Would the Asian Carp problem keep you from buying a house on Lake Barkley?

My wife an I are seriously considering buying a house on Lake Barkley. We have two young children and feel the years of family enjoyment would be worth added expense we would incur. However I keep reading so much doom and gloom about what harm the Asian carp could/will do to the fishing an water sports type recreation on Kentucky/Barkley that I am concerned about both the local economy and the housing prices tanking as a result, and also our enjoyment from fishing, etc. being severely hampered in the future as a result.

So I guess I am trying to take an unofficial type of poll from others who may have a more educated perspective than I on the issue.

Assuming you had the desire to, would you by a house on Lake Barkley at this point in time or would the Asian carp problem scare you off from doing so?


Thanks in advance for any input.

I know that the Asian carp is a big problem and getting bigger. There are millions in the two lakes already. I really don't think that the biologist have a clue what to do. The new fish markets may help some, but not a lot. With that said there is still a lot of good fishing, skiing and entertainment left on both lakes. Twenty years from now is anyone guess. Hopefully they will come up with a way to delete them by then.

I'm at my lake house right now on Barkley and I wonder the same thing. I guess it depends on if you're only a crappie fisherman, as the crappie seem to be effected by those exotics. I'm a redear fisherman first and foremost, not sure how they will effect the ear population.

We have a blast down here though and consider it an excellent investment. We never want to leave once we get here and will one day move down here...go fot it if the price is right. I'm a 1/4 of a mile from Barkley Dam, about a stones throw from Eureka campground.

I've been thinking the same thing. My son wants me to go ahead and buy but I have no desire to be around a lake full of Asian carp. I don't think there are any real solutions. Mother Nature will eventually take care of it but it may take many, many years for it to correct, if it ever does. It will also be dangerous for recreational activities on the water as well. If that happens, in my opinion, property values will bottom out.

It's incredible how many more Asian carp are around now than there were 7-8 years ago. Imagine what it will be like in the next 7-8 years if something isn't done. That is to say if there is anything that can be done. In my opinion, there is a real possibility we could lose one of the greatest fisheries in the country.

I've been pricing homes down here for two years and they're actually on the rebound IMO. The KY DNR will be forced to find a solution because the crappie fishery is probably a 50-100 million dollar business down here...I'm guessing on that, Terry or Doug would know way more than me. Let them chime in for a better opinion, they've lived here all their lives.

I have worried about the asian carp though, hopefully the big kill off last May was a government driven procedure.

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Originally Posted by redearhoosier

I've been pricing homes down here for two years and they're actually on the rebound IMO. The KY DNR will be forced to find a solution because the crappie fishery is probably a 50-100 million dollar business down here...I'm guessing on that, Terry or Doug would know way more than me. Let them chime in for a better opinion, they've lived here all their lives.

I have worried about the asian carp though, hopefully the big kill off last May was a government driven procedure.

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I live down here on Barkley (Cadiz) and would not trade this lifestyle for any place on the planet, period!! I have traveled around this planet in the military for 20 + years and lived in numerous places around this country, nothing, nothing beats the Lake Life, may not be the perfect town or not for everyone, but works for me, especially in todays society. I have a great appreciation for a little piece of serenity.

You buy, and I'll stay there and keep you up to date on their progress.

Go for it. As I approach retirement I tried to get my wife to sell our house, quit our jobs and move down to that area.
If I think back over the last 25/30 years I can think of numerous gloom & doom scenario's that were going to destroy hunting/fishing as we know it and none of them came true. In lake Erie the gobies, white perch & zebra mussels, acid rain every where, road salt, the leaking dam & stripers in Lake Cumberland, stocked Muskies in Ohio eating all the bass, ethanol fuel, no fuel....I could go on & on.
I would move there in a heart beat.

It wasnt a big enough concern to keep me from doing it. I took a early retirement from my job in St. Louis last May and sold out up there. We moved down here to a little house we bought that's about a 1/2 mile of Ky Lake near Paris Landing.
We have been coming down here for years and we intend to spend the rest of our lives here.

Thank you all for your time and thoughts, I really appreciate it. Getting other peoples points of views on the subject is great!

Lord willing I would love for it to all work out and we are able.

Anyone else with opinions or thoughts on the issue please feel free to post them, they have been helpful.