catman529
Well-Known Member
all right I got a question particularly for fish biologist or bass habitat type people. Or anyone who wants to chime in...
I read in the latest issue of bassmaster some statistics on volunteer work that has been done by members of the BASS Federation Nation. Looks like a lot of volunteers got a lot done to help the bass fisheries.
Now here's what I am wondering... note this is spread across the country and Canada, but they removed 2.5 tons of grass carp, and 4 tons of invasive plants. My guess is they removed the carp because they were eating the plants which provide cover for bass and mainly bass food (bream). But grass carp eat invasive plants like hydrilla if I am not mistaken. Grass carp can be beneficial if the population vs. amount of weeds are right... I can only guess they were removed in lakes where their numbers were too high? Maybe I just don't live in an area where they flourish enough to cause damage. They are definitely not native, but I never saw them as being invasive, even in the Cumberland River where non-sterile grass carp exist and reproduce. Just seems like BASS has shed a bad light on the grass carp. Why not target the more serious invasive carp such as silver or bighead carp? They threaten to crowd out all the native fish and pose hazards to boaters as well. I also wonder why carp and other fish are so hated by fishermen especially bass fishermen. But that's for another discussion... just wondering what y'alls thoughts are on grass carp invasiveness vs bass fishing. the stats on grass carp removal in the Bassmaster magazine just kind of hit me the wrong way. I would like to be informed if these giant minnows are more of a threat to fisheries in other areas than Middle Tn which I am most familiar with.
I read in the latest issue of bassmaster some statistics on volunteer work that has been done by members of the BASS Federation Nation. Looks like a lot of volunteers got a lot done to help the bass fisheries.
Now here's what I am wondering... note this is spread across the country and Canada, but they removed 2.5 tons of grass carp, and 4 tons of invasive plants. My guess is they removed the carp because they were eating the plants which provide cover for bass and mainly bass food (bream). But grass carp eat invasive plants like hydrilla if I am not mistaken. Grass carp can be beneficial if the population vs. amount of weeds are right... I can only guess they were removed in lakes where their numbers were too high? Maybe I just don't live in an area where they flourish enough to cause damage. They are definitely not native, but I never saw them as being invasive, even in the Cumberland River where non-sterile grass carp exist and reproduce. Just seems like BASS has shed a bad light on the grass carp. Why not target the more serious invasive carp such as silver or bighead carp? They threaten to crowd out all the native fish and pose hazards to boaters as well. I also wonder why carp and other fish are so hated by fishermen especially bass fishermen. But that's for another discussion... just wondering what y'alls thoughts are on grass carp invasiveness vs bass fishing. the stats on grass carp removal in the Bassmaster magazine just kind of hit me the wrong way. I would like to be informed if these giant minnows are more of a threat to fisheries in other areas than Middle Tn which I am most familiar with.
