I used to fish the Illinois river for white bass and sauger, it was great, so good that pro walleye put it on the spring circut, that has changed. A friend I talked to this spring said it is almost dangerous at times to fish parts of the river because of those fish. they are now supposed to be 80% of the bio mass of the river. If they get into the great lakes, another fishery will be lost.These are not the only scourge in our waters that have been brought here by accident.There is no cheap solution to a problem like this.When the alewives became a problem on the great lakes, salmon were introduced, that fishery became a miracle for awhile, but we couldn't quit. They started commercial netting of the pests, the salmon fishing declined, boat sales almost quit, and many of us who fished those lakes quit.The carp can be netted, but how can they be dispossed of? One of my favorite lakes was ruined by an introduced species, the rusty crawfish. guys brought them in to fish for SMB, and walleye. The ones they didn't use, they turned loose. Several years later, it was fouind that these things had strripped spawning areas, ruined weed beds, and over produced.When a local started to trap them, and they were a marketable item, the town made him stop, the shells and body parts were causing a stink. That lake may never recover as a fishing lake, its speed boat heaven now.I dont believe there are any private solutions to these problems, that wont cause other problems. Heres where efficient government programs could work, but we know what happens then.I guess were just plain screwed!It all starts with a good idea.
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