Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations What is the Life span of Grass Carp?

GC get huge in the south as well. Csteffen proofed that (nice pic) but here's more proof. I got one that would make these look small and owner claimed it was only 8 years old. It had to be over 75 lbs. They will abotu knock you down. We haev had them jump int he shock boat several times b.c they ae so big they sense the shock way out and if lined up right come at you.

http://www.lakework.com/photo_gallery/gallery2/v/Client+Fish/P1010881.JPG.html
http://www.lakework.com/photo_gallery/gallery2/v/Client+Fish/Troy12-26023_1_.jpg.html

http://www.lakework.com/photo_gallery/gallery2/v/Client+Fish/Picture+083.jpg.html

COmmon Carp quite large as well. This is from Kentucky actually
http://www.lakework.com/photo_gallery/gallery2/v/Client+Fish/P1010032.JPG.html

Sandman, in response to your question about the invasiveness of yellow water iris: my experience of probably 18 years with yellow water iris is that it does not invade out into the lake to a significant degree. What it does do is claim shoreline by spreading laterally. It has been pretty slow to cause problems at my place although we have had to spray glyphosate a couple of times where it took over. It outcompetes some of the plants I prefer as marginals such as pickerel rush, thalia (American water canna) and Louisiana swamp iris (I have a big stand of Black Gamecock that it tries to invade). On the good side it stabilizes shoreline like a concrete wall so I have it planted where the Oklahoma winds try to erode my shore. The mature root system is like a network of interlocking 2"x4"s.

Please don't take anything I'm about to post as anything but the questioning of conventional ideas and teachings. I'm an electronics engineer, not an aquaculturist.

But, if researchers didn't challenge what I learned in college in the 1960s regarding electronic data transfer theory, we wouldn't be posting on PondBoss.com today. The 300 baud modem would still be our maximum data speed for DSL.

From the data presented by csteffen, I think we can safely assume that over 60% of diploids can live longer than 20 years. That puts us back into the 1980s when diploids were still in fairly common distribution in the US.

[I really love the picture of the big "minnow" hugging csteffen! What a classic picture!]

Warden Lake, the WVDNR lake I mentioned above that is near me, and with a serious overpopulation of very large grass carp, could easily be filled with diploids that are now in excess of 30 years old.

I don't know what is in my pond -- diploids or triploids. As far as I can tell from old receipts, six "grass carp" were stocked in 1993 by the previous owner. When we bought this place about four years ago, I was pretty certain that there were four grass carp in the pond. Two years ago I removed two of them. To the best of my knowledge, two were still living in the pond as of this past October. So, I can only assume these two are at least 15 years old.

From my viewpoint, we just don't know how long grass carp really will live in ponds. I think it is considerably longer than 10 years, diploid or triploid. I also don't believe it is anywhere near 100 years.

In any case, I plan to stock on the far more conservative side when I replace the two grass carp left in my pond. I plan to remove both of them this spring. I'm now thinking that I will replace them with two grass carp and two koi (I have one huge tiger-striped orange-and-black koi now, which I plan on keeping -- it is a true friend that follows me around the pond).

I hope to at least outlive the new grass carp.

Good fishn'
Ken

Didn't I see a post here that they are often badly injured by electrofishing?

Dave it seems due to size and shape they shock well. We have broken the backs of very few fish over the years overall but on much higher % of grass carp. The one in the pciture I posted above had a broken back due to electrofishing.

Maybe JHAP could do some fine tuning on the GSF Society's Death Star. ZAP!

Personally I am a fan of breaking their backs with an arrow over electricity, but that's just me... HAHA

LR, Thanks for the info on the yellow water iris. I'm still undecided as whether to get some. I already have a full compliment of marginal plants, mostly in the form of smartweed and cattails. The grass carp don't seem to like them that much. I noticed that smartweed has a distinctly hot, peppermint-like taste. Maybe they're too spicy for the GC.

But, I no longer have any weeds where the water exceeds 6" or so. The GC ate 'em all. The shoreline vegetation doesn't seem adequate in competing for nutrients. That seems to be the reason why my water tends to be so murky green in the summer. I don't miss the algae mats but I do miss some of the American pondweed and the chara. Chara (although a bit of a nuisance when fishing) especially seemed to make the water clear. Now there are only traces of these plants in the shallowest places of the lake where the GC can't reach.

I guess I better exercise and eat more healthy so I can outlive those 20 + year old GC. For sure I'll be fishing for them this year to hasten their demise.