Hello all first time poster long time lurker..

Curious as to your guys' thoughts on largemouth bass (florida or northern) preying on carp. I've talked to various fisheries biologists that say they've taken samples of small carp from bass stomachs but it's not as common as you'd think.

What are your experiences with this? As a fisherman I've caught common carp from 7lbs up to 20lbs either by foul hooking or by some kind of accident imo.
Never really seem to see the young of year on up to 3,4,5lbers swimming about. Are they not nearly as prolific as bass,bluegill,etc..? Reproduction not successful every year?

Look forward to any insight!

Welcome to finally posting on Pond Boss!!

I'm just guessing, but if you've got a carp problem, it's the adult carp that are more of the problem, and the LMB won't handle those.

However, the LMB may be a critical part of the whole process by keeping the juvenile carp down.

Norther Pike or Muskie might help also.

Let's see what others say.

Thanks..

It's not so much a problem I have just trying to open up discussion on why we don't see many young of year or 3,4,5lbers swimming around. Do they tend to hang out deeper, buried in the weeds,etc.. ?

Left....how did non-triploid grass carp get in there?

I'm talking about nearly every lake or reservoir that I fish here in CA.

I'd be interested to know the amount of triploid in most public waters across the country percentage wise.

Oh ok I thought you were talking about a pond.

As a kid we fished many nights in the Trinity River
here in Dallas and caught some huge carp on the
Wheaties dough bait we would make at home.

Are you referring to grass carp or common carp? What you see as an angler as opposed to what would show up in an actual survey is likely different... From having done a lot of seining, I catch large numbers of YOY common carp and goldfish. Though I never see them fishing. They're there though.

Common carp mainly. Just would like to know why I never see them or hear much from biologists about them. I understand each lake/reservoir is different but you think with the clear water we have out here in CA they would be much more noticeable than what I see now.

How about the 8-16" range?

Don't carp go upstream into the rivers to spawn? I know we see them heading upstream in creeks around here in the spring. Maybe most of the smaller fish are not yet in the lake till they grow a little?

Don't know, just asking.

You probably are don't hear much about them from biologists because for the most part they are considered unwanted trash fish with anglers paying little interest in them. Keep in mind, carp are for the most part of fusiform fish with no large spines. In other words, they're easy to swallow. Smaller carp stay in the thickness of aquatic vegetation out of sight of both human eyes and predatory eyes.

Common spawn over aquatic vegation, generally in shallow backwater areas. I have never heard of them migrating up rivers to spawn. Grass carp require fast moving water to successfully spawn and few rivers meet their requirements. Even if diploid grass carp were present, most river systems would not meet their spawning needs.

Thanks CJB

Them being fusiform fish explains a lot! I always thought the bass would chew on them after the trout plants stop.

I've witnessed some giant common carp spawns on Clear Lake (our states biggest natural lake) during the full moons in spring. Fish would often group up in shallow coves. The amount of slapping and splashing about is indescribable. The next morning the whole cove would be a milky green white. Luckily they have bow hunting tournaments to help control things. Often they will fill two 20' containers with carb in the 10-20lb class.

There was a huge epidemic of carp dying off in '08. The surrounding local cities had to help clean up the shorelines of 1000's of dead carp. It was nasty! http://www.record-bee.com/sports/ci_10801271

I think with sufficient predators common carp are not especially common above fingerling size. This is common with species that produce lots of young. High fecundity/high predation.

That said without sufficient predators they can be very common and a problem.

That makes sense. Most of the smaller trophy bass lakes/reservoirs here that are under 200 acres only seem to have big carp with few in between.

These reservoirs have a very unbalanced ecosystem and I believe a lot has to do with the appetites of the largemouth bass and common trout/catfish plants. Trout plants occur from fall to early summer. During these times bass gorge on these fish. Then from summer through fall catfish are planted. Based on most of the people I've spoken with over the years these fisheries have lost their BG and Crappie populations due to predation and low water years. I'd say the latter had more of an impact but they both seem to go hand in hand since cover can become scarce. Much like the carp there is a significant gap in size range with the bass. Very few 3-8lb fish. But once you get over 8lbs there seems to be a decent population of similar sized bass that hunt in packs throughout the year. There can be anywhere from 3-6 fish in a pack. I've seen 16-18lb bass even swimming along with the carp schools using them as cover. These put n' take fisheries seem to always be out of balance.

I bet those really large bass are hard to sight fish for aren't they? (skittish) And difficult to catch.

What are the regs on keeping them etc.?

It's an interesting topic and some of the hardest fishing I've come across. Most lakes close early and meat poachers sneak in after legal hours and keep everything. As for keeping bass most over 12" are allowed with the exception of I believe one lake that has a slot in Central CA. Most of the bass guys C&R which of course presents another problem with catchability lol.

Most of the big bass are so spoiled and keyed in on the tasty oily high protein trout that they're real hard to catch on artificials 51 out of the 52 weeks. Once a year someone will catch one of the 16-18lbers out of a region off a bed and or possibly stumble into one in early prespawn throwing a big trout swim bait. Maybe one or two fish in this size range will be caught in Northern CA and the same in Southern CA. 10-12lbers are a little more common for the trophy guys that put real time in. A good seasoned trophy guy will catch a few every year maybe 5 tops.

I have no problem finding these fish and the angles they feed on, but doing it during park hours is a real hurdle. Most of the small trophy reservoirs close an hour before the sun goes down so you're often stuck fishing when there is a lot of fishing pressure. As for matching the hatch baby bass, carp, and trout swim baits are most productive but that only means 1 in every 10-15 trips ya get a bite. During those times you will possibly get a follower in that 15-18lb range that will keep you going ha. Smaller worms and jigs will work for the smaller 2-4lb fish but for the real giant fish ya gotta throw the big 8-12" swim baits to have a real chance.