Asian Carp: Another Stream Invasion

[Wayne SW/MO]

Nice story Al So now that asian carp are creeping up our beloved rivers and gigging season is in I am curious how many are being gigged and where at?

I'm not sure that they inhabit the same water. It seems the invasion, Big Head and Silver carp, fish tend to inhabit deeper rivers and are in some lakes now. I doubt that giggers will ever see enough to make any difference.

The biggest problem, I believe, is in the government and the fact they are ignoring the problem. They find themselves in a pickle in a sense. They allowed the fish to be imported alive to clean the ponds of commercial growers and they surely can't believe they never thought any would escape. On the other hand these invaders are suppose to be very good eating fish that lack the bones and red meat in the common carp that is so widespread, after the gubmit stocked them a hundred or so years ago. If they push to put them in the commercial market they will compete with market that brought them here. Irony I guess, If they take off they might be the death of the commercial fish farming trade?

[Mitch f]

My first reaction is that an Asian carp would be very difficult to gig, the are super skittish.

[LarrySTL]

They may be hard to gig, but you start the outboard and some of em are going to literally jump into the boat. Or get a pitchfork and stab em when they jump. The team that won the KY Lake asian carp tournament had approximately 10,000 lbs or some insane number like that, of them in two days. Catching them, in commercially useable quantities is pretty do-able if there is a enough of a market for them.

[MORiverPaddler]

You haven't lived until you've been smacked in the head repeatedly by 2 foot long "flying ninja carp." They smell like the worst shad and the smell stays with you all day.

[Old plug]

Well maybe the best solution would be to import fresh water sharks that exist in certain places in the world to eat the carp. WOW after that suggestion i might just file for a seat in the US House.

[bfishn]

My first reaction is that an Asian carp would be very difficult to gig, the are super skittish.

These guys don't seem to be having too much trouble with pitchforks and swords;

[blue79]

Unleash the Dream Catcher thats funny

[gramps50]

Those guys are a riot, they put a whole new spin on fishing.... Sent from my GT-N5110 using Tapatalk

[Kayser]

So the Asian carp issue is one that I've been following for a while, and I've tried to learn as much as I can about it.

They were stocked into catfish farms in Arkansas in the 70s, but managed to escape during the flooding that decade. They were imported from China as vegetation control, which they kind of excelled at. Very prolific,large size, fast growing. I did some reading on them for a freshwater ecology class, and a few studies indicated (based on stomach contents) that they feed on a size of microorganisms that were not utilized by other filter feeders, such as gizzard shad, bigmouth Buffalo, and your beloved Spoonbill. That is not to say that juvenile fish are not in competition with tthm, though- I don't remember finding anything on it.

They are big, ugly, slimy, smell as bad fresh as other fish do rotted, and want to be Mike Tyson when they grow up. However, the meat is very white, save for some red meat along the skin and lateral line that needs to be removed. Get a big one, remove the bones, and it's actually one of the better frying fishes you can find.

And I do know that a river that is infested with them had one of the best years for flatheads recently. So they're not completely bad...

[Kayser]

So the Asian carp issue is one that I've been following for a while, and I've tried to learn as much as I can about it.

They were stocked into catfish farms in Arkansas in the 70s, but managed to escape during the flooding that decade. They were imported from China as vegetation control, which they kind of excelled at. Very prolific,large size, fast growing. I did some reading on them for a freshwater ecology class, and a few studies indicated (based on stomach contents) that they feed on a size of microorganisms that were not utilized by other filter feeders, such as gizzard shad, bigmouth Buffalo, and your beloved Spoonbill. That is not to say that juvenile fish are not in competition with tthm, though- I don't remember finding anything on it.

They are big, ugly, slimy, smell as bad fresh as other fish do rotted, and want to be Mike Tyson when they grow up. However, the meat is very white, save for some red meat along the skin and lateral line that needs to be removed. Get a big one, remove the bones, and it's actually one of the better frying fishes you can find.

And I do know that a river that is infested with them had one of the best years for flatheads recently. So they're not completely bad...