Carp, the 'Vermin of the Water' is pesky and plentiful

By Carpkillers.com Local Delta officials are trying to reduce an overpopulation of carp to help maintain a balanced fishery and improve water quality in the area. The prolific success of the fish, which originally came from Europe and are in a family that includes goldfish and koi, can literally make waterways uninhabitable for every swimming thing in it including carp. They reproduce like crazy, which eventually chokes out other fish. "I call them the 'Water Vermin.' They reproduce by the millions," Officials have used everything to cut down carp numbers from Bowfishing tournaments to fishing them out, to using a specially designed boat that uses electricity to stun them, to using big nets to pull them out. Too many carp can lower oxygen levels. Carp spin nests, putting little divots in the lake bottom. They stir up the silt, then when the nutrients are exposed to sunlight and chlorophyll, algae is created. At night, algae consume large quantities of oxygen, especially during the warm summer months. This oxygen depletion can lead to fish suffocation, such as the July incident at Lake Elsinore when more than 500,000 fish died. Adding to the problem, young carp feed on zooplankton, an organism that eats the oxygen-consuming algae. How carp invaded local lakes is a mystery.  "It could be a byproduct of live bait" brought in by fishermen,  Cost of removal Officials paid out $792 in July to fishermen in a carp tournament to reduce the population. Five people with the largest fish were awarded $100 each. Others were paid 25-cents a pound for the carp caught during the tournament. A specially equipped state Department of Fish and Game boat has cables hung under the boat send an electrical charge through the water, stunning the carp so they can easily be scooped out. Lake Elsinore has used several techniques, including increasing the number of larger sport fish such as striped bass. Electric shock and fishing out carp using a large net called a seine have also been used. Initial removal efforts were dismal, with only 125,000 pounds removed in 2002 at a cost of $1.06 per pound. Later efforts were more successful, with 580,000 pounds of carp pulled out of the lake in 2003 at a cost of 35-cents per pound. In 2006, another 290,000 pounds were removed at a cost of about 26-cents a pound. Future costs likely will be higher. "We are victims of our own success. The remaining carp are harder to catch, so the cost per unit goes up,". Fishing for food Carp is considered good eating by many Asians, who make a soup with the fish heads. Some people don’t eat the fish. Instead, they dump the carp near row of trees where predator birds nest. The next day, the fish are always gone, without a trace, picked up by birds, coyotes or other predators. Carp for sport Recently, fishermen in the United Kingdom mourned the death of a 64-pound carp nicknamed Benson. The carp, which was believed to be the largest common carp in Britain, was found floating belly up in Bluebell Lakes in July. Catching carp for sport has not caught on in the U.S. as it has in Europe. "In the U.K. and the rest of the world, carp is the most popular freshwater sport fish. It's not in the U.S. Here, the money is in bass fishing," Manning said. "A trophy-size bass is 15 pounds. You go to any lake in the country and catch a 15-pound carp. A trophy-size carp is about 40 pounds." Common carp in Inland lakes generally weigh less than 10 pounds. A 14-pounder was the biggest catch in June during Big Bear Lake's carp tournament, said Mike Stephenson, lake manager for Big Bear Municipal Water District. Their diminutive size does not make fishing for the bottom feeder any less fun. Local Delta Bass fishermen turned Bowfishermen Aaron T. used to be a bass fisherman but Bowfishing carp well exceeds the challenge of standard bass fishing, he said. They fight better than the rest of the fish," Aaron T said. "A typical arrowed carp will produce a better fight compared to rod and reel fishing." Plus the added benefit of removing the invasive water vermin!