New Species To Catch

[monger]

Talked to a guy yesterday that said Weed lake just north of Langdon is teeming with Prussian carp. Sounds like they are all through the irrigation system downstream from Chestemere toward the Red Deer River. I imagine the herons like them

Look just like this:

[DocMcgillicuddy]

Welp, looks like I'm taking a day off this week. Any advice on the kinds of flies to use? I've never fished for carp.

[muha]

Scuds in smaller sizes. Don't set the hook hard as their mouth is soft and rips easy on a hard hook set.

Cast beside vegetation or structure. If you hook one there is likely to be another couple hundred in that area, they like to school up.

[fruinincalgary]

Any Otters up there?

[Vagabond]

Any Otters up there?

Yes there is otters,introduced via a conspiracy between Suncor and Petro-Can who

planted them in the irrigation canal to eradicate the fish,so that eventually they can parralel the canal with a dilbit pipeline without considerations for protecting fish habitat.

[Conor]

Anyone check this out? They look like they might pull hard.

 

I wonder how they taste? They are omnivorous which is not usually the best for the plate.

[johnroggensack]

They are one of the biggest threat to Alberta fisheries. You should document your catches to AESRD and leave them on the bank with a thousand of their friends. They are sexually mature at age zero, and can survive in poor conditions. Google it. They are bad news.

[BrianR]

take some dead homes for the alley cats

[Festus]

Holly Carp!!

[Conor]

They are one of the biggest threat to Alberta fisheries. You should document your catches to AESRD and leave them on the bank with a thousand of their friends. They are sexually mature at age zero, and can survive in poor conditions. Google it. They are bad news.

 

I appreciate your concern, but that is a bit alarmist, not to mention illegal. As far as I know harvesting any animal in Alberta without the intent to consume is illegal. I see records of this species in AB back several years and the sky hasn't fallen yet, and F&W has not put a bounty on them (maybe they should have by now, but they write the citations).

 

 

It is concerning, for sure, but between forestry, road building, over harvest and under funded management, our fisheries have a lot more to worry about than goldfish.

 

 

I hope I don't have to eat my words on this. A bad invader is bad news, but they are few and far between.

[monger]

They get to about 3lb. I'm sure once their population explodes in the Red Deer river the native fishes won't be to excited about them

[Sean84]

I appreciate your concern, but that is a bit alarmist, not to mention illegal. As far as I know harvesting any animal in Alberta without the intent to consume is illegal. I see records of this species in AB back several years and the sky hasn't fallen yet, and F&W has not put a bounty on them (maybe they should have by now, but they write the citations).

 

 

It is concerning, for sure, but between forestry, road building, over harvest and under funded management, our fisheries have a lot more to worry about than goldfish.

 

 

I hope I don't have to eat my words on this. A bad invader is bad news, but they are few and far between.

 

I dont think it alarmist at all, invasive species can do alot of damage very fast. Look at perch. Also as far as harvesting any animal without the intent to consume being illegal is wrong. Gophers many birds are killed for being a nausence. Plus trappers they arnt required to eat there catches.

[Conor]

Saying the carp are the biggest threat to Alberta fisheries and we should line the bank with their carcasses is alarmist. It is exaggerated and calls for an irresponsible response to a concern.

 

 

I guess I am just thinking of game animals with the waste prohibition, and these are are not game fish. I still think a CO would have something to say about a thousand dead fish on the bank. The land owner would also have issues with that, I'm sure.

 

 

There are hundreds of invasive species in Alberta, and only a few of them are really bad news.

[Sean84]

Saying the carp are the biggest threat to Alberta fisheries and we should line the bank with their carcasses is alarmist. It is exaggerated and calls for an irresponsible response to a concern. I guess I am just thinking of game animals with the waste prohibition, and these are are not game fish. I still think a CO would have something to say about a thousand dead fish on the bank. The land owner would also have issues with that, I'm sure. There are hundreds of invasive species in Alberta, and only a few of them are really bad news.

i agree thats saying its the biggest threat is way over the top, as we all know otters are.

[danhunt]

No offense Roggi, but I'm immediately suspicious of person who's first post on a public forum is a polarizing political statement. Puts me in mind of an article I read about people being paid by various lobbying groups to help sway public opinion by doing that very thing. If you really are a fellow angler and you are contributing in good faith then welcome. If not, well, may you catch three doses of the clap and may you recover from all but the first.

 

That said, I tend to agree with Roggi, and ironically for the reasons outlined by Connor - destruction of habitat, over harvesting and a lack of funding for proper management mean that there are bigger fish to fry (pardon the pun) and this issue is not likely going to receive much, if any, serious study. The average size of these carp are 4"-14", and with our short season they'll likely be on smaller side, meaning they likely won't be a valuable as a sport fish or a food fish. Unless they have a definite and obvious upside they can only compete with native or naturalized species and harm what we already have. Whack-em and stack-em!

[albertatrout]

Saying the carp are the biggest threat to Alberta fisheries and we should line the bank with their carcasses is alarmist. It is exaggerated and calls for an irresponsible response to a concern. I guess I am just thinking of game animals with the waste prohibition, and these are are not game fish. I still think a CO would have something to say about a thousand dead fish on the bank. The land owner would also have issues with that, I'm sure. There are hundreds of invasive species in Alberta, and only a few of them are really bad news.

These are a big issue. If you were to actually see some of the systems they have taken over you would realize there isn't much else left. The take over, i would imagine not only competing with other fish but also with frogs, salamanders, and other aquatic critters. Invasive species are a huge issue, and many bad ones, not just a few. They (carp) may not take over the mainstems but many smaller systems will be inundated. This has happened before, maybe you've heard of brook trout, you know, the eastern species which has displaced native bull trout, cutties, and Athabasca rainbows across the province??Or crayfish which are invading many southern lakes and streams competing with the native fish and invertebrates. How about plants, maybe check this out and educate yourself a touch.

https://www.abinvasives.ca/fact-sheets

[monger]

Water level has dropped at Weed lake. There are stranded, dead carp left on the grass. Some are around 3lb. Hope the gulls like them

[Vagabond]

Always the optimist,I try to look at the positive side of things.

-10-20lbs of carp hung in a burlap sack makes for a fantastic stinkbait to get your bear bait started and active.

-black bears prey on elk and moose calves

-harvesting a single black bear saves untold numbers(?) of elk and moose calves,and provides a lifetime supply of bear hair for tying salmon and steelhead patterns.

...that's all I've got??

[DonAndersen]

Get a kick outta the debate. It is typical. The sides called do nothin and the side of do something. As they talk & talk the issue gets worse and worse till the Govt finally does the obvious and throws up it 's hands and does nothing. This all yields a new norm that is accepted by one and all.

Keep talking........

Fact is folks if we didn't like what was going on, we'd fix it. Till we get motivated, the problems will

continue,

 

Don

[Conor]

So what's the best course of action? One of the most striking things that came out of the Stewardship project is that even experienced anglers can't be counted on to ID fish properly. I forget the stat, but it was striking how few anglers could not ID trout properly. So unleashing the general public to control this species would probably be ineffective, and the ethics would be dubious.

 

 

Poisoning in an open system? Usually a bad idea.

 

 

Basically, once these things showed up in AB they were here for good. So yes, I say do nothing and focus what little resources we have at bigger issues that effect more valuable fisheries.

 

 

Or maybe we should release some snakeheads to eat them all up?

 

[fishinglibin]

Pass on the snake heads, big time.

[Ricinus]

What this Province spends on Fisheries is an Eff'n joke. We should be embarrassed that we continually elect a Government that is so pro-industry that it is ridiculous.. But I guess you get the government you deserve..

 

Mike

[Vagabond]

What this Province spends on Fisheries is an Eff'n joke. We should be embarrassed that we continually elect a Government that is so pro-industry that it is ridiculous.. But I guess you get the government you deserve..

 

Mike

I spose that's a matter of perspective?Try living in a "have not" province,and you might gain an appreciation for the angling (and hunting)opps AB has to offer.

[Ricinus]

Don't you mean the opps Alberta HAD to offer? When was the last time a comprehensive stream survey was done on the Eastern Slopes. Why did fishers have to organize a Streamwatch program? When was the last time you were checked by a CO? Why on long weekends are there insufficient COs to patrol the slopes and officers have to be brought in from around the Province? Don't get me going on damage caused by irresponsible OHV drivers..

 

The richest Province in Canada and this is the best we can do? My perspective is it's pathetic..

 

Mike

[Vagabond]

Jest sayn....other provinces are FAR worse off.

Not saying it's right,and I agree that F&W and habitat and outdoors heritage in general should be much higher on the priority list Canada-wide....jest sayn,could be worse.