Year-Long Utah Lake Carp Hunt

[TubeDude]

Salt Lake Channel 4 has a blurb on an upcoming Utah Lake carp hunt...with cash prizes...for teams of up to 5 anglers.  LINK TO REPORT

[lavaman]

For every carp caught, there are two more to replace it. Utah Lake will never be free of those messy fish.

[oldguy]

Salt Lake Channel 4 has a blurb on an upcoming Utah Lake carp hunt...with cash prizes...for teams of up to 5 anglers.  LINK TO REPORT

I thought that they had a company harvesting them out at one time.

[TubeDude]

Salt Lake Channel 4 has a blurb on an upcoming Utah Lake carp hunt...with cash prizes...for teams of up to 5 anglers.  LINK TO REPORT

I thought that they had a company harvesting them out at one time.

There was a contract with the Loy family to seine net the carp.  And they did a good job of greatly reducing the carp biomass.  But their contract was not renewed when it expired.  

Actually, this move is likely a (belated) response to the ongoing suggestions by the public to let anglers get involved in the carp removal program and to pay THEM for the efforts. 

I see this not as the ultimate solution, but at least a means of keeping carp numbers down and giving anglers a chance to participate...and maybe make a few bucks.  Not a bad idea.  We'll see how it plays out.  I'm guessing it will stimulate a few folks to kill some carp...and others to find ways to cheat to win.

[Kent]

Many moons ago, I attended one of their meetings where they discussed their plans and progress on removing carp. They kept saying that the seining would result in them reaching a "tipping point". Once they reached that point, the lake would be in equilibrium and the carp numbers would not rebound. I expressed my doubts, and I was politely (no sarcasm intended) told that I was misinformed and that they were confident that it would happen. I was doubtful then and I am still doubtful today.

The carp removal program definitely improved the Utah Lake fishery for all species, even the remaining carp; however, unless there is an ongoing program to aggressively remove the carp their numbers will return to the levels they were before this removal program was begun. I still think the only way that the carp numbers can be permanently managed (if that is even possible) is if some type of biological control is implemented.

This contest sounds like it might be fun for those who want to participate; however, I doubt that they will get enough participation to make any measurable impact on the carp numbers.

[TubeDude]

I too am skeptical about the potential for carp numbers to be kept lower strictly through angler onslaught. Most other species in Utah Lake lay eggs in the hundreds...or maybe thousands.  But each carp female dumps from several hundred thousand to over a million eggs per spawn.  Multiply that times the vast number of spawning female carp in Utah Lake each year and it is easy to see why carp populations grow so quickly.  Here is a picture of a female carp of only about 3# in weight...and the visibly huge number of eggs she didn't get to spawn.  Bigger carp have even more eggs.

[UTAHN7SMF]

Salt Lake Channel 4 has a blurb on an upcoming Utah Lake carp hunt...with cash prizes...for teams of up to 5 anglers.  LINK TO REPORT

I thought that they had a company harvesting them out at one time.

There was a contract with the Loy family to seine net the carp.  And they did a good job of greatly reducing the carp biomass.  But their contract was not renewed when it expired.  

Actually, this move is likely a (belated) response to the ongoing suggestions by the public to let anglers get involved in the carp removal program and to pay THEM for the efforts. 

I see this not as the ultimate solution, but at least a means of keeping carp numbers down and giving anglers a chance to participate...and maybe make a few bucks.  Not a bad idea.  We'll see how it plays out.  I'm guessing it will stimulate a few folks to kill some carp...and others to find ways to cheat to win.

When they post event locations, at least I'll know what areas of the lake to avoid so I can skewer and sink my own carp all by my lonesome.  Pay $20 to "catch" carp?  That's the cost of a new bow fishing arrow!