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Loading ...Grass carp being introduced into Carr Creek Lake?
I just got done watching WKYT news, and i just heared them announce that the "grass carp" is going to be introuduced into a few different lakes, one being my home lake "Carr Creek Lake". They are stocking them because of problems with boats getting stuck into this thick underwater grass, and they say the grass carp will clean all this gunk up. Give me some info on the grass carp. Will the grass carp effect any other species of fish in the lake? The lake includes channel catfish, carp, bullhead, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, spotted bass, crappie, bluegill, red ear sunfish, other various types of sunfish, walleye, and different types of shad/shiners/minnows.
Dum Dum, what a great answer. Very informative. Nice article, too.
Golden Feather, yes this is the Carr Creek Lake in Kentucky. It is VERY VERY heavily pressured for the size of the lake. Have you ever fished the lake? The bass fishing isn't very good there. I did however catch my largest bass to date there, 8.6 lbs.
Reddevil, white sucker are present too. I forgot them.
Fishin n' Huntin', this is a grass carp. Oh i love common carp. Grass carp is some weird looking species for grass control. For common carp i have no problem with them they put up a great fight.
Golden Feather, yes the bass fishing is getting bad. I think those bass have seen every lure ever threw. That huge 8 lbe'r i caught there was a few years ago. i don't see myself in the future catching one again of that size. why doesn't lake officials try to turn cc lake back into the trophy bass spot that it was meant to be?
Golden Feather, however cc lake is a VERY good walleye lake. the walleye populations in numbers and size is very good here. not too long ago a 31" walleye was pulled out of the lake. i think one of the reasons walleye are in better numbers/easier to catch than bass are because they are HARDLY if EVER targeted. I'm guessing the guy that caught the 31" was just fishing a minnow or crawler on the bottom for channel cats. then the big walleye comes along.
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5 Responses to “Grass carp being introduced into Carr Creek Lake?”
Grass Carp are a invasive species of fish, and is the easy way for your states fish and game department or interior department to control the grass without having to spray ( which can harm the fish) or use a grass rake or boom.
Grass Carp are vegetarians 95% of the time (that I am aware of) and will not bother the other species of fish present in the lake.
BUT if to much grass is eradicated it will hurt the other fish.
Grass is used by the fry to hide in, less grass less survival for the fry do to predation.
Most of the time any complaints on a lake about grass is from the pleasure boater crowds and/ or lake property owners, which do not like having to deal with it.
Grass/Weeds can/do play havoc on Out drives as well as Skiers LOL.
If this is the Carr Creek Lake in Ky, that lake was built strictly for fishing & was intended for trophy bass, which did not last long, do to public pressure a beach was added. What next?
Oh I live near Glasgow, Ky if it be the Ky lake.
* Charlie* Yes I have fished the first yr that it opened to fishing. But have not been back sense the lake agenda has been changed ( no longer managed for trophy bass)
Lake was laid out, built and bedding places built for nothing but Bass. Now due to public pressure the future for a well managed fishing lake is in real doubt. I know ppl who say the fishing has been really dropping off as far as size & #'s in the last yr.
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They might scare the baitfish a little. With the other fish they should be good just wait about 2 months before you fish in the lake after they stock them for the other fish to get used to them.
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im sure that people will say that they are a neucince, but i fish for carp quite a bit, and if you like a fish that will take your line out in a straight line and give you a fight, try to catch one.
they wont bother the other fish, maybe spook them, but they will get used to the carp
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i believe the dfg would probably use hybrid or sterile grass carp ,otherwise they will reproduce out of control. They do grow as bifg as the regular carp and they do a decent job in controlling the weed growth. I am guessing because of the species you listed the sucker was not used. The carps large size prevents it from being eaten from those species
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I can only comment on what happened to Caney lake in Louisiana when they introduced supposedly sterile carp to control the grass problem. Caney lake was created about 25 or so years ago. It quickly became known for it's large bass. At one time the top 15 bass caught in the state was produced by Caney Lake. Here is the story in a capsule
In the early 1990s, anglers fishing Caney Lake set new state records for largemouth bass almost as fast as record-keepers could make updates.
"In 1991, a 13-pound bass came out of Caney, so it had an early reputation for big bass, but the population as a whole was in terrible shape," said Mike Wood, LDWF district fisheries biologist in Monroe. "The creeks had a lot of fish, but the lake was dominated by fish that were 8 inches long. We stocked threadfin shad in the lake, and that's what kicked the bass population off."
But since 1992, the lake has produced 16 of the top 20 bass ever caught in Louisiana, most before 1994. This includes the top four fish and eight of the top 10 lunkers.
In March 1992, Brian Davis landed a 14.31-pound fish. In February 1993, Tommy Foster lipped a 15.54-pound largemouth to establish what was at the time a new state record (and that currently ranks second in the Louisiana book.)
March 1993 produced four fish that still hold top 20 fish spots. They ranged from 14.48 pounds to 15.42 pounds. In October 1993, Fred Kennedy landed a 15.53-pounder, which now holds third place in the state ledger. Finally, in February 1994, Greg Wiggins landed the bigmouth that still holds the record at 15.97 pounds.
These giant fish cemented the lake's reputation as one of the best trophy lakes in the country. Then, boaters who frequented the popular lake complained to state officials that aquatic grasses had ruined some of their favorite water-skiing areas and asked them to do something about it.
In January 1994, officials released 12,000 sterile grass carp– probably 10 times what was really needed–into the lake. Fishing success dropped drastically as the carp devoured the grassbeds. Eventually, grass became so scarce that some property owners even reported carp gathering like frenzied sharks to slurp up yard clippings blown into the water as residents cut their lawns along the shore.
"It was just a mistake to release that many carp in the lake," Wood said. "I think the people who made that decision overestimated the grass coverage. The carp can't reproduce, but they live a long time. In time, the fishing will return — when carp numbers dwindle enough to allow grass to sprout again like it was. It will probably never be as good as it once was, but it'll still be a trophy lake."
The bottom line is that since the introduction of grass carp in Caney lake there has only been one bass caught since that made it in the top twenty in Louisiana.This is what grass carp can do do a good fishing lake. The facts do not lie. To those that say it will not bother the other fish, do not know the history of Caney Lake.
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