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.

I think science will eventually come up with a way to lessen the effects of the Asian carp on the fisheries.. Yes, we are concerned but not enough for me to ever consider something as drastic as not buying my dream home if I had the resources to do so.

There will be some who may try to use the carp as a way to drive house prices down but probably an equal number who will see it as an opportunity to lessen the fishing pressure on the lake.

I hope they do find a way to control the carp in KY lake. Last year a couple of my better areas were over run with them and made fishing tough. Some of the spots were almost completely void of fish. Guess i'll find a way to adapt til they do. See you guys in the spring.

I'm with crappiemax, all the gloom and doom rumors thru the years have mostly never come to pass. I grew up near Lake Erie in the 60s when the nation was laughing at Cleveland and the Cuyahoga River catching fire. During that same time when the mercury was supposed to be killing millions, according to the media, my dad and I were slaying Jumbos out of that supposed cesspool. No walleye or brownfish were being caught back then and the zebra mussels came out of nowhere and cleaned it up. This past summer I reeled up a walleye and could see it while it was still 6-8 down. In the 80s I spent days on the reefs to the west of the islands listening to the Browns play football and catching so many small mouth you'd have to stop for a break to rest your arm. I've caught salmon, steel head, white bass, smelt, and yes drum (sheephead for yall yankees) sorry about that chaunc, out of what was once a laughing stock. We worry too much. God provided us with these resources for our enjoyment and I truly believe He will take care of His planet one way or another. Things are cyclical and we'll see ebb and flow. Most of my crappie fishing is done over here on Barren with my buddy Jerry who was asked the other day by a guy at the ramp, what happened to all the crappie that used to be in the lake? Jerry told the guy that two guys caught the very last one two weeks ago, then we proceeded to take 28 good ones out of the livewell. :Rofl I say buy the house on the lake. Never get old and look back and regret not having done something.....So far, so good.

The carp problem in Ky and Barkley Lakes is a MAJOR problem. There is no doubt in my mind that they have had a negative effect on the fishing. I believe that in time we'll figure out a way to somewhat control them. Hopefully soon!

With that said I wouldn't let it detour me from my dream. While declining property values may not be good if you plan on selling it also means lower property taxes. If you plan on staying there for life I wouldn't worry about it.

I'll guarantee you your property value won't go down though. There's only so much dirt in the world and more and more people born everyday. The law of supply and demand will keep the price up.

It is not that the biologist don't have a "clue", it is that there is no answer to this problem. It is kind of like asking the Highway Department to eradicate kudzo from along the roads. No, take that back, that would actually be easy, because you can see the kudzo.

Yes, Asian Carp (silver and bighead carp) are in KY and Barkley lakes. Are they to a population density that is affecting sport fish? No. Are stories of poor crappie fishing related to Asian Carp? No. Crappie fishing success changes year to year because because crappie population are greatly influences by recruitment (what we call the spawn). In a perfect environment, crappie populations are cyclic. Now, add in the spring water level fluctuations, and the cycles become unpredictable. Bass populations could actually benefit from Asian Carp. Since AC eat plankton, that means they will help clear up the water. Which in turn allows for aquatic vegetation to grow. History at KY Lake has shown us that clear water and aquatic weeds increase bass numbers and reduce crappie numbers.

What are we doing about AC. The most we can. That is promoting commercial harvest for these fish. And, killing everyone we catch.

Is there a safety issue of AC? Possibly. I take my three boys skiing 4-5 times a year at KY Lake. We have yet to see carp jumping or get hit by one. However, I dare say a jet ski or skier running through school of silver carp, will likely get hit. Most likely the lead jet ski, will pass through the school with near misses. It will be the person following that gets the worst of it, since the carp typically jump after the boat goes by. My suggestion, if you plan to ski, circle the area a few times in the boat, before the skier get out.

The media and some anglers have helped produce carp hysteria. Like I said, there are carp in the lake. But, the "sky is not falling".

As an example, what we call the common carp, the ones that have been around so long that people have forgotten that they are actually an invasive species. Their populations likely boomed for years after their first introduction, but over time their number have leveled out. Today, we don't even give them a second thought, and connect they with negative interactions to sport fish populations.

Would AC keep me from owning lake front property? No. I would be concern more with the aging reservoir, especially if buying a house near the back of some embayments. For those that have been around awhile on the lakes, knows that siltation is a issue. And for those that only visit the lakes in the summer... our lakes do have a winter drawdown. Meaning the water levels drop 5 feet during the fall and winter months. So what looks like nice water around a dock in the summer, could actually be mud during the winter. Buyer beware.

Thanks for taking the time to post Paul. I always enjoy reading the information you share with us.

Who knows, in 5 years there could be a cannery up and running and the economy could be booming because of the carp while alleviating the problem or at least getting it under control . I think you cannot go wrong buying down at the lakes.

Thanks again to all of you that took the time to post your opinions. It is helpful to get others take on something I have little first hand knowledge of. Some of the things I had previously read makes it sound like it isn't if all fishing dies but only when. I feel a little better now about the overall situation.