Oh my god here we go again. I have been fighting this for over a year. Last July we saw the schools for the first time and started an aggressive campain against these fish. First of all catch all you can in a net right away. Catching 50 out of the swarm now is a lot easier than catching 50 one at a time later.
I didn't have any bass at the time and by fall my water was very cloudy. I stocked 40 adult bass and have fished aggressively all summer. We have removed 362 to date and saw no swarms this summer. I have only caught 2 large ones and can assume there were no babies this year because I removed the mating pair early enough or because the bass ate the babies.
The biggest problem is if this problem only came from a couple fish, what do I have in store next year from the ones I didn't catch. Suppose there are 50 left and the original problem was caused by 5 of them. I will have to rely on my bass to control the babies and keep fishing for the adults. I just caught 9 overnight in a fish trap 2 days ago. I have experimented with everything as trap bait. I actually caught the 9 with a chunk of Caribou meat.
I am relying more and more on the traps because I am killing too many of my Yellow Perch fishing the Bullheads hook and line, even with #2 circle hooks.
Look at the old posts and there is a great picture of a small one.
Check out a post called "How did these fish arrive". Lots of info there. Beleive me the only way these entered my pond is from birds. I do not even get runoff. I have a berm around my pond and no water nearby.
I will watch this post closely and contribute what I can. I have now caught enough of there in my 2/3 of an acre that the water is clear again.
Brian
