Asian Carp and SONAR

OK........while down at KY and Barkley this past weekend, I was on a lot of fish. Sometimes, I was sure I was on a decent school of bass or whatever, only to determine they were Asian Carp. Not always, but most of the time.

The SONAR echos looked like schools busting bait, so I was pumped, but all I'd catch were snagged carp. I'm really trying to adjust my technique to not waste too much time in those areas, but am having trouble determining a go/no go scenerio as to if I should leave or not.

Do you guys have any suggestions as to how to determine if they are carp or not.

I should also say.....I have a pretty decent unit on the boat. Hummingbird 788 back and 581 front. Both HD, Down Imaging. NO side Imaging.........

Later,

Geo

I wish I had a good answer for you. On the big lakes in particular if I had a penny for all of the times I found mega-stacks of fish only to not get a whiff I would own both of those lakes. I have seriously considered buying one of those aqua-vu type cameras to maybe help determine what I am graphing but I haven't committed. I don't even know how effective it would be on Barkley with the water color. The only small shred of wisdom I can offer is if the fish are out in open water not relating to a drop or point even if they are bass they probably are not that catchable. I do also know the numbers of Asians are increasing dramatically in both lakes. I have seen some incredible schools on KY lake and many, many jumpers on Barkley. I am just thankful one hasn't landed in my bass boat yet but I can't say the same for the pontoon...

kc

Only a matter of time before they destroy Ky and Barkley if they don't find a way to destroy these fish. Not If but when

[QUOTE=elnutsmalljaws;523519]Only a matter of time before they destroy Ky and Barkley if they don't find a way to destroy these fish. Not If but when[/QUOTE]

You are not kidding there my friend.......did you run into them when you were down?

Does anyone have any ideas about Asian Carp and Sonar?

[QUOTE=GeoFisher;523917]Does anyone have any ideas about Asian Carp and Sonar?[/QUOTE]


I would call doctorsonar.com on the phone and see what he has to say about it.
He uses sonar and camera side by side to identify fish and relates that to that to what displays on the graph.

[QUOTE=peter;523933]I would call doctorsonar.com on the phone and see what he has to say about it.
He uses sonar and camera side by side to identify fish and relates that to that to what displays on the graph.[/QUOTE]

Thanks, I will try that.

It's hard to tell but you can usually tell by size. Bass seem to be at least half the size as the carp on my screen. What is scary is that I'm starting to catch them in the mouth on baits. Why is a plankton eater attacking soft plastics and spinnerbaits? Are they adapting or are the numbers of plankton less? Either way its not a good sign. Popular creek is full of them

[QUOTE=Owskiwoski;523936]It's hard to tell but you can usually tell by size. Bass seem to be at least half the size as the carp on my screen. What is scary is that I'm starting to catch them in the mouth on baits. Why is a plankton eater attacking soft plastics and spinnerbaits? Are they adapting or are the numbers of plankton less? Either way its not a good sign. Popular creek is full of them[/QUOTE]

I'm curious too as to why they would bite on bass baits?

And I agree that they are much bigger than most bass seen on sonar. Another thing is that they may be in or below the thermocline where bass need more dissolved oxygen.

I've got a Humminbird 898 SI unit and I see a lot of fish over the deepest water where I fish hovering about the thermocline in the hot summer months. Some appear to be below the thermocline but they might just be further off to the side and appear to be farther away and not really below the thermocline.

But when I troll crank baits though these fish I end up catching 2 lb bass. And the suspend out over 60 ft of water about 25 ft down. They relate to the edge of a drop off that goes from 30 ft down to 60 ft for some reason.

I bet it was a tussel getting one of them big carp into the boat when you hook into them.

It's too bad that can't be table far as if they were good to eat more people would actually fish for them and remove them from the waters. But I'm thinking from what I know that they may not be that good to eat. They may contain less pollutants than other fish that are higher up on the food chain. As they feed on plankton not fish. Bigger fish eat smaller fish thus bio accumulation toxin up the food chain to the fish at the very top of the food chain.

Where as the carp only eat the plankton at the very bottom of the food chain. Plankton probably don't have a lot of those toxin in them.

I'd say that lowering a underwater video camera with a high powered light would help you see the fish below the boat if the water's clarity is good enough for the light wave to travel though the water and back from the fish to the camera.

[QUOTE=Moveon;523945]I'm curious too as to why they would bite on bass baits?

And I agree that they are much bigger than most bass seen on sonar. Another thing is that they may be in or below the thermocline where bass need more dissolved oxygen.

I've got a Humminbird 898 SI unit and I see a lot of fish over the deepest water where I fish hovering about the thermocline in the hot summer months. Some appear to be below the thermocline but they might just be further off to the side and appear to be farther away and not really below the thermocline.

But when I troll crank baits though these fish I end up catching 2 lb bass. And the suspend out over 60 ft of water about 25 ft down. They relate to the edge of a drop off that goes from 30 ft down to 60 ft for some reason.

I bet it was a tussel getting one of them big carp into the boat when you hook into them.

It's too bad that can't be table far as if they were good to eat more people would actually fish for them and remove them from the waters. But I'm thinking from what I know that they may not be that good to eat. They may contain less pollutants than other fish that are higher up on the food chain. As they feed on plankton not fish. Bigger fish eat smaller fish thus bio accumulation toxin up the food chain to the fish at the very top of the food chain.

Where as the carp only eat the plankton at the very bottom of the food chain. Plankton probably don't have a lot of those toxin in them.

I'd say that lowering a underwater video camera with a high powered light would help you see the fish below the boat if the water's clarity is good enough for the light wave to travel though the water and back from the fish to the camera.[/QUOTE]

I ate some today.....they are not bad.

The problem is they are harder than TAR to clean. very, very time consuming. I watched a different set of videos, and I think I have the de-boning part down, so I'm going to harvest another one next weekend.

Later,

Geo

I don't have Hummingbird units, I run Lowrance, but I am of the opinion that on sonar AND down imaging the Asian Carp return a "fuzzy" image on both. By that I mean that the "arches" on the sonar are not as crisp when it is Asian Carp. On the Down Imaging, the Asian Carp return is more of a "blob", whereas gamefish return an oval shape. AGAIN, this is my opinion. I live on Ky. Lake and have been using Side and Down imaging since early 2009.

i agree with several of the previous posts on the Asian Carp "problem". The sheer volume of Asian Carp in these lakes right now is astounding AND frightening. I am scared to death for these lakes!