05-12-2020, 04:15 PM
I have volunteered several times in my younger years with chemical (Rotenone) fish kills. I use to be very in-tune to the methods.
It is so true that a complete fish kill is almost never achieved. In fact, some species are almost impossible. For example, bullhead catfish require over two times the amount of poison that kills carp. Many species, but perch I know for sure, will nose into the springs to avoid the poison.
Carp are actually sensitive to the chemical so, in theory, they kill easy, but, and I do mean BUT, getting the poison to every pocket, niche, spring, creek, inlet, upstream water supply is a logistical impossibility.
Years ago the Pacific Northwest was seriously impacted by "Squawfish", now called Northern Pikeminnow. Building the dams slowed and warmed the water and the "Pikeminnow" was seriously predacious on Steelhead and Salmon smolts. A local University developed a toxin specific to that species but environmental fears prevented it from ever going into full scale testing. This is, in theory, the only way to eliminate a species. Another invasive species, Walleye and Small Mouth Bass, have done more good than bad in this case, eating more pikeminnow minnows then native smolts preventing the pikeminnow from growing up to eat even more smolts. They actually pay a bounty to catch and kill the Northern Pikeminnow in some areas. Note: this is not the Colorado Northern Pikeminnow that is protected in the Colorado River Drainage, but is a realitive.
Carp suffer from a virus that kills mostly just carp. It seems to just show up and kill huge numbers of them, then it goes away. I saw it once in Washington State and it had dead carp littering the shores of a couple of bodies of water. The locals, not knowing what was going on, tried to get the state to stop those bowhunters from shooting carp and leaving the dead fish on the shore. The Australians are using a version of this virus very effectively to kill the invasive carp on their continent, but like all virus 'weapons', it does not kill all of the intended victims and some collateral damage (other species) also die.
When we wonder why fishing with live minnows is not permitted in so many Western States, think about how easy it is to spread species and how hard it is to kill them. A lot of good arguments can be made on why we should be able to use live minnows, but this is the elephant in the room when the discussions come up about allowing them. PS, the knowledgeable anglers are not the problem, it is those that don’t know the difference between a perch and a goldfish or ….. and I suppose we were all that way at one time, at one age.
The fact that carp are back does not shock me, but that fact that they are back in the apparent numbers and sizes does. Someone screwed up and did not get the upstream source cleaned out, or did not cover the entire lake. I guess mistakes are made every day (well at least I make mistakes every day). I think that the Tigers will help, but so would Channel Catfish. In those waters, which actually get a little warmer in the summer then I believe Tigers prefer.............those darn carp just grow so fast. Catfish sure have not stopped them in UL.
All I know for sure is that they are back, and the best thing we can do is enjoy the game fish for now, kill every carp we catch there, hope the predators can strike a balance, and know that in 10 to 20 years they will probably need to kill it again. But Strawberry shows that a balance can be struck, so there is hope.
It is so true that a complete fish kill is almost never achieved. In fact, some species are almost impossible. For example, bullhead catfish require over two times the amount of poison that kills carp. Many species, but perch I know for sure, will nose into the springs to avoid the poison.
Carp are actually sensitive to the chemical so, in theory, they kill easy, but, and I do mean BUT, getting the poison to every pocket, niche, spring, creek, inlet, upstream water supply is a logistical impossibility.
Years ago the Pacific Northwest was seriously impacted by "Squawfish", now called Northern Pikeminnow. Building the dams slowed and warmed the water and the "Pikeminnow" was seriously predacious on Steelhead and Salmon smolts. A local University developed a toxin specific to that species but environmental fears prevented it from ever going into full scale testing. This is, in theory, the only way to eliminate a species. Another invasive species, Walleye and Small Mouth Bass, have done more good than bad in this case, eating more pikeminnow minnows then native smolts preventing the pikeminnow from growing up to eat even more smolts. They actually pay a bounty to catch and kill the Northern Pikeminnow in some areas. Note: this is not the Colorado Northern Pikeminnow that is protected in the Colorado River Drainage, but is a realitive.
Carp suffer from a virus that kills mostly just carp. It seems to just show up and kill huge numbers of them, then it goes away. I saw it once in Washington State and it had dead carp littering the shores of a couple of bodies of water. The locals, not knowing what was going on, tried to get the state to stop those bowhunters from shooting carp and leaving the dead fish on the shore. The Australians are using a version of this virus very effectively to kill the invasive carp on their continent, but like all virus 'weapons', it does not kill all of the intended victims and some collateral damage (other species) also die.
When we wonder why fishing with live minnows is not permitted in so many Western States, think about how easy it is to spread species and how hard it is to kill them. A lot of good arguments can be made on why we should be able to use live minnows, but this is the elephant in the room when the discussions come up about allowing them. PS, the knowledgeable anglers are not the problem, it is those that don’t know the difference between a perch and a goldfish or ….. and I suppose we were all that way at one time, at one age.
The fact that carp are back does not shock me, but that fact that they are back in the apparent numbers and sizes does. Someone screwed up and did not get the upstream source cleaned out, or did not cover the entire lake. I guess mistakes are made every day (well at least I make mistakes every day). I think that the Tigers will help, but so would Channel Catfish. In those waters, which actually get a little warmer in the summer then I believe Tigers prefer.............those darn carp just grow so fast. Catfish sure have not stopped them in UL.
All I know for sure is that they are back, and the best thing we can do is enjoy the game fish for now, kill every carp we catch there, hope the predators can strike a balance, and know that in 10 to 20 years they will probably need to kill it again. But Strawberry shows that a balance can be struck, so there is hope.