Carp in the Falls of the Ohio

[Grumman]

Picture from the spring 2009

[DJD]

Thats a cool pic. Looks like salmon in Alaska!

[know1]

Too bad there's not a way to get them to take a hook and line. I'll bet they would be an awesome sportfish. It would be like fighting a freshwater tarpon.

[FishinPhil]

I hope thats not what I think it is. Those look like the Silver Asian Carp that have taken over the Illinois River. They get spooked easy and jump out of the water hurting people. NatGeo had them on one of there episodes of Hooked. Those could be very bad for the river.

[Grumman]

I believe that is what they are! They get a good 6 feet out of the water trying to swim and jump up the falls.

[mhall]

Those are Silvers for sure. There is a bunch of them down there.

[mybentrod]

I wish I had a bow and line tied on. That would be a good fight on an arrow. It's a good sport shooting those sons a guns out of the air. Looks like fun. Thats one fish that I wouldn't feel guilty about killing just for fun of the shoot.

[JD7.62]

I am about 90% sure those are big heads and not silvers. I still havnt confirmed 100% a silver at the falls yet though Ive thought Ive seen them at a distance. They are hard to tell apart up close, even harder at a distance though.

The easiest way is that a silver wil have an arc shaped belly called a keel that comes to a point their bodies are kind of like a knife blade in cross section. Big Heads have flat bellies and tend to be darker.

Despite being a horrible fish, that is one fantastic photo!

[mhall]

I am about 90% sure those are big heads and not silvers. I still havnt confirmed 100% a silver at the falls yet though Ive thought Ive seen them at a distance. They are hard to tell apart up close, even harder at a distance though.

The easiest way is that a silver wil have an arc shaped belly called a keel that comes to a point their bodies are kind of like a knife blade in cross section. Big Heads have flat bellies and tend to be darker.

Despite being a horrible fish, that is one fantastic photo!

Jason, Chuck and I have seen them down there, live and dead. The DNR also acknowledges they are there as well. You are right in that they are hard to tell apart though. The Bigheads aren't nearly as acrobatic as the silvers.

[JD7.62]

Jason, Chuck and I have seen them down there, live and dead. The DNR also acknowledges they are there as well. You are right in that they are hard to tell apart though. The Bigheads aren't nearly as acrobatic as the silvers.

You gotta be careful with the DNR guys. They arent always the best with fish ID. Heck the last time we got stopped I asked him what species of sturgeon we can keep, his response was that he didnt know there were more then one!

[Grumman]

Here is a small one from the same day.

[peter]

Man. That's really bad news. These things are worse than rats. Ran into these things on the Mississippi River about 8 years ago. Scared the heck out of us. Had never heard of them before. I imagine water skiers will run into them up in the shoot at six mile Island when they get up there good. Would guess it would put an end to that up there.

Here are some small ones in action on the Illinois river
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jb8OmEr7VqI

http://www.tnfish.org/VideosFishingS...pVideoTWRA.htm