Carp/Bass relationship

[MoCarp]

common carp spawn and have very tiny larva and fry that stay small for quite some time, its my observation this is a major food source for YOY LM Bass

here is a few pics of carp and bass fry of similar ages the larva is 2weeks old in Pic one 2-3 months in pic 2 ...tiny carp look much like sunfish early in life and I suspect get confused as such...

 

[MoCarp]

young bass looking for food

[MoCarp]

as a reminder on just how nutritious carp are as forage vs sunfish vs rainbow trout..a known on growing bass fat and sassy 

[MoCarp]

[MoCarp]

the big bass is a well fed bass...the others are not feeding well enough...what causes this? it seems malnourished bass are more common in heavy Bfed lakes...it also seems this is an issue with walleyes as well Mille Lacs Lake in Minnesota has a real problem in malnourished walleyes so much some they cannibalise there YOY Small Mouth bass do not seem to be effected and are doing well, but their forage is crawfish based something the walleyes seem ill adapted to exploit..it should be noted a very large Bfing event held annually during the spawn and the common carp shot has seen average size and number has dropped considerably...food for thought and management concerns

[Quillback]

When the carp spawn was on on both Table Rock and Beaver they were everywhere.  Bowfishing hasn't put a dent in them.  

[oneshot]

31 minutes ago, MoCarp said:

the big bass is a well fed bass...the others are not feeding well enough...what causes this? it seems malnourished bass are more common in heavy Bfed lakes...it also seems this is an issue with walleyes as well Mille Lacs Lake in Minnesota has a real problem in malnourished walleyes so much some they cannibalise there YOY Small Mouth bass do not seem to be effected and are doing well, but their forage is crawfish based something the walleyes seem ill adapted to exploit..it should be noted a very large Bfing event held annually during the spawn and the common carp shot has seen average size and number has dropped considerably...food for thought and management concerns

Ok the Fatter Bass are Female that have not Spawned not just Fat Fish.

oneshot

[MoCarp]

1 hour ago, Quillback said:

When the carp spawn was on on both Table Rock and Beaver they were everywhere.  Bowfishing hasn't put a dent in them.  

when the fish are concentrated it seems there are many more fish...it was once thought salmon could not be overfished and there numbers were vast, yet they have been in trouble for a number of years because of hoverharvest and habitat degradation, I can tell you the numbers of common carp are down significantly, as is the average size...before the big tourneys you would catch 10-15 commons on a July night and the would average between 12-17 pounds with a fish or two over 20#..now you would be lucky to catch 10 fish that avg 6-8# and a low teen being a big fish...I can show you from Bfers own words how certain waters are now "shot out" so much its not worth launching their boat...in Oklahoma black buffalo are a species of concern and you are supposed to harvest only one and report it to the state just like an alligator gar...yet I can show you barrels full of buff many black buff...I would bet few people can tell the difference out of the water, mush less at night....just like most Bfers ignore the 20 fish limit on buff/gar...shoot and toss back is a common way to get past fish disposal or wanton waste....I can show you where almost 300k pounds of fish have been shot in a single weekend at some Bfer tourneys...when you take that many fish out it has to have an impact, something is eating all those carp and buffalo larva and fry...some states are passing limits on commons and the public has had its fill of bright lights and noise at 3am much less the stench of rotting fish dumped at the ramps

 

[MoCarp]

I am sure the people in these houses didn't like the bright lights and noise intruding on their privacy or how the guy who had damage to his boat dock on beaver by a Bfers arrow 

[jdmidwest]

And that is why Big Bass taste like Carp.  Toss those big bass back into the lakes, they have been polluted by Carps.