Asian Carp?

This should be a real concern for all of us. I have seen the damage these carp can inflict south of the border and it's not a pretty sight.
 
Wow, that is the first confirmed report I've seen about the Asian Carp in our waters and to be honest, It just turned my stomach. I just can't picture being out on Erie and having these beasts leaping at me while we cruise in from the perch grounds.

I have so many good memories of fishing the marsh behind hastings as a boy, catching LM, SM bass as well as pike and pan fish. All that seemed to end when the carp started to show up and reek havoc on the spawning beds and vegitation. I can only hope this Asian Carp is not the begining of the same for the lake. Then end game would not be good.
 
Well the good thing about this is that its a grass carp and not a silver carp that you see jumping out of the water, I believe that species is the most destructive from what I have read. It also says that the carp caught was sterile and could not reproduce. My guess is that some careless individual dumped out the contents of their fish tank a few years ago and this guy managed to survive. Still its a very scary thought that this species is here!
 
Some places in the US still allow the use of grass carp for weed control in ponds. Those fish are sterilized and are not supposed to be able to survive the winters here. However on occasion, some of them escape. That is how they get into the lake. Then they are attracted to large slow rivers like the Grand. The Grand is monitored as a high risk location for invasion for this reason.
 
My buddy & I did see a carp jump when we passed near it last year about 200 metres or so from the pier in Bruce last year while travelling east from the harbour for perch. We were speechless for a few seconds but it was more of a white/cream colour with big scales and I'm no expert so I don't know exactly what kind of carp it was. Have had a similar experience at the mouth of the Thames a couple years ago while musky fishing in St Clair. Scary.
Bill

Just found this video and I hate to say it but the thing that stuck out about the one I saw in St Clair was that its eye was way down below the mouth ....according to the video that would make it an asian carp.

 
Unfortunately, I am pretty certain I saw an Asian carp last spring as well. I was fishing just off of the docks on Harbour street and the carp were spawning in the river. I had one odd looking carp that I was playing around with, it was following my bait and I was making it swim in circles. I thought it was deformed or sick as it's eyes were positioned exactly like the fish in the video. But it wasn't white, more of a grey colour with some pink along the edges of its fins. It was a very odd looking fish and it was a few days after that it occurred to me that it may have been an invasive. But it was too late to do anything then, and too late to be sure. But I am vigilant about keeping an eye out now.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top