Asian Carp

[peter]

Sorry , didn't mean to start a problem.

No problem.

[crappiepappy]

No problem.

Thanks, Peter !!

[jfw]

No problem.

What can be done to stop these horrible creatures? I used to love to fish Harrods Creek in Louisville , but the Asians are so thick in there it is no fun anymore

[buickfan70]

If one jumps in your boat,or you snag ,or catch one please cut its gills before you throw it back.If I go fishing at Ky or Barkley Lake and get near the dams I will go and throw a crank bait for a while and almost always catch Asian carp and it is illegal to release them alive.I see others catch or snag them,cuss them but turn around and just release the fish,makes no sense to me.I always offer fish to someone who may wish to eat them or cut gills before I release them.

[crappiepappy]

What can be done to stop these horrible creatures? I used to love to fish Harrods Creek in Louisville , but the Asians are so thick in there it is no fun anymore

Don't bother going to the Salt River, either. They've made their way up the Salt to the spillway at Taylorsville Lake. I've rolled a few over casting Road Runners there, and a friend of mine caught one about 20lbs and landed it. She didn't know what it was & turned it loose. She won't be doing that again !!

They are in about every body of water that's connected to the Ohio or Mississippi rivers, either directly (creeks/rivers) or in lakes with locks at their dams that are connected to those waterways. They're even making their way up the Tenn River, and have probably reached as far as the Chickamauga Lake at Chattanooga (if not farther).

Even with the processing plants (which some are expanding) and the commercial anglers hauling them out by the tons ... it's a drop in the bucket compared with their reproductive abilities and their current territory.

As of right now ... there is nothing that can be done to eradicate them. No biologicals, chemicals, or predators are available to even slow down their spread (without potential harm to sport fish species).

The only thing I can think of that would 'eventually' get rid of them is something that would render them sterile, but not any other specie of fish. Even then it would take years before their numbers were reduced to the point where they were no longer a threat. Even if they did manufacture some sort of sterilizing biological or chemical .... can you imagine how much it would cost to treat all the affected waters ??

[GeoFisher]

Folks.........they are dayam GOOD........seriously. I've harvested them and they are tasty.

I talked to a guy that said they are so plentiful that he has no problem wasting fish when cleaning them.

From what I understand, he just takes the "ribs, and the tail piece that is boneless. Look on the net for how to clean them, and you will find a million videos. Here is what I've done and what seems to work.

* from the last fin back on the tail, all that meat is boneless. Take that, and clean all the red meat off. This is FANTASTIC stuff.

* Filet through the bones past the ribcage like you'd filet anything. Then look down the ribcage. on the big ones, you can see the rib bones. cut parallel to those bones.

* No matter how to cut it up or hack it up.......clean off all the red and grey meat. That crap is disgusting ) .

* One guy calls these cuts carp-wings, but I talked to a guy that calls them carp popcicles. He takes those 2 x 2 cuts, and deep fries them. Then he eats them like a popcicle. Says they are FANTASTIC.

Take a few, and try it.

Later,

Geo

[redearhoosier]

I've heard similar comments to what George stated about them being good to eat. Are they both good to eat, meaning Big Head and Silvers?

I've heard people say to pressure cook them and they're great that way.

[crappiepappy]

I've heard similar comments to what George stated about them being good to eat. Are they both good to eat, meaning Big Head and Silvers?

I've heard people say to pressure cook them and they're great that way.

I've eaten them deep fried ... meat was kinda bland tasting to me, kinda reminded me of White Bass (without the red meat) but denser and more coarse than "regular" fish meat.

Cleaning them to get out all the small bones is the biggest hassle with them (so I'm told) ... so, pressure cooking them would likely work (just like it does for canned Salmon). Ky Afield's former host, Tim Farmer, did a couple of episodes on smoking, cleaning, & cooking Asian Carp ... which can be found on You Tube (like this one : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_Wcy-xILSQ )