Keeping Out Invasive Species

[Blll]

I've read recently there is a proposal that bait cannot be used on Beaver that is caught from other lakes. The concept is to keep out zebra mussels, asian carp and any other invasive species. I was wondering if any of you had heard/read about this and what is your take. Initially it sounded like a great concept. then I wondered if it meant a whole new issue of bait dealers netting on Beaver to provide legal bait to all our striper guides. I know some guides catch their own bait, but many more buy or catch it elsewhere. We seem to be blessed with lots of shad and our fish population seems healthy. In my 4 years here, I'm catching many more and larger bass than when I arrived. I'm sure partly because I have at least a glimmer of better knowledge but there also seem to be more bass. High water spawns etc have helped but I also think its because of our bait/prey balance. I think and have heard from other there seems to be a decline in the White bass numbers. Just a cycle? Maybe. I'm just concerned that a big chunk of the shad being commercially removed may have a negative impact. JMO Any one else heard of this?

[MoCarp]

Beaver has common carp ((Cyprinus carpio), the "asian carp" you mean big head (Hypophthalmichthys nobilis) and silver (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) "carp" as well as Grass Carp or White Amur (Ctenopharyngodon idella)....Commons are more from eastern Europe "Carpatian Mtns" and were stocked in the rivers in the 1880s and are naturalized long before the dams were built....Amur or grass carp are from Siberia's Amur river, usually stocked as weed control by some states, big head and silvers are escapes from fish farms that filter feed the algae in the ponds that they raise food fishes, the big floods in the 90's put them in the big river systems and their populations exploded, I do know that in the red river had a mass die off of bighead/silvers in the early 2000's like any overpopulation sooner or later Nature acts....rusty crawfish are a problem as well...

[MoCarp]

Common carp, as a note they do feed on zebra mussels, as do buffalo, drum, red ear sunfish

[MoCarp]

silver carp..the young can be confused with shad

[MoCarp]

bighead carp

[MoCarp]

White Amur or Grass Carp, I do know some have been shot out of Table Rock, though I have never heard of one caught on a hook out of any white river lakes

 

[MoCarp]

Rusty Crayfish

[MoCarp]

Zebra Mussels attached to a native mussel

[MOPanfisher]

While not out of the question I would think common carp with their soft lips would have a very tough time getting zebras off of anything, but certainly could happen on occasion.  There are some smaller asian clams that don't attach to anything and could easily end up in a cars stomach.  I know blue cats and drum will eat some as well.  

It is only a matter of time befor missouri and likely mist states move to a set of rules like KS has.  Live bait must be from same water body or bought commercially from a certified dealer,  any fish you leave a water body with has to be dead I believe also.

[Quillback]

I saw the proposal, my understanding is that the shad netters are netting their shad in rivers (I believe it was the Arkansas river) and then selling them to guides to fish with.  Big worry are bigheads or other carp getting accidentally netted and then turned loose in Beaver.  The guides claim they can differentiate between the shad and juvenile carp, so to them it is not an issue.  I can understand why the guides are upset it can be tough to net shad in Beaver.