Thread: Lake Management discussion and questions??

Asian Carp ruined mine!

Originally Posted by rebranger

Asian Carp ruined mine!

So your fishing hole was destroyed by Invasives! Is the State or local fishermen trying to do anything or did they just give up?

Do you know how Silver Carp destroy an ecosystem??

Asian Carp (AC), bighead, silver, etc. are filter feeders. They eat plankton which is the "Mother's Milk" for the game fish (Bass, Crappie, Bream) fry, thus the survival rate of the newly hatched fry is reduced. When aquatic vegetation is reduced, Oxygen levels go down & turbidity (cloudiness, murky) increases cuttin down on light penetration, thus reducing vegetation even more.
No, the State Wildlife agencies here in the South are doing very little, except give lip service. There was a massive kill on the Tunica Cutoff several years back & after several attempts (they needed live ones, they'd die on the way) carp were rushed to the lab at Stoneville, Ms in hopes of IDing the organism that killed them. Maybe one day they can replicate that "natural" control. But for now, about the only solution is harvesting them with nets &/or electro shocking. There's a plant at Sunflower, Ms that buys them for $0.09 a pound for fish meal / fertilizer. Another new / old plant in Indianola, Ms called New Moon Foods is supposed to be opening up soon & will export them to China for human consumption. The plant in Illinois had to shut down because of odor complaints! For now, that's about the only means we have of even making a dent in them, much less controlling. The Ky Wildlife Agency had a AC tournament on Ky Lake & harvested 82,000 pounds! Think the winner had 20,000 pounds! We need to have more of these tourneys! It's just a matter of time before they get into Pickwick, Wheeler, Guntersville, etc. Same goes for the Great Lakes.

rebranger

I'm real curious about this, which lake was it? How good was the fishing before and how bad is I now? The reason I ask is I am considering buying a home on Lake Barkley which now has Asian carp and this has been a concern of mine about the future. Thanks

All our "Oxbow" lakes that are fed / flooded by the Miss River have suffered severely. On the Tunica Cutoff or Tunica Lake, 20 - 30 years ago the crappie fishing was fantastic! was common place to catch a 100 per man between 6 & 10 AM. I have seen guys bring in several coolers full! Nowadays you'd be lucky to catch 20!! 10 legal size is about the average, day in day out, 2 -3 hrs of fishing. Only good thing is there are no more pleasure boaters, jet skis, water skiers, etc. Too dangerous. Jumping carp have badly injured many folks.
There's a company called Aqua Services, I think Bill Dance owns part. They may have an up to date inventory / fish survey or perhaps your State Agencies (which may be outdated / old due to budgets) I'd check with them. Wildlife biologists with hands on experience, i.e., running nets are scarce. Many have "desk or book" knowledge, but little field, practical experience.
Because Barkley is further north (temps lower, water clarity better) it may not be affected as badly as the more Southern Lakes, but our sport / game fishing here around Memphis, Tn has been decimated. They (the AC) don't seem to have affected Ky Lake as bad as they have our lakes.

Thanks for your input I appreciate it. That is so awful what they have done to you local fishing. I sure hope that one day they come up with a solution. Hopefully with the different temperatures and the size of te water it will never get that bad here in Kentucky. I wonder why they don't try shocking them and scooping them up? I guess it would be far to expensive with the man hours and equipment it would require to make a real dent in the population.

Thanks again

Originally Posted by INTIMIDATOR

We all remember seeing pictures of HUGE fish from back in the day....My Grandfather had old black and white pics of his Daddy with HUGE Walleye, Pike, Musky, Crappie, Bass etc...they were strung up 30 deep, whole drying racks of HUGE fish. I'm lucky to find a fish Ohio fish in a year...all of the New Fish Records seem to be coming from Managed areas, Private lakes, ponds, etc, but still nothing in quantities like the old days...have we become poor conservationists??

So what are the reasons behind mandated Creel and Size limits??
Is poor water quality, algae blooms, etc, lowering fish spawns, fry and fish survival???
Invasive species??
Is it because of Modern Electronics is allowing everyone to find available fish??
Too many Commercial Fishermen??
Too many fishermen attracting fish to small areas and continually over fishing the areas 24/7/365??
Poor Catch and Release Techniques, wrong gear??
Poaching..."gotta get mine" mentality??
Are we all doing our part to maintain the fishery...or is it a lost cause??

I'm curious because of my home lake...2400+ acres...I don't know if we have done enough, or can do enough to sustain it!

In general I would think it has to be a combination of things like fishing pressure and pollution is some areas. The sport of fishing is a lot more popular now then when some of those real old photos were taken. Plus as you mentioned the improvement of equipment as well increases the pressure. But I don't know if it is a failure of conservation as much as increase in population, popularity, and equipment. I think for the most part the agencies tasked with conservation do a fine job with the obstacles facing them.

Here in Alabama we have a great fish and game program most of are lakes are in good shape. I hope we never have these problems. some of our lakes get a lot of pressure but there are plenty of fish to be had. I would like to know that we can do to keep it that way.