Pond Boss
Posted By: jwetovick Carp problem help - 09/29/18 01:37 AM
Got permission on a 1.5 acre sand pit in Nebraska. It is decades old and been very neglected. Killing it off is not an option. I have set traps and have caught all green sunfish. Started feeding and have found out what I assumed. Lots of carp feeding. Have caught a few on my kids paw patrol which was fun. That said, what options does a guy have other than baiting em in with food and then try to catch em with corn or dough? I plan on adding perch, walleye, crappie soon and have also been trapping and adding 400 gills. Not looking for advice on the crappie as I have read all the pros n cons. Just looking for advice on the carp. Thanks!
Posted By: Bill Cody Re: Carp problem help - 09/29/18 01:46 AM
Your success of stocking sport fish and their thriving to produce a quality fishery among common carp will depend a lot on how many carp per acre are present and what the general day to day water clarity is. The more turbid the water the lower the overall fishery will be each year. Ideally you want water transparency of 2ft - 3ft then other sport fish have a good chance of thriving. Less water clarity results in less natural productivity which produces fewer pounds of fish per acre.
Posted By: jwetovick Re: Carp problem help - 09/29/18 02:02 AM
Thanks bill. I agree and afraid at this point the water is pretty turbid due to the darn carp. Any ideas other than having buddies over many times and catching the darn carp?
I am most likely throwing good money at bad stocking but it is close to home so plan to try all I can to make it somewhat decent in the coming years.
Posted By: Clay N' Pray Re: Carp problem help - 09/29/18 11:22 AM
1.5 acres, I would build a homemade electro-shocker. Plenty of YouTube vids.
Posted By: NEDOC Re: Carp problem help - 09/29/18 12:05 PM
I've been fighting the same problem for nearly 20 years jwetovick. I've had very little luck. As Bill Cody has stated the natural reproduction is very limited. My latest strategy (and fun project) is that I built 2 small grow out ponds of 600 sq ft and 1100 sq ft. This way I can grow fish out and skip the reproductive process and stock them all as feed trained fish. This fall I plan on stocking the 1000 plus wipers that I've grown out. I've also grown out 16 tiger muskie in cages (but that was mostly just for fun) and plan to feed train and grow out largemouth in the coming season. It's an odd situation in that I'm essentially attempting to wipe out all natural reproduction of fish in my pond to eliminate the carp. I'll see how that goes. Here's the thread to my grow out ponds.

http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=496176&page=1
Posted By: Bill Cody Re: Carp problem help - 09/30/18 12:42 AM
Depending on the sizes of the larger fish in the sand pit and if the larger fish are mostly carp, then consider using a larger mesh gill or flag net to remove carp. Bait an area and pull the net in behind them. As the carp return to open water they will be entangled in the net. When used properly the net should catch high numbers of carp depending on the technique used. I think it would be state DNR legal to have a gill net if used only in private water. I doubt an electroshocker would be as effective as a properly used gill net with 4" to 6" stretch mesh.

Baiting an area with boiled corn could be a good way to attract carp to an area where knowledgeable anglers would catch lots of them. Consider putting a bounty for anglers for each carp caught and removed. Sportsmen clubs should have anglers up to the challenge.
Posted By: Bill D. Re: Carp problem help - 09/30/18 01:12 AM
Another thought ....IMO, if the water is not too turbid, if the game fish are stocked in appropriate quantities, especially the walleye, they should help a lot to reduce further carp recruitment. Since the pond is only 1.5 acre, you might be able to then remove a significant number of the adult carp by angling or trot line over time. My thought is that if you do not drastically reduce new carp recruitment, you will be in a never ending battle to remove carp.

IMO It will not take many spawning carp to repopulate the pond if there is not sufficient predation on the YOY carp. Your stocking plan for gamefish does not include any wide mouth gap predators, such as LMB, which will make it crucial that you have enough small mouth gap predators to control the new spawned carp while they are less than 3 or 4 inches.

Not a pro..just my 1 cent.

Good luck and please let us know how it goes!

Bill D.
Posted By: NEDOC Re: Carp problem help - 09/30/18 03:01 AM
I read about a reservoir in New Mexico that had an estimated 38 Muskie per acre with the purpose being to control suckers and carp. Try that and get back to me. Lol.
Posted By: john kelsey Re: Carp problem help - 09/30/18 12:05 PM
Will Walleye eat pellets?
Posted By: jwetovick Re: Carp problem help - 09/30/18 09:30 PM
Originally Posted By: Bill D.
Another thought ....IMO, if the water is not too turbid, if the game fish are stocked in appropriate quantities, especially the walleye, they should help a lot to reduce further carp recruitment. Since the pond is only 1.5 acre, you might be able to then remove a significant number of the adult carp by angling or trot line over time. My thought is that if you do not drastically reduce new carp recruitment, you will be in a never ending battle to remove carp.

IMO It will not take many spawning carp to repopulate the pond if there is not sufficient predation on the YOY carp. Your stocking plan for gamefish does not include any wide mouth gap predators, such as LMB, which will make it crucial that you have enough small mouth gap predators to control the new spawned carp while they are less than 3 or 4 inches.

Not a pro..just my 1 cent.

Good luck and please let us know how it goes!

Bill D.


This is my game plan. I’m putting in 200 4-6in perch, 75 6in walleye, 150 5in crappie, 300 3in Bluegill, in the next couple months. Next spring I plan to add some HSB. I have put in about 15 yoy LMB recently but don’t plan to add too many more if I can help it. Then will try to catch as many carp as possible with hook and see what happens. Thanks again and any other info would be appreciated.
Posted By: Bill D. Re: Carp problem help - 10/01/18 12:17 AM
IMO it was a good move adding some LMB. I think you will need them if you expect to have any chance of controlling the BG and BCP..... FWIW I would probably add a few more LMB now while you can inexpensively add small ones with limited loss to predation smile

IMO The HSB will be a nice addition! There have been some studies I've read about in PBM that suggest HSB are excellent in helping to control BCP.
Posted By: roundy Re: Carp problem help - 10/01/18 12:23 AM
I used to live on a lake with a large carp population. I took a burlap bag, filled it 1/2 way with shelled field corn and a couple rocks. Then sank it a comfortable casting distance, after a few weeks the carp would come to the bag to suck the rotting corn through the bag. I fished close to the bag with open face spinning outfit, about 6# test line, and small treble hook only, no weight or leader. Form a Wheaty “Breakfast of Champions” ball around treble hook just big enough to cover barbs, very gently cast to bag and leave bail open so there is no resistance. When you see line going out, let a few feet go out the set the hook and get ready for a fight. Wheaty ball is made by taking a handful and dunking it in water then forming around hook and pressing firm. Casting requires smooth action with no jerks or excessive force. When they are biting you can catch a mess fast.
Posted By: Bill D. Re: Carp problem help - 10/01/18 01:22 AM
Originally Posted By: john kelsey
Will Walleye eat pullets?


Hi John,

IMO it would take a very large walleye to eat a pullet (yearling chicken) although I recently received a picture of a 14 pound walleye from a friend that they caught that could probably do it! If you meant to say "pellet," I have never heard of pellet trained walleye. Maybe one of the pros can add info that I am not aware of...?
Posted By: Bill Cody Re: Carp problem help - 10/01/18 02:10 AM
For best control of small carp one needs a high density or over abundance of small LMB 8"-14". High silt turbidity will strongly reduce success of the other sport fish that rely on a good healthy plankton community consisting of phytoplankton and zooplankton that do not thrive in turbid water.
Posted By: NEDOC Re: Carp problem help - 10/01/18 12:06 PM
Originally Posted By: Bill Cody
High silt turbidity will strongly reduce success of the other sport fish that rely on a good healthy plankton community consisting of phytoplankton and zooplankton that do not thrive in turbid water.


And this is the reason I have built grow out ponds on my property to establish the 'sport fishery' on my pond with poor water clarity and carp overabundance. The other obvious option is to stock larger fish purchased from fish farms.
Posted By: jwetovick Re: Carp problem help - 10/01/18 04:03 PM
Originally Posted By: Bill Cody
For best control of small carp one needs a high density or over abundance of small LMB 8"-14". High silt turbidity will strongly reduce success of the other sport fish that rely on a good healthy plankton community consisting of phytoplankton and zooplankton that do not thrive in turbid water.


I was hoping to hold off on the LMB as long as I could just for a different kind of variety. However, you are right and I probably need to just bite the bullet and put more LMB in. I do see an TON of fry and minnows swimming in the shallows. I have caught many minnows and even some YOY green sunfish. So, that is a good sign that at least the greenies are spawning. The pond is 80% surrounded by cattails so there are plenty of places for the fry to hide. I plan on spraying at least some of the cattails to allow more bank fishing.
Posted By: tim k Re: Carp problem help - 10/02/18 11:54 AM
have you considered a .22 rifle for the carp?
Posted By: NEDOC Re: Carp problem help - 10/02/18 12:02 PM
Originally Posted By: tim k
have you considered a .22 rifle for the carp?


I've tried that with limited impact.
Posted By: jwetovick Re: Carp problem help - 10/02/18 01:12 PM
Originally Posted By: tim k
have you considered a .22 rifle for the carp?

I absolutely considered that. Have yet to try it. I could probably have a bit of success with a shotgun as they are only about 10ft from me with their mouth at the top of the water. Shotgun wont go very deep at all though but figured it may get their head when its at the top of the water. I don't know, then my conscious kicks in a bit and I feel bad shooting them when my kid is asking what I'm doing. ha. NEDOC, what is your experience and why you didn't have much luck?
Posted By: Redonthehead Re: Carp problem help - 10/02/18 01:42 PM
NEDOC - did you ever try gill netting? I found a couple references to it on this forum.

I've watched a TV show of commercial fishermen in WI using gill nets to catch carp and buffalo. Seems like something to consider but you would want to run it ever few hours to release the desirable fish it catches.
Posted By: Quarter Acre Re: Carp problem help - 10/02/18 02:35 PM
You should try to locate your local Bow Fishing enthusiasts. A new place to bow hunt is hard for a bow fisherman to pass up. A few guys and a small boat on a good night can take quite a few of the carp.
Posted By: jwetovick Re: Carp problem help - 10/02/18 03:14 PM
Originally Posted By: Quarter Acre
You should try to locate your local Bow Fishing enthusiasts. A new place to bow hunt is hard for a bow fisherman to pass up. A few guys and a small boat on a good night can take quite a few of the carp.

We do have some of these guys around here. However, the water is so turbid you can't see much past 12in at best so not sure how great bow fishing would be?
Posted By: DonoBBD Re: Carp problem help - 10/02/18 03:49 PM
Originally Posted By: roundy
I used to live on a lake with a large carp population. I took a burlap bag, filled it 1/2 way with shelled field corn and a couple rocks. Then sank it a comfortable casting distance, after a few weeks the carp would come to the bag to suck the rotting corn through the bag. I fished close to the bag with open face spinning outfit, about 6# test line, and small treble hook only, no weight or leader. Form a Wheaty “Breakfast of Champions” ball around treble hook just big enough to cover barbs, very gently cast to bag and leave bail open so there is no resistance. When you see line going out, let a few feet go out the set the hook and get ready for a fight. Wheaty ball is made by taking a handful and dunking it in water then forming around hook and pressing firm. Casting requires smooth action with no jerks or excessive force. When they are biting you can catch a mess fast.


As kids we would do the same thing but we would move the bag in to shore in the shallows after a few weeks. We would go to the bag twice a day and just use a pitchfork to kill the carp. I tell you as a kid it was a blast.
Posted By: DonoBBD Re: Carp problem help - 10/02/18 04:12 PM
I do expect that if you do try to shoot them you would be lucky that the shock-wave would stun them. I can imagine the projectile will do much at all. When trapping muskrat and not wanting to put a hole in the pelt we would take a 22 along. If there was a rat swimming we would shoot the water in front of them or under their head. The shock-wave would knock them out and they would drown.

With the carp I would use a 12 gauge slug Hornady SST slug. It would give the largest shock-wave you can generate in the water. That should KO them. You want to be as straight down as you can or know your target at beyond because these will skip off the water.
Posted By: SteveC Re: Carp problem help - 10/04/18 09:44 PM
This is my personal experience. Shotgun with high power #6 shot is the only way to go. I carry an old single shot 20ga. I tried .22 and .17 but the water will deflect or stop the bullet easily. Also good chance of ricochet. Extremely wary fish. After shooting a couple of times around a feeder it would be weeks before I would get another shot at one. I wasn't there trying everyday either tho.
Posted By: liquidsquid Re: Carp problem help - 10/05/18 12:34 PM
What about the good old classics, like an M-80 tied to a rock? Can you get good fireworks (legal or otherwise) where you live? I live in NY, so all we are allowed are LED flashlights and sparklers.

When I did get my hands on those as a kid, 2-3 on a rock and a shared fuse, and anything nearby would float up for easy pickings. Drop them by the corn bag. It only stunned the fish, so most would wake up and swim off later.

I heard stories of when engineers were blasting the shipping channel in the St. Lawrence river in upstate, that simply massive fish would float up. Since they were not caught during angling, they were discounted from the record books. Even sharks would come up, which would regularly come up the river before the Robert Moses dam was built.
Posted By: Bill Cody Re: Carp problem help - 10/21/18 09:20 PM
Keep us advised as to your success of removing carp. Here is a summary of a new method presented at the North American Lake Management Society annual meeting (Oct29-Nov02 2018, Cincinnati OH) authored by researchers in MN of baiting and trapping of carp.
Using Baited Box Nets to Remove Common Carp to Improve Water Quality in Shallow Lakes
Jordan Wein 1, Przemek Bajer 2, and Aaron Claus 1
1+Carp Solutions, Saint Paul, Minnesota; 2=University of Minnesota, Saint Paul, Minnesota
Website for Carp Solutions:
http://carpsolutionsmn.com/
Common carp are present in many shallow lakes across North America and can have significant negative impacts on nutrient and water quality parameters when in large numbers. Reducing common carp biomass has been shown to increase water clarity and aquatic vegetation as well as decrease phosphorus and chlorophyll levels. Although research shows that lakes can be restored by managing carp, implementation methods have been severely hindered by lack of effective removal techniques. Traditional methods such as lake drawdowns, poisoning, and commercial seining are often ineffective, harmful to native species, cost-prohibitive, and/or rely on a few specialized contractors that are difficult to secure. An innovative method has addressed this need via baiting and trapping using custom “box net” traps. This approach is consistent with scientific findings that common carp can be trained to aggregate in specific locations using corn as bait. The chief advantage of stationary box nets is that carp can be lured into them and effectively removed, even in lakes with debris on the bottom or where carp do not form natural aggregations. Further, baiting is simple enough that citizens can be trained to administer it, increasing the scalability and affordability of this strategy. Carp Solutions conducted proof-of-concept experiments in 4 Minnesota lakes between 7 and 120 hectares in 2017 which showed that 20–50% of carp were removed from each lake using only 1–4 nets, with no non-target impacts. Managing carp can be a great challenge, but the potential benefits are multi-faceted and box netting could be one solution.
Posted By: RAH Re: Carp problem help - 10/22/18 01:09 PM
Very interesting and makes good sense. Thank you for sharing!
Posted By: NEDOC Re: Carp problem help - 10/22/18 05:04 PM
This is very interesting. I know very little, or nothing, about box netting. I need to study up on this. Removing 20-50% sounds worth the effort. Thanks Bill.
Posted By: NEDOC Re: Carp problem help - 10/22/18 05:25 PM
Originally Posted By: Bill Cody
Keep us advised as to your success of removing carp. Here is a summary of a new method presented at the North American Lake Management Society annual meeting (Oct29-Nov02 2018, Cincinnati OH) authored by researchers in MN of baiting and trapping of carp.
Using Baited Box Nets to Remove Common Carp to Improve Water Quality in Shallow Lakes
Jordan Wein 1, Przemek Bajer 2, and Aaron Claus 1
1+Carp Solutions, Saint Paul, Minnesota; 2=University of Minnesota, Saint Paul, Minnesota
Website for Carp Solutions:
http://carpsolutionsmn.com/
Common carp are present in many shallow lakes across North America and can have significant negative impacts on nutrient and water quality parameters when in large numbers. Reducing common carp biomass has been shown to increase water clarity and aquatic vegetation as well as decrease phosphorus and chlorophyll levels. Although research shows that lakes can be restored by managing carp, implementation methods have been severely hindered by lack of effective removal techniques. Traditional methods such as lake drawdowns, poisoning, and commercial seining are often ineffective, harmful to native species, cost-prohibitive, and/or rely on a few specialized contractors that are difficult to secure. An innovative method has addressed this need via baiting and trapping using custom “box net” traps. This approach is consistent with scientific findings that common carp can be trained to aggregate in specific locations using corn as bait. The chief advantage of stationary box nets is that carp can be lured into them and effectively removed, even in lakes with debris on the bottom or where carp do not form natural aggregations. Further, baiting is simple enough that citizens can be trained to administer it, increasing the scalability and affordability of this strategy. Carp Solutions conducted proof-of-concept experiments in 4 Minnesota lakes between 7 and 120 hectares in 2017 which showed that 20–50% of carp were removed from each lake using only 1–4 nets, with no non-target impacts. Managing carp can be a great challenge, but the potential benefits are multi-faceted and box netting could be one solution.


Is there any chance that there will be a video of this presentation available?
Posted By: Bill Cody Re: Carp problem help - 10/22/18 10:00 PM
I think one could contact the authors of the presentation after it is presented and they would send you a pdf copy of oral presentation. They might even post a link to their Powerpoint presentation on their website? I think the net method could be down sized for smaller bodies of water.
Posted By: NEDOC Re: Carp problem help - 10/22/18 10:20 PM
Thanks Bill. Are you going to the presentation? I’ve emailed the link at the website you originally linked. I’m excited to hear back.
Posted By: Bill Cody Re: Carp problem help - 10/22/18 11:28 PM
Not going to the conference. There are numerous good presentations by high qualified water management people. I am co-author for one of the presentations. Too busy working on water sample backlog. I try hard to have a quick turnaround for sample analysis.
Posted By: RStringer Re: Carp problem help - 11/15/18 06:29 PM
Back about 20 years ago when it flooded around here we got out are bow fishing gear. These fish normally get pretty big and are easy to hit with a bow.
Posted By: snrub Re: Carp problem help - 11/15/18 07:59 PM
Pitch forks and hay hooks here.
Posted By: Bill Cody Re: Carp problem help - 11/16/18 12:40 AM
In smaller and moderate sized ponds, I think one could remove high numbers of carp by properly pre-baiting them (chumming), using good carp angling specialized methods, and then have carp fishing parties. Small prizes could be awarded for the most carp caught the smallest carp and biggest carp, etc. One could create a "running" homemade plaque with names of annual angler of the year award in each category.
Posted By: Snipe Re: Carp problem help - 11/16/18 06:25 AM
Ditto Mr. Cody's suggestion.. We started doing this several years ago and it's great fun for the locals in our small 15 acre community pond. We also remove everything we can get during electrofishing but it's hard on equipment so we don't overdue it.
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