[#505000]Awhile back there was a thread about how to get rid of carp or seriously put a hurt on then in Utah Lake. I always thought a bounty system would be the way to go. Looks like someone stole my idea!! [
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[#505000]I ran across this article where a bounty is being paid on Northen Pikeminnows.[/#505000]
[url "http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060510/ap_on_sc/bounty_fishing"]http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060510/ap_on_sc/bounty_fishing[/url]
[#505000]I still say it would work with Utah Lake Carp and be cheaper than a lot of the other stuff they have tried and will try.[/#505000]
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Isn't that the way it always go. I've wondered why they don't just have contests with prize money for the team that brings in the most carp. I know they do it in other states and your judged on weight not number of carp killed. In one contest the guy was complaining he had so many on his stringer he couldn't walk back to shore. No entry fee and open to anyone. Just don't hold it around the Provo River and the June sucker should be safe. Like you always say Carp_Punisher it is cheaper to offer prizes then poison.
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If they did offer a bounty, you'd have to change your name to the BountyHunter! I think it is a good idea though. Heck you wouldn't have to offer much money to make it worth the effort.
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Are the carps destroying Utah Lake or what?
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[#505000]I can't remember the exact number, but carp are like %75 of the biomass of the lake. They tend to trash the vegetation in the water and cause all sorts of other problems for the game fish (and june suckers) and tend to put a squeeze on everything. So yes they are a problem. DWR has been trying to figure out a way to get rid of them or at the very least reduce their numbers.[/#505000]
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I am almost positive that they make up more than 75% of the biomass, but yes, its way up there and Utah Lake would be better off with less of them.
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So the carp are an introduced species and not indigenous I am guessing? 75% of the bio mass, man those carp are hogging the lake all to them selves. I have never caught a carp myself, but I would love to help rid the lake of em. Whats the easiest surefire way to catch a carp at Utah Lake? I'll kill em for free!!!! But just the Carp.
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Actually the carp makes up 90% of the total biomass of Utard Lake. It's so incredibly messed up, but then again the walleyes love to eat carplet, but those that grow too big to fit into their mouths gets to survive and grow way too big for their own good. White bass, cats, LMB, SMB, Crappies, Bluegills, Pike, and other species will do very well once those carp disappear from the scene.
We gotta help our walleye friends by killing those carp and every one of their mothers, their grandmothers and great grandmother![angelic][
] Pound 'em out of exinction, I couldn't care less if the feds step in and put them on the endangered species list...[crazy][:/]
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According to Reed Harris, the June Sucker Recovery Implementation Program director, carp represent 90% of the biomass of Utah Lake, not 75%.
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I don't fish U Lake at all so I'm just asking questions. What is the big gripe about carp being in there? Is it because they are undesirable to catch? Do they really tear up the vegetation? Are they preventing the other species from thriving? I would suspect they provide plenty of food through carplets for the walleye, white bass, LMB, etc to thrive.
Just wondering what the big gripe is for the fisherman? (I understand the whole June Sucker vs. Carp).
If they are a significant problem I like the bounty/tournament idea. Couldn't we export them to offset the high oil prices? What about Toyota coming out with a hybrid that runs off carp?
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There are a couple of problems with carp being there, and also a couple of small benefits:
Problem #1: Carp root around in the mud at the bottom of the reservoir, stirring up the sediment, and making the water more murky. This also releases the phosphorus that is trapped in the sediment, which causes bluegreen algae blooms, which cause fish die-offs and robs the water of its oxygen content.
Problem #2: Related to #1, carp uproot vegetation and eat it, which adds even more to the water murkiness problem, and the low oxygen levels in summer.
Problem #3: Carp grow very rapidly, and the young of the year only stay an eatable size for most fish for a few months. By fall, most carp are beyond eating size for all but the monster sized cats and walleyes.
Good thing #1: Carp babies do provide food fish for predators for a few months during the year (3 or 4?). That's about it. They also provide some fun fishing sometimes.
If the carp weren't there, the other fish could flourish more, and all species would benefit.
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Well thats even worse, if there are so many carp in the lake why dont I ever catch one. Well I just got a new pole and reel so maybe that will change things for me.
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[#505000]Not catching a carp likely depends on how you are fishing them. Worms are great bait, and there are some commerical carp baits avaliable. Carp unlike most other sport fish are primarily vegeterians so catching them on some of the more common baits isn't as sucessful. [/#505000]
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[#505000]I have caught them on jigs (legitimately), and foul hooked quite a few doing the same. You can visually fish for carp too. They like to stack up some and slurp goo off the surface of the lake. If you run a jig through them you can sometimes get them to slurp it, or get a dorsal feeder. [/#505000]
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[#505000]In June if you wear polarized glasses you can see huge rafts (kinda like a cluster) of carp all over the lake just under the surface. I would guesstimate there are anywhere from 12-30 fish in these "rafts"[/#505000]
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I love catching carp at Utah Lake, I generally catch them on a peice of shrimp on the bottom. My favorite place is there at the Provo Harbor where the river dumps in. I haven't been there in a year though but when I used to go I could easily catch 10 of them in a short period of time, all about 4-8 lbs.
You'll also catch a white bass or bull that way from time to time too. Use a light spinning rod and light line and hear your drag sing.
Question...I haven't checked the proclamation on carp, is there a limit? I doubt there is, so why couldn't we just all do our part and catch and NOT release every carp we catch. Save the meat for catfishing. I bet we could organize our own little carp tourney, maybe even just a bragging rights type of tourney...and toss all the fish in the dumpster or something? I know that sounds terrible but wouldn't we be doing Utah Lake's eco a favor?
Just thinking out loud here, don't hang me from the gallows...
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I would like to go to a carp tournement or a carp hunt. I wonder how the carp got to be such a big problem there, how have there numbers gotten so outa control...
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[font "Times New Roman"][#ff4040][size 3]Heck even if they only offered $1/carp I'd do it for sure. Can't really beat hooking up a big ole carp and have it eat up your line and at the end get $1 for it.[/size][/#ff4040][/font]
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Thats exatly what i was thinking, offer $1 per fish over 12"
A angler could easly pay off his fishing licence, 2nd pole permit, season parks pass, ect
I know there are millions of carp in the lake, but in the end it would be no more expensive then the other measures that they have tried or are going to try
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