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Our sportsman's club handles all fish and waterfowl issues on our private 830 acre lake in northern Illinois, wonder Lake. We have a huge overpopulation of carp which have done all the damage to our fishery that carp are capable of. We have carp shoots/derbys but make no dent on the problem. We are looking into both shocking and other possibilities. What can you guys tell us about a possible bait and switch with poison? It has been mentioned that we could possibly feed carp for a period of time, then swith one morning to a poison. We need all the help we can get as we are not governed bu our state or local DNR. What chemicals are available for such a selective kill if any? As I understand it, the feeed would attrack only carp, thus only killing them when switched for poison. Help!!

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I am curious, what is causing the carp to be so successful in your lake?

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The lake is fed by the nippersink river watershed. Our lake was created by installing a dam on that same creek, in the early 50's. Over the years sediment buildup has decreased volume. We are to begin a multi million dollar silt removal plan this summer. The carp I assume have naturally gravitated to the lake and fed on the vegatation that was once present. We have a top quality bass fishery with about 20% more panfish than recommended. We have perch stunted to about 4" long in large numbers. We continue to stock BC, walleye,lmb,smb,tiger and pure muskie.
The carp over the years have become stunted as well with few over 10#'s being caught anymore. 15 years ago, fish in the 20# class were present. Now the lake is consumed by carp in the 4-5# class with very few different sizes. We have dnr shocking results which clearly state the carp are over abundant and harming other fish. We don't expect to ever rid the lake of these fish, but feel strongly they are harming our stocking efforts and overall goals. AS you would assume, between the sediment buildup and carp everywhere, the water is quite stained. It sits completely on a rock/ruble basin so we have great hopes of improvement after the dredging/silt removal is complete.

Last edited by Peepaw; 02/28/11 06:19 PM.
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In a lake that size I would think that you would have to draw it down significantly to remove the number of fish you hope to.

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I don't know what would be effective on a BOW that big. Hopefully some of the experts will see this and post.


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What is the plan for dredging/silt removal ?
















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The silt will be removed over two years from a barge positioned "vaccum". The material gets pumped out pipes to fields designated as dewatering sites. We feel the dredging process will be isolated as it progresses through the various areas selected to be made deeper. I'll get the exact # but millions of cubic yards of sediment will come out. I was wrong about the date built, it was 1929. Part of the plan is digging deep catch basin pools at the mouth of the nippersink creek where it enters the lake. These wil be 15-20' deep and be monitered to remove sediment as it builds up over time. Thanks for your interest.

I'll get together some pics to better show our lake. It happens also happens to be the largest privately owned lake in Illinois.

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Do they have commercial fishermen up there? You could have someone setup gill nets to try and catch some. With a lake that size it is going to be hard to make a huge dent in the population with spending a lot of money but you can always start somewhere.

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I cant even fathom 850 acres.. Drain it down when its renovated if possible then net um.. Sh*t i dont know man but good luck..


I believe in catch and release. I catch then release to the grease..

BG. CSBG. LMB. HSB. RES.

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I feel you need a real serious expert to fully evaluate all that you are facing. I'd start with a call/PM/email to Bob Lusk. I don't believe there is anybody in the country who is better qualified to generate a successful plan.


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Originally Posted By: catmandoo
I feel you need a real serious expert to fully evaluate all that you are facing. I'd start with a call/PM/email to Bob Lusk. I don't believe there is anybody in the country who is better qualified to generate a successful plan.


Yep. With a multi million dollar dredging project in the works, whatever a fisheries professional will charge is only a drop in the bucket.

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I third the motion. grin


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I'll try to explain our dilema. Our lake is governed by a master property owners association in which all landowners own a "piece" of the lake. As a Sportsman's club, we have been taking care of cleanup,stocking,wood duck house's(98 and counting) and all fishing/hunting related activities. We walk a fine line with lakefront owners and the community to continue to utilize our deeded access to hunt. Our club is self supporting and raises more money to give back to the lake and community than any other organization involved.
The problem with a large drawdown is the loss of "recreation" time as well as the concern for all the fish we as a club have already stocked. The lake is largely developed with to much natural shoreline buffer/cover being lost. Thus, the introduction of our fishiding habitat products being installed in areas that won't be affected by the dredging. The option to drawdown and dryout to remove the sediment was shot down due to the above mentioned concerns.
As you can imagine, the red tape for this project is infinitely long. The project has been in the works for ten years now. We as a club continue to work to improve the lake quality all around. Because we fish the lake, we see the changes taking place. Gettting substantial funds approved in this messy process I'm afraid will be impossible. At best we want to do what we can with the able man-power available. Lots of good intentions, not always knowing the answers.

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If that's the case, then maybe electroshocking the pond right as the carp are spawning or a week before that time would be best. The majority of carp would be in shallower water at that time, making electroshock more productive, targeting more carp.


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Thats where we are headed for at least this late may/early June to start. We do have well known shallow bays to corral and slam em' in large numbers. Anybody want any fresh carp? Still seems a shame that we can't find some way to utilize our overabundance for someone else to benefit from. Any input on trying to find a commercial fishing company to possibly use the TONS we have readily available?

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http://www.prairiestateoutdoors.com/index.php?/pso/article/fishing_for_a_carp_solution/

http://www.bigriverfish.com/history.php

http://illinoiscommercialfishing.com/id3.html

I don't know if you are close to any of them, but the last one might be able to give you some more references on who to ask.


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Call Sweetwater Farms in Indiana...They sell a lot of live food fish in the Canadian markets. There is also a well established Asian market in the Chicago area for carps and tilapia....may be a source to actually sell the fish.



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Thanks for all the input. I'm contacting these guys now. What advice can you guys give regarding shocking systems?

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Have a Pro do it. The boats are expensive and require some level of knowledge on water conditions.


It's not about the fish. It's about the pond. Take care of the pond and the fish will be fine. PB subscriber since before it was in color.

Without a sense of urgency, Nothing ever gets done.

Boy, if I say "sic em", you'd better look for something to bite. Sam Shelley Rancher and Farmer Muleshoe Texas 1892-1985 RIP
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Peepaw, any updates on this?

I have been researching carp removal methods in my fishery as well. Although my BOW is only 20 acres, and yours is 850 acres, I thought you may find this reading interesting........

http://www.carpbusters.com/documents/Gilligan%20et%20al%202005%20carp%20removal%20in%20Australia.pdf

Of interest is this quote.... "Small mesh fyke nets caught the most carp from the widest range of size classes, were the easiest to
use, caused least mortality of by catch and were the second
most cost effective gear type. Therefore,the small mesh fyke nets were regarded as the most suitable gear type for community groups and
other organisations to use for harvest of carp from local waterbodies."

I'm planning on attacking this project next year with a fyke net as explained by esshup here...
http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=383502

I plan to check the net 2-3 times per week. I have begun to feed train my channel catfish (and I plan to supplemental stock blue catfish) off my dock so that when I begin to catch carp, I will chop them up and feed to my BC and CC. I also hope to control carp recruitment with crappie and possibly LMB at some point.

I was just curious if you had made any progress on this carp removal project.

PS I love the fishiding videos and posts. Great stuff you have going there.


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