Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations Big Grass Carp

Here is a grass carp that was dying on my lake. He was swimming in a circle. He would not fit in my net. He was 34 lbs and well over 36" (I only have a 36" check-it-stick)

I have seen some of them swimming in the water. I new they were big but not that big.

Check out the look of disbelief from my sister!

Man thats a big one. How many more you got like that?

Is it flipping its tail to the camera? It seems he is a little deformed. Maybe just me.

Still Nice fish.

Hmmmm......that one might have got it's back broken during the recent electroshocking.

shorty not sure if kidding or not, but that is common for us to kill big grass carp. The only fish where that occurs. Also we have our clients report died ones after a lighting storm. Seems they have so much surface area and soft backbone, not a good combo with electric currents in high conductivity water. BTW they are great to eat but no when this big,. The big one I tried tasted like mud.

OK 12, I have a thread on the PBF about a big grass carp. In the lake I caught mine I have spotted several over the years with
a deformity in their back or spine. There is one we see that can only swim away from the boat in large circles it is so messed up. Must be a trait of the specie to have bad backs. Strange fishes indeeed.

If I recall correctly both Grass Carp and Rainbow Trout are very susceptable to broken spines during electoshocking surveys. They have muscle spasms so hard that it can break their spines.

This one was deformed. It did look like its back was broke. But this was over 3 months after the Electrofishing survey. Here is another picture. The Check-it-Stick is 37" long so he was well over 40".

I don't know how many we have but I have cornered 10-12 of them up in the shallow water and when they wanted out of there it looked like torpedoes coming at me. It was quite a site.

I am not sure electrofishing is a requirement for funky looking Grass Carp, at least with triploids. IIRC the triploidy process frequently leaves them with some odd deformities.

Of my 5 GC, 4 are shaped pretty normal. This one (the smallest) has kind of a hump on her back.

Hey folks, I am thinking of putting grass carp in my tank to try and control an over abundant pondweed problem, I believe it's southern naid. The pond or tank as it's called in this part of Texas is about 1 acre, I was thinking perhaps starting off with 5?? Anyone have any experience with them, any success? Another concern, do they muddy up the place if they clean the weeds out? thanks..

Hi Tom, welcome to Pond Boss. Hang on and I'm sure one of the experts will chime in and answer your question.

Here's a link that discusses Grass Carp in Texas.

Grass Carp in Texas

Tod Overton (see thread link above) has a great reputation. You might want to consider contacting them. I don't know how close he is to you (I know Texas is HUGE).


We're glad you found us.

Tom, I think most people are happy with them. Initially, they do a good job on weeds etc, but as they get larger they seem to enjoy fish food more. Eventually they get so big that they are pretty hard to catch - but fun!. They fight like a sailor on Friday night in Olongapo City (anybody ever been there?).