Asian Carp in Illinois River

[Kent]

My sister-in-law sent me an article out of their local Illinois paper. Bowfishing for flying Asian carp has become the latest hot sport. "Your arms just get to burning back there holding the bow". "Missouri carp researcher Duane Chapman --- redneck fishing at its finest -- mounted boards on his boat to keep flying fish from hitting the throttle. Otherwise, he said, speaking from experience, things can get out of control almost instantly. Bracket has had several compound bows blown up by carp that slammed into the strings while at full draw." In Bath, Illinois they have organized tournaments, "where a boatload of people compete to see who can get the most Asian silver carp to jump into their boats." "The July tournament garnered about 200 silver carp... in only five boats."
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[Kraizee_Skot]

[font "Impact"][#ff4040][size 3]Hey that sounds like fun. Screw the bow and just take your 12 ga, now that would be a fun and interesing day.[/size][/#ff4040][/font]
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[Carp_Punisher]

[#505000]Sounds like the carp there are worse than Utah Lake!!![/#505000]
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[wormandbobber]

April 14, 2005

Holy carp! Asian fish threaten Fort Peck

Mark Henckel
MONTANA OUTDOORS


Fort Peck Reservoir is just a minnow bucket away from disaster. In fact, it's just two minnows away.

Of all the ecological threats the lake faces, the illegal introduction of Asian carp sits at the top of the list, according to Eileen Ryce, invasive species biologist, and Mike Ruggles, fisheries biologist, for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks.

Asian carp species - bighead carp and silver carp, in particular - have already found their way to the Missouri River below Gavins Point Dam, in South Dakota. That's still a long ways from Fort Peck in miles, but not so far if they come here in a minnow bucket.

Last summer, for example, Ryce toured many of the reservoirs of the state doing boat checks, primarily to check hulls and trailers for zebra mussels or Eurasian Water-Milfoil, two other aquatic nuisance species.

"I inspected 1,200 motor boats," she recalled. "Nine were carrying illegal bait - six were leeches from unauthorized dealers. Three were carrying live minnows, all from South Dakota.

"The biggest catch of illegal minnows was from a Nebraska boat that had several bait buckets of minnows from Pierre, S.D.," Ryce added. "All minnows were confiscated (and disposed of) without any altercations."

It is illegal in Montana to bring minnows into the state, except from approved sources. That law may nettle some out-of-state anglers who can buy minnows in places like South Dakota much cheaper than they can get them here. But the law is in place to protect us from introductions of unwanted species like Asian carp, which to the untrained eye look just like every other minnow when they're small.

Add in the second illegal act of dumping your minnows overboard when you're done fishing, instead of disposing of them far from the water, and the stage is set for at least one male Asian carp and one female Asian carp finding each other at spawning time. Once that happens, you wind up with many Asian carp that you can't get rid of.

Asian carp - which include bighead carp, silver carp, black carp and grass carp - were originally brought into this country by fish farmers in the South in the 1970s to clean up algae in their ponds. During flood times since then, enough of them escaped that they became established in the Mississippi River and have been moving upstream ever since.

Wherever they've become established, they have posed threats to established fisheries and, in the case of bighead and silver carp, to fishermen themselves.

How can they hurt fishermen? That has to do with the odd biological habit that bighead and silver carp have of jumping out of the water when an outboard motor passes. Fishermen have been hit by or run into these leaping carp. Injuries have resulted.

According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, "These fish can grow to be over 3 feet long and about 60 pounds. Boaters, jet skiers and fisheries biologist have all been hit by silver carp in the Mississippi River.

"There's documentation of people sustaining concussion, broken vertebrae, legs and arms from these 'flying' fish," the USFWS continued. "The true reason why silver carp jump has not been proven yet, but it is believed that when boat motors are above a certain RPM, the noise, vibration and bubbles cause the silver carp to jump out of the water to escape."

Ruggles, who has been following the expansion of Asian carp as it has moved closer to Montana, added, "Bighead carp are also known to leap out of the water. The silver carp, in particular, has been known to injure people. People have modified their boats, putting up netting shields in the front to protect themselves.

"Quicker than you can react, you've got one in your face," Ruggles said. "Also, they're soft-bodied and they can pretty much explode in the boat when they hit something hard, break apart, and spread blood and guts around your boat."

As to the Asian carp's effect on fisheries, the USFWS reported, "This fish is a very proficient feeder that uses gill rakers that are fused into sponge-like porous plates. Silver carp can consume two or three times their weight in plankton each day. Because of its preferred food items, the silver carp is in direct competition with all native fish larvae and juveniles, adult paddlefish, bigmouth buffalo, gizzard shad and native mussels."

Ruggles said that would put the Asian carp in direct competition with some species on Fort Peck.

"They're planktivores - they feed on plankton," he said. "One of the recent news releases I read was that they didn't have the effect on paddlefish that they figured they'd have, but they did have a big effect on shad.

"If these fish were to move into Fort Peck and directly compete with cisco, you'd limit the number of ciscoes and minnows that could survive. You attack the bottom of the food chain. And that would affect the walleyes, smallmouth bass, northern pike, lake trout and Chinook salmon that feed on cisco and the minnow species," Ruggles said. "And because these carp can grow to 60 pounds, there's nothing we have big enough that would feed on them and reduce their numbers. They get too big for our walleyes, northern pike and lake trout to eat."

Ryce added, "Bighead and silver carp are of equal threat to Fort Peck, both species are very similar in character, biology, impact, etc. And both are known to be leapers."

At this point, stopping the illegal transport of minnows into Montana by fishermen seems to be the best way to keep these unwanted carp species at bay.

"These fish are getting into the areas where we have walleye anglers and other anglers that come to Fort Peck," Ruggles said. "We have some minnows coming in across the borders.

"They're left in a bait bucket at the end of the day and they dump them out and there's your first stocking in Fort Peck. Once they get started, you can't get rid of them.

"You can't stop them once they start to spawn," he said.

"If we're going to keep this from happening on Fort Peck, it's going to have to come from the fishermen," Ruggles said. "You don't transport illegal minnows. You don't dump your live bait in the lake. Dump them far up on the shore and feed the gulls with them. And you clean out your boats before you go from one body of water to another.

"It has to come from the fishermen. They have to realize that they're facing this threat," Ruggles said. "If an angler sees someone who has brought in bait, they should approach them and handle the situation. The only way to keep it from happening is to stop it from happening. These fish are not a desirable species for anglers. And this is our best chance of keeping these carp out of our waters."


Mark Henckel is the outdoor editor of The Billings Gazette. His columns appear Thursdays and Sundays. He can be contacted at 657-1395 or at henckel@billingsgazette.com.
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[Bigfishrule]

That gives a new meaning to cast and blast. Either way you get a fish.[cool]
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]That's how we used to get flying fish for marlin bait off southern Cal. We would keep our best "wing shot" in the bow, with a fast shooting 20 guage. When a flying fish would "get up"...between the mainland and the marlin fishing area...it would get a load of size 7 shot and another team member would scoop it off the top of the water as we cruised by. We put them on ice and rigged them for trolling later. Seemed to help to have some extra flavor oozing into the trolling trail from the pellet punctures.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I'm wondering if a real thrill seeker could get up on the bow of the boat with a Louisville slugger and try to hit a few home runs...or at least try to keep from getting taken out by a flying carp.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Then again, maybe I could take out my new PWC control craft.[/#0000ff]

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[WestFork]

I'm sure a few guys here could haul in a few buckets of the Asians. Within a couple a years you ought to be able to have a swing at em on any one of you favorite reservoirs.
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Why heck, they are only about ten bait buckets away.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]By the way, if you are trying to start something else, by inferring that BFTers are responsible for illegal introductions, you are off base. Most people who are selfish enough and/or dumb enough to become involved in that stuff are generally not sharp enough to operate a computer. And, if they are computer literate, they don't participate on boards that are primarily supportive of state fisheries management policies. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Anyone who spends the time to read back through the incredible body of posts on BFT over the past three years will see that our members are almost universally behind DWR policies...even if we sometimes have to scratch our heads when we try to figure out what is behind the decisions.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]If those high flying carpinskis ever make it to Utah, it will likely be through some transplanted angler, from another state, who just doesn't get it. And, if they do make it, I think our home growed carp will give them a run for their money. They sure don't seem very easy to displace, in spite of all the harrassment they get from us locals.[/#0000ff]
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[WestFork]

I know full well that 99% of us on here would'nt think of an illegal transplant, but there are some on here who would, and there are twice as many who are only visitors reading here, so if a few posts may sway one of them, and prevent just one bucket dump, than great we've all accomplished something, riled emotions and all.
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