into account any negative effects that might occur to the rest of the fish population from any of those plans.

    ... pappy
    I think they are BARELY putting a dent in them.

    Hopefully, they can ramp up the production about 100 fold. THEN and only then, will they be able to "check" the growth.

    I was in a bay this past weekend and it was UNREAL how many were there.

    Later,

    Geo

  5. #5
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    Oct 2011
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    I know the Asian carp have been in many places for awhile now and we all have read how they could ruin the fishing but are there actual lakes/reservoirs where this has occurred and the game fishing has actually died off because of these fish?

    I feel bad for the many businesses that depend on the fishery. The unknown of how devastating this problem potentially could be to the local economies has to be a horrible thing to have in the backs of their minds.

  6. #6
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    They are slowly destroying our fisheries and many are being effected. I have no idea what the answer is but I am very afraid that some of our very best places to fish will soon be a thing of the past. They destroy Eco systems by eating all the Zooplankton.

    How can we kill them all when they produce more than most insects.

    I wish I had an answer fellas I really do because its just a matter of time before they are in all of our lakes and rivers.

  7. #7
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    Oct 2012
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    Quote Originally Posted by mhall View Post
    They are slowly destroying our fisheries and many are being effected. I have no idea what the answer is but I am very afraid that some of our very best places to fish will soon be a thing of the past. They destroy Eco systems by eating all the Zooplankton.
    You are correct! Just one gorges itself on a substantial amount of plankton. When there's thousands upon thousands I can guarantee it will be devastating. We haven't even seen the worst parts of their presence yet. Future fisheries will suffer and I don't see a light at the end of the tunnel. HOPEFULLY these commercial fisherman do damage and maybe those biologist will figure out how to kill them without harming out native species.

  8. #8
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    I haven't seen any commercial fishing taking place for these fish. If any Guides on Ky lake are reading this what have you noticed with the increasing numbers of the carp?

  9. #9
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    Since I am a guide here on Ky/Barkley here is my take on the Asians:

    They are here and they have been for many years......in the past few years they finally reached such big numbers that people finally realized they were here and the populations were growing. This is happening everywhere in the Mississippi River Drainage System where they can get into. They are growing in numbers all the way up the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers, Ohio, heck they are even finding them now all the way up in the tailwaters of the Mississippi.

    At present there is no way to get rid of all of them without killing everything else in doing so..ie by poison etc....this is basically a national problem which will no doubt have a national impact on the economy and our sport fishing and recreation if they do not get them under control.....it won't happen tomorrow, but overtime it is coming...it already has in some areas like the Illinois River. The only concentrated efforts by the Federal Government is they are spending big dollars trying to keep them out of the Great Lakes up in Illinios but it was discovered last year that some have already gotten in there according to DNA samples.

    KDFW has been actively doing what they can. Basically, the only control at this time is commercial fishing to keep the numbers down before it is too late. It is working in some Illinois rivers where the state made a grant to open some big canneries and the state got big contracts with China to send the fish home for them to eat and also selling there for pet food ingrediantes. The problem is the fish spoil very quick and they have to be processed soon after capture so there has to be some big canneries in the area where they are being taken. Here we do not have that. We have on small canneries opened two years ago on the Tennesse River at Smithland below Ky Dam by a Chinese lady and she is expanding but her anglers are working the river. Not sure what the capacity rate is in the cannery now but last year it was only 80,000 lbs per day...a good dent but it is not enough.

    Back to KDFW: The Carp Tournament they had here was to try to get the attention of big money investors to show them just how much weight can be taken on these fish by our local commercial fishermen in a day in hopes that some investors would construct canneries here that would be very profitable. They also have held a lot of luncheons and meetings with these type money folks trying to make it happen....it has not happened yet and I am not sure if it will.....we are keeping our fingers crossed.

    As far as impact on the fishing...so far I have not noticed any real impact yet...except if you are bass fishing and a large school of the big heads move into the area, your bite will cease and you might as well go somewhere else. I heard one of the biologists say they will bully the other fish out of the area when they move in...I know it has happened to me a number of times already. Since they are attacking the bottom of the food chain, eventually no doubt their presence will reduce the numbers of all fish as plankton is the mother's milk of all baby fish. This will take many years here on the big lakes but unless mother nature or man steps in...it will happen. We did have a very large die off of these fish below Ky Dam earlier this year...estimated to be in the hundreds of thousands of them went belly up.....no one has figured out why yet as far as I know but I know KDFW was trying to figure it out.

    Another thing that has come up that a lot of folks are not aware of yet...a number of these fish are now being taken below the dam where they are thick...and they are being taken in the mouth with jigs...means they are actually trying to eat the jigs....that is something plankton eaters do not do.....makes you wonder if the fish may be adapting and starting to eat other things.

    Bottom line here is our best hope right now is to get some big canneries built...we have the commercial anglers here ready and willing to control these fish but at present they cannot get them processed. Big government has not done anything to assist in getting this done.....except in Illinois the state has taken the proper steps. What is really needed is the feds.....and they are too busy bad mouthing one another to even consider doing anything now before it is too late...but then again that pretty much reflects what our feds normally do...that is wait until the crisis has already developed and devastating then they jump in and throw money down the toilet that could have been saved had they acted in a responsible and proactive manner before it was too late.

    Unless mother nature steps in and evens things out like she does in many cases where a species is getting over populated....your kids and grandkids will be fishing for Asians in order to catch any numbers of fish.

  10. #10
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    Oct 2012
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    Thank you Dave for spending your time to give us your knowledge on the issue. I've personally caught asian carp on 3 inch curly tail jigs below the dam at taylorsville. They are adapting and that's scary.

  11. #11
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    I'm concerened too but it's too late now IMHO

    Quote Originally Posted by Red Shad View Post
    I just got back from Kentucky lake for the fourth trip this year. Each time I've noticed the number of asian carp have gotten larger and larger. It's not just a few it's hundreds of them at a time. I haven't heard nothing from the department of fish and wildlife about correcting this matter other then carp tournament. Fellas that's not going to do it. I don't know if there's anything that can be done. I do know that unless something is done one of the finest fisheries in United States will be ruined it in the next few years. What are your thoughts about this.
    The lakes I fish are connected to the Ohio River as is KY lake hydrologically. I'm not really sure we can get rid of these Asian Carp unless some Crazy Scientist can use his DNA manipulation knowledge to develop a virus that only kills Asian carp and not any thing else. And the probability of that happening is very low.

    Carp tournaments is not going to remove them for our waters.

    They are here to stay IMHO. We may need to fish using Armored Boats with bullet proof glass on the front to keep the carp from hitting the driver and his passengers in the face with a 30 lb jumping carp.

    These fish are going to outcompete every other fish in these waters that get into. Including KY and Barkley Lakes as well as the Great Lakes if they get there.

    I think about getting a shot gun and practicing shooting jumping carp on the water as a new sport. Just don't shoot any one else in the process. Not really going to happen as that's not practical or safe to do but it's fun to dream about doing something like that.

    I know that many people use bows and arrows to shoot the carp but that's not going to totally eliminate them from the waters.

    Maybe dumping something into the waters that sterilizes them and nothing else. some type of Asian Carp Hormones that are specific to Asian Carp only?

    I just hope that someone figures out a way to get rid of them permanently. The people who brought them to the USA should be drawn and quarters IMHO. That was a huge mistake. And they should have known better. This kind or reminds me of Jurassic Park in a way. At least they can't walk on land and are restricted to the water.

  12. #12
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    Sep 2014
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    New Albany
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    I have some friends that go bow fishing a couple times a week and there bringing in easily over a hundred pounds each trip no problem. I was with him a while back after he got back and we were talking and i got the bright idea to cut one up with a hatchet because trying to use a knife is a no go with there big armored scales. so i cut cubes and ended up using them as cut bait for cats and caught some considerable blues and channels so i know there good for that. we have to try to find the good in this i feel like to find a way to get rid of them. If you go on YouTube and look them up there is a plant in Western, Ky that is processing these fish and sending them over sea's to China. The Asians like the carp from us more due to the size and the taste something about they can only raise farm raised carp over there because there rivers are to polluted, so thats why these are so sought after. I think if they would offer 2 dollars a carp or something like that people would be more apt to go out and take there time to hunt these things.

    Mitch

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