[yankee jigger]

For those of you guys that have seen footage of the asian carp jumping around boats by the hundreds,try living thru it.
My son and i were on the Illinois River back in june,tucked behind Twin Sisters Island around Henry Illinois when all hell broke loose.
We heard bangs off the boat and after looking towards the back of the boat seen literally hundreds of huge Asian Carp going ballistic.Bouncing off the bow,stern,outboard...it was SCARY!!!!!!!!!!!!
I ended up stuffing my 8 yo son under the console and hauled ass.
From what i heard from members of the Spring Valley Walleye Club,66% of the biomass of the Illinois river or maybe certain pools is the Asian Carp.
Want to get rid of them???Have our crappy state goverment subsidize a commercial operation to get them out.
Cat food??????Fertilizer?????????
I dont care what they do with them but get rid of em.

[jimmie7915]

About ten to twelve years ago a couple of my buddies and I had A couple of snakeheads in a 50 gallon tank(when you could buy them at the pet shop) We had no idea of what these were when buying them we just thought they looked cool. I can honestly say that they are the meanest fish I've ever seen.Those things ran thru every fish in the tank. We could put 2 dozen goldfish in the tank and they would eat every one of them at once. We were amazed at how many they could eat. They looked deformed when they were done with them , and I'm talking about a fish that was only three or four inches long at the time. It was amazing to see these things in action. After a while we were down to the 2 of them and an oscar that had to be at least a pound an a half. Well we didnt feed them for a couple of days once and the bigger snakehead devoured the smaller one. Woke up one day hungover rubbing my eyes looked over and all that was left was the backbone. Then eventually the snakehead got to about 7 inches or so and sure enough the damb thing killed the Oscar. Well the thing stayed by himself for about the next six months until I awoke again one morning really hungover (I pretty much stayed that way when I was alot younger) and stepped on the sob in the kitchen. I don't know if he died when I stepped on him or if he was already dead but it had blasted thru the lid on the tank and was about 15 ft. from the tank. Anyways to make a long story short these fish are nuts!

[JSC]

I don't anything about the Snake Heads (Thank Goodness) but the Grass Carp is a real problem and so far it has not been enough of an issue (Politicaly) to get any publicity on them as they have been stocked in several lakes and ponds to keep down the vegitation. Example Deer Point Lake In Panama City, FL Area ... They stocked them there .. suppose to be Nutered (SP) .. who knows if it working .. consiquently if you have one in possesion regardless of where it was caught you are subject to a fine. Here on the Choctawhatchee I have watched them eat every little bit of vegation they can find even seen them eat whip grass .. Before the Grass Carp around the mouth of the river during a lot of hi water years the milfoil and eel grass would be abundant and rasing fish .... we went thru one of the worst floods ever several years back and the grass carp ate it all before it could get started .... The archery Fishermen would love to be able to shoot them in the tournaments they have and there is an underground market for them. Polotics as usual is keeping anything from being done ... they are still beliving that they cannot reproduce.. Go figure ...
Off Of Soap Box.
JSC

[Spike-A-Pike]

Truth be known, the squeaky wheel gets the grease. I guess we just aren't making enough noise to get the law maker's attention. I live in Illinois and yet there is next to nothing mentioned in the news about the problems posed by the Asian Carp. If the water supply of a city the size Chicago isn't enough to prompt Federal action, I have to assume they are getting paid off by the "Bottled Water Lobby".

I can't see exchanging one problem for another. Poisons won't solve the problem and I worry if a new predator is bred to feed on the Carp is more productive or destructive, you'll probably have only added a new fish that you can't control. That's just plain stupid. I feel anyone releasing a non-native species (fish) into the wild, intentionally or accidentally, should be prosecuted to the full extent that the law allows and a review of those penalties should completed to ensure they are strong enough - Do you suppose lethal injection is just a tad excessive? Kidding folks; just kidding - Geez.

[BassAddict]

We have a virus going through many of our southern ontario lakes right now killing alot of common carp. And I mean ALOT are dying to the point where it is a water hazard !!! Maybe it will make its way down there, that would solve your carp problems, other that the stink of them piled up on shore.

[mark poulson]

Nuke 'em!!!

[KcDano]

Anybody heard of these?


Asian carp shoots. The benefits are two-fold, insomuch as it helps to eliminate the evasive species and provides the angler/hunter practice before gun season. Carp shoots, are similar to trap shooting.

Shooter is stationed at the rear of the boat as it travels through the infested waters shooting the carp as they become airborne.

Safety and environmental concerns have been addressed to ensure a safe and enjoyable experience for all the participants and spectators alike. No lead shot! Boat is required to have shielding to prevent injury to the pilot and shooter from jumping carp. The safety provided by the shielding lessens the probability of an accidental discharge and personal injury.

Carp shoots challenge the beginner and seasoned pro. By offering different levels of skill to compete within. The competition levels are defined by the speed at which the boat travels through the water. There is an extreme class for those who have demonstrate a proficiency in scoring with a single ballistic firearm.

[Spike-A-Pike]

Originally Posted by BassAddict

We have a virus going through many of our southern ontario lakes right now killing alot of common carp. And I mean ALOT are dying to the point where it is a water hazard !!! Maybe it will make its way down there, that would solve your carp problems, other that the stink of them piled up on shore.

BassAddict,
Are the dead carp just being left to rot on the shore? I would think the flies, and there potential to carry decease, would be a real health concern. In the mid-90s, I worked with Canadian Air Force personnel developing a patient casualty tracking, treatment scheduling and medical evacuation application. I know how pro-active the Canadian Air Force is and was lead to believe that was the same of their civilian health care system.

The thought of all those dead fish reminds me of the Alewife invasion into Lake Michigan through the St. Lawrence Waterway and Wisconsin is trying to prevent the spread of viral hemorrhagic septicemia, or VHS into their fisheries. I would further like to point out that any of the invasive invaders that have traveled that far West or North that they are a threat to Wisconsin Waters has had to travel some distance already and isn't likely to be a short term problem - intentionally, the boundary waters are at risk too.

We, as a group of united sportsmen, may be able to get some funds to be directed at addressing these invaders of our fisheries. As of mid-June 2008, VHS is being found in Yellow Perch right off shore of Milwaukee. VHS is not a human health threat, but can kill a wide range of native game fish, panfish and bait fish.

It was first diagnosed in the Great Lakes region in 2005, and caused large fish kills in the lower Great Lakes in 2005 and 2006. The perch VHS results are significant because perch is an important sport and commercial species, and the population in southern Lake Michigan has been depressed for about 15 years and prompted the end of commercial perch fishing about a decade ago.

This one cause I think is worth getting up on the soap box and demanding a corrective course of action.

[Gloomisman]

I've heard of people shooting them when they jump. Not suppose to because of regs in MO though.

[Travis]

Bruce you sound as if no one has looked into the problem. I can assure you that these invasive species are of concern and not over looked. The fact is plain and simple their is no truely effective method (at this time) to rid ourselves of these pests. Many are working on it from government to private individals (big money if someone can do it). We have introduced them into our waterways and now will have to live with them add them to the ever growing list of non natives introduced into our waterways. Man doens't exactly have a great track record for removal on introduced species and to be honest they will most likely forever be found in many of our waterways we can basically just hope to minimize their impact with out further straining our fisheries.

http://www.asiancarp.org/Documents/C...ement_Plan.pdf