Pond Monster

[osprey]

Yesterday i caught a 4 foot long carp on a Clouser minnow , it was odd looking , the mouth was more like a predator than the usual big suction lips , anyone know what kind it was , sorry no pic. big ol boy had another castmaster spoon in his tail which i got out too. It was at the Windber Sportsmans Club Lake and i guess i should have removed him but i didn't.

 

[iirz]

Sounds kind of like a grass carp to me, haven't heard of too many eating clousers though.

 

[Fishidiot]

Agreed. Probably a grass carp.

 

[ryguyfi]

Anyone know where there's grass carp in western Pa? Or a place to buy them. My uncle has a small pond and has some vegetation problems. It would be nice to naturally fix it.

 

[barbless]

Grass carp can only be stocked in Pennsylvania with a permit- and only if they're sterile triploid-gene fish.

Be careful about this. Pa. does not need any more invasive species problems.

The other three recently introduced carp species- bighead, silver, and black carp- are all totally prohibited.

http://tinyurl.com/74s9gwm

 

[TimMurphy]

Dear Ryan,

Check with the Soil conservatio Service. If PA works like NY State they will issue you a permit for a specific number of grass carp based on the acreage of your pond.

You then have to buy them but they are supposed to be certified as sterile so even if they escape then can't cause problems.

They grow extremely fast and can clear a pond of vegetation rather quickly. Mine used to follow me around the pond as I mowed with my tractor. The clippings would shoot into the pond and they'd get their grub on.

They can be caught, try a fluffy olive or green maribou streamer, something that looks like a plant leaf or a piece of algae.

Regards,

Tim Murphy

 

[PennKev]

ryguyfi wrote:
Anyone know where there's grass carp in western Pa? Or a place to buy them. My uncle has a small pond and has some vegetation problems. It would be nice to naturally fix it.

I used to fish a bass/bluegill pond that had a few dozen of these carp in it. They ate literally every piece of vegetation. The water was constantly muddy and there were very few young bass/bluegill in it due to lack of vegetation to use as cover. I would be very careful about adding grass carp to a pond.

Kev

 

[gulfgreyhound]

Do your research before stocking. GG

 

[ryguyfi]

Thanks guys. Any other species besides your typical common carp and catfish that would help provide a more natural solution to too much vegetation/algae?

 

[FlySwatter]

I don't know that this is what you have in mind, but here are some solutions that should be beneficial to the gamefish:

Aeration: Breathing Life Into Water

http://ohioline.osu.edu/a-fact/0012.htmlAlgae Control with Barley Straw

There are more non-chemical, non-invasive species solutions you can Google. The key is balance. The grass carp throw the ponds out of balance.

 

[ryguyfi]

Good info FlySwatter. Thanks!

 

[FarmerDave]

Flyswatter beat me to it on the aeration solution. But if you go that route, do your homework. There are lots of options. Hell, a friend just uses a submersible pump on a timer. It aint pretty, but works well.

Here is some info on the White Amur (grass carp) for PA.

PFBC link

It explains the process.

List of certified vendors in page 3.

By the way, it's much easier in Ohio. Not sure why you would need a permit to buy in PA when all you can get is the Triploid anyway. Illegal to produce the Diploid.

There are tables and info to figure out how many you need. but if you end up with too many, it isn't much of a problem. They are difficult to catch, but not difficult to see and therefore kill.

Caution. If you have a decent amount of outflow and you don't put up a screen to keep them from getting out, you are just wasting your money. They seem to be attracted to the flowing water and will get out if they can fit.

I had a big problem with cattails, but the muskrats took care of that for me. Now I gotta take care of the muskrats while I still have a pond. Algae has also been more of a problem since the cattails are gone.Tthat and duckweed