07-24-2005, 04:06 PM
[#ff0000]My sister-in-law lives back in Illinois and sent me an Asian Carp mug holder and a flier on an Asian Carp tournament being held on July16th at Bath, Illinois. She also enclosed the following article:[/#ff0000]
"Hitting a snag with Asian carp
Invasive species might be taking over the Illinois River, but don't go snagging them without first checking the calendar [center][/center] [center][url "http://216.247.167.209/fireworks/index.html"][/url][/center]![[Image: 18633_80.jpg]](http://www.pjstar.com/images/columnists/new/18633_80.jpg)
[url "mailto:jlampe@pjstar.com"]Jeff Lampe[/url] OUTDOORS
Sunday, July 10, 2005
Misty fog was still lingering over the Illinois River when Chef Todd hooked into his first Asian carp.
He handed me the rod, a 7-foot-6 fiberglass broomstick built to handle muskies.
"Nothing has ever bent that St. Croix pole like these things do," Chef Todd said yet again.
For more than a week he'd been repeating that same mantra. So exciting was the sound of Asian carp fishing below the Peoria Lock and Dam that I had to try it myself Tuesday morning.
That first fish and the half-dozen or so I fought after it proved to me why Chef Todd and a growing number of anglers below the Peoria and Starved Rock dams are pursuing these Asian imports. Nothing I've caught on hook and line fought as hard or as long as did these silver and bighead carp. Not hybrid stripers, not bluegills on ultralight rigs and not even my beloved smallmouth bass.
By morning's end I was worn out. And we never caught any truly big carp.
Our largest went 19 pounds. We also caught numerous 16-pounders and about 16 under that weight. Every carp fought like crazy, bending rods and taking line even though we were geared up with heavy-duty bait-casting reels, 40-pound test line and the aforementioned broomstick rods.
None of that mattered. Whatever else these Asian carp may be, they are impressive fighters. In time, they may even lure anglers to the Illinois River.
Two years ago Earl Cape of Hanna City spent a week on Canada's famed Red River, a mecca for channel catfishermen. Like most who visit that river, Cape raved about the fishing. Yet Tuesday he was raving about Asian carp.
"Those catfish we caught (at the Red River) averaged 20 pounds, and not one of them fought better than these carp," Cape said.
Amen to that. The experience of fighting a mere 16-pounder was as close as I've come to salt-water fishing.
Unfortunately, it's also as close as I've come to earning a ticket from a conservation police officer. Because what the Chef and I did that morning was illegal. We snagged those carp.
We'd cast out a one-ounce weight under a treble hook, wait a few seconds and then start ripping it back through the water. Now and then one of those pulls would connect with a carp.
Only afterwards, when checking with CPOs, did I realize my mistake. I should have known. Illinois regulates, restricts or taxes anything that's enjoyable. Plus, snagging rules are spelled out in the Illinois Fishing Information digest.
"Right now (snagging) is not legal within 300 yards below all locks and dams of the Illinois River and the Mississippi River between Illinois and Missouri," said Jim Dever, local conservation police sergeant. "We're in a closed period for snagging. But we want to get rid of Asian carp. It's a catch 22."
Indeed it is. Since escaping from ponds of Arkansas fish farmers in the 1980s and eventually making their way into the Illinois River in the late 1990s, Asian carp have taken over. In some Illinois River pools biologists estimate 75 percent of the bio-mass is made up of Asian carp. And it has been said that if the river was drained today, the poundage of Asian carp would outweigh every other fish species.
That seems to be true below the Peoria dam, where silver carp can be seen surfacing, porpoising and jumping everywhere. Bighead carp are also present at the dam, and while they don't leap much, they do grow larger - already reaching 90 pounds in parts of the U.S.
A glimpse underwater would no doubt show an amazing concentration of those two invasive species. During our outing all we caught were Asian carp, a few shad and one buffalo. All those species are fair game during snagging season, which runs Sept. 15 to Dec. 15 and March 15 to May 15.
The rest of the year is closed to snagging in an effort to protect native game fish that also congregate below locks and dams - or at least once did. As Dever said, "Somebody pulling a hook through the body of a fish doesn't really know what he's got until he pulls it in."
But snagging is also the only reliable way to land Asian carp. They are mostly plankton and algae feeders who seldom bite on lures, live baits or even dough balls. Fish with a lure all day at the Peoria dam and you might catch two Asian carp. Snag all day and you should have enough fish to cover the bottom of a boat.
Still, rules are rules. Dever said CPOs plan to "educate" anglers about the closed snagging season in weeks to come. Take that for what you will.
Myself, I won't be back snagging below the dam any time soon. But there's a new date to circle in September that should rank up there with established openers for doves, teal and Canada geese. Asian carp snagging season starts Sept. 15.
JEFF LAMPE is Journal Star outdoors columnist. Write to him at 1 News Plaza, Peoria, IL 61643, call (309) 686-3212 or e-mail to [url "mailto:jlampe@pjstar.com"]jlampe@pjstar.com[/url]"
[#ff0000]I have seen a video on them, and it was amazing to see how they would jump (it appeared about four or five feet out of the water) when a boat would pass. They were landing on the boat and people have been knocked out by being hit by flying carp! They are extremely destructive to the waterways, much more so than their European cousins, and they are trying desperately to keep them out of The Great Lakes. I may need to visit my brother and sister-in-law her and go fishing (or is it snagging) for them.[/#ff0000]
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"Hitting a snag with Asian carp
Invasive species might be taking over the Illinois River, but don't go snagging them without first checking the calendar [center][/center] [center][url "http://216.247.167.209/fireworks/index.html"][/url][/center]
[url "mailto:jlampe@pjstar.com"]Jeff Lampe[/url] OUTDOORS Sunday, July 10, 2005
Misty fog was still lingering over the Illinois River when Chef Todd hooked into his first Asian carp.
He handed me the rod, a 7-foot-6 fiberglass broomstick built to handle muskies.
"Nothing has ever bent that St. Croix pole like these things do," Chef Todd said yet again.
For more than a week he'd been repeating that same mantra. So exciting was the sound of Asian carp fishing below the Peoria Lock and Dam that I had to try it myself Tuesday morning.
That first fish and the half-dozen or so I fought after it proved to me why Chef Todd and a growing number of anglers below the Peoria and Starved Rock dams are pursuing these Asian imports. Nothing I've caught on hook and line fought as hard or as long as did these silver and bighead carp. Not hybrid stripers, not bluegills on ultralight rigs and not even my beloved smallmouth bass.
By morning's end I was worn out. And we never caught any truly big carp.
Our largest went 19 pounds. We also caught numerous 16-pounders and about 16 under that weight. Every carp fought like crazy, bending rods and taking line even though we were geared up with heavy-duty bait-casting reels, 40-pound test line and the aforementioned broomstick rods.
None of that mattered. Whatever else these Asian carp may be, they are impressive fighters. In time, they may even lure anglers to the Illinois River.
Two years ago Earl Cape of Hanna City spent a week on Canada's famed Red River, a mecca for channel catfishermen. Like most who visit that river, Cape raved about the fishing. Yet Tuesday he was raving about Asian carp.
"Those catfish we caught (at the Red River) averaged 20 pounds, and not one of them fought better than these carp," Cape said.
Amen to that. The experience of fighting a mere 16-pounder was as close as I've come to salt-water fishing.
Unfortunately, it's also as close as I've come to earning a ticket from a conservation police officer. Because what the Chef and I did that morning was illegal. We snagged those carp.
We'd cast out a one-ounce weight under a treble hook, wait a few seconds and then start ripping it back through the water. Now and then one of those pulls would connect with a carp.
Only afterwards, when checking with CPOs, did I realize my mistake. I should have known. Illinois regulates, restricts or taxes anything that's enjoyable. Plus, snagging rules are spelled out in the Illinois Fishing Information digest.
"Right now (snagging) is not legal within 300 yards below all locks and dams of the Illinois River and the Mississippi River between Illinois and Missouri," said Jim Dever, local conservation police sergeant. "We're in a closed period for snagging. But we want to get rid of Asian carp. It's a catch 22."
Indeed it is. Since escaping from ponds of Arkansas fish farmers in the 1980s and eventually making their way into the Illinois River in the late 1990s, Asian carp have taken over. In some Illinois River pools biologists estimate 75 percent of the bio-mass is made up of Asian carp. And it has been said that if the river was drained today, the poundage of Asian carp would outweigh every other fish species.
That seems to be true below the Peoria dam, where silver carp can be seen surfacing, porpoising and jumping everywhere. Bighead carp are also present at the dam, and while they don't leap much, they do grow larger - already reaching 90 pounds in parts of the U.S.
A glimpse underwater would no doubt show an amazing concentration of those two invasive species. During our outing all we caught were Asian carp, a few shad and one buffalo. All those species are fair game during snagging season, which runs Sept. 15 to Dec. 15 and March 15 to May 15.
The rest of the year is closed to snagging in an effort to protect native game fish that also congregate below locks and dams - or at least once did. As Dever said, "Somebody pulling a hook through the body of a fish doesn't really know what he's got until he pulls it in."
But snagging is also the only reliable way to land Asian carp. They are mostly plankton and algae feeders who seldom bite on lures, live baits or even dough balls. Fish with a lure all day at the Peoria dam and you might catch two Asian carp. Snag all day and you should have enough fish to cover the bottom of a boat.
Still, rules are rules. Dever said CPOs plan to "educate" anglers about the closed snagging season in weeks to come. Take that for what you will.
Myself, I won't be back snagging below the dam any time soon. But there's a new date to circle in September that should rank up there with established openers for doves, teal and Canada geese. Asian carp snagging season starts Sept. 15.
JEFF LAMPE is Journal Star outdoors columnist. Write to him at 1 News Plaza, Peoria, IL 61643, call (309) 686-3212 or e-mail to [url "mailto:jlampe@pjstar.com"]jlampe@pjstar.com[/url]"
[#ff0000]I have seen a video on them, and it was amazing to see how they would jump (it appeared about four or five feet out of the water) when a boat would pass. They were landing on the boat and people have been knocked out by being hit by flying carp! They are extremely destructive to the waterways, much more so than their European cousins, and they are trying desperately to keep them out of The Great Lakes. I may need to visit my brother and sister-in-law her and go fishing (or is it snagging) for them.[/#ff0000]
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