KY Lake Report

[KY_Rig]

I'm sure the carp are affecting the food source for the bass (or the food source for the shad), but I also believe it is a space issue. If you go into any creek/cove (at least on the northern section of the lake) and turn on side imaging it will make you sick! The whole graph is full of carp. I honestly don't think the bass want to deal with the massive amount of those larger fish in their areas. It seems that the bass are content still feeding off shore rather than entering an over crowded cove. Even when we have seen shad or birds diving, there just haven't been bass feeding. It's really disheartening...

[artcarney_agr]

thought they mostly ate non gamefish etc and we’re filter type feeders of plankton.

They feed on the microscopic phytoplankton (the tiny creatures responsible for giving the lake a green color). There's only so much phytoplankton available, once the asian carp showed up and started consuming their fair share it meant other species that also consume phytoplankton (like shad) experienced a decline to balance it out.

Asian carp exhausted the phytoplankton supply fairly early last year, leaving many asian carp short on fat reserves for the winter. To add to the dilemma, the mild winter kept the asian carp's metabolism higher than usual and many starved as a result as well as becoming more susceptible to disease. This is why we had well over half a million dead ones floating in mid to late April, maybe even more. It was quite a site to see, and after a few weeks the smell was awful.

[CaymasRodney]

Looks like Matt Allen on the left and since he was part of the Tackle Freaks web cast the other night I'm guessing it is somewhere on those two lakes.

Sorry guys I just got word these come off a private lake in Western Ky. Kevin Baxter is one along with Jarred Jeasor

[ddk201]

Sorry guys I just got word these come off a private lake in Western Ky. Kevin Baxter is one along with Jarred Jeasor

Thank you for clearing that up. I was beginning to think I should stop fishing, sell all my equipment and start gambling.

[Rude196]

Once the state is done with the elk, turkey, deer restoration they will do a study to see what's going on.

They have dropped the ball big time.

Could not agree more! I have no idea why the anglers of this state is not leaning on kdfwr more.

[Dave Stewart]

There definitely are more Asians out there than 5 years ago. There was more Asians out there 5 years ago than 10 years ago. I am on the water as much or probably more than anyone here and I know what I have been seeing. There are definitely less shad...you just don't run into the big schools of shad out deep or shallow that we once had. You don't see the big mega schools of bass out on the ledges like we used to. If you ledge fished the past couple of years you should have seen that the schools of shad were smaller and the numbers of bass with them were down. Also if you paid attention, the Asian die off we had this past spring were all Silvers and all the same size, basically all came from the same spawn. The numbers of these dying Asians were super high....and that is just one brood class...they spawn multiple times a year. What you saw out there dying this past spring was just a microscopic percentage of the Asians that are out there and those dying were all Silvers....did not see any Big Heads.

Also, one should remember that the newborn fish eat plankton also until they get big enough to take their normal diets. Plankton is the mother's milk of all baby fish. No doubt we are also experiencing a lower survival rate on the bass spawns too.

As far as the KDFW doing something.......not sure what they can do other than encourage more commercial fishing...which I also have noted that I don't see as many of those guys out there after the Asians on the lakes as I did a couple years back. The feds have spent millions trying to keep these invaders out of the Great Lakes but nothing that I have heard of here. Lots of money has been put into studies trying to find something that will eradicate the Asians but not kill the other fish....so far no one has come up with anything.

[Dave Stewart]

Sorry guys I just got word these come off a private lake in Western Ky. Kevin Baxter is one along with Jarred Jeasor

I could have told you that Rodney. I have fished that lake...you could take the handle off your tackle box and throw it out there and catch fish.

[artcarney_agr]

Could not agree more! I have no idea why the anglers of this state is not leaning on kdfwr more.

They are out there still doing studies. They kept hearing people say "you'll see the huge balls of asian carp on your sidescan and it will make you sick" so they went and set nets in one of those spots to see what it actually was...wasn't all carp, was actually a huge variety of fish.

I seriously encourage you guys to check out the "Western Kentucky Fisheries" page on Facebook. They tagged 33 Asian Carp yesterday as part of their continued research.




Response to a recent post by Mark Pierce Fishing, showing high density of fish in Cypress Creek on side scan imaging.
After going out to Cypress Creek on Kentucky Lake to investigate what species of fish were being seen on side scan, here are our results. We set 1500 feet of gill nets with mesh sizes ranging from 1.5 inches to 5 inches. This range of mesh sizes was used in an attempt to catch a wider range of fish species and sample for multiple size classes of Asian carp.
Our sampling resulted in the capture of:
• 11 Gar
• 6 Skipjack Herring
• 5 Spotted Sucker
• 2 Sauger
• 1 Channel Catfish
• 1 Bluegill
• 1 White Crappie
• 1 River Carpsucker
• 1 Redear Sunfish
• 1 Silver Carp
Although the results from our sampling did not give us the definitive answer that we were looking for, of what species of fish are being seen on the sonar; they do help portray the broad array of fish species present in Kentucky Lake. We appreciate input from the public and encourage you to keep us informed with your findings on this Facebook page. Next time, we may try other sampling methods such as overnight gill net sets or a trawl to see what else we can catch.

[Rude196]

They are out there still doing studies. They kept hearing people say "you'll see the huge balls of asian carp on your sidescan and it will make you sick" so they went and set nets in one of those spots to see what it actually was...wasn't all carp, was actually a huge variety of fish.

I seriously encourage you guys to check out the "Western Kentucky Fisheries" page on Facebook. They tagged 33 Asian Carp yesterday as part of their continued research.




Response to a recent post by Mark Pierce Fishing, showing high density of fish in Cypress Creek on side scan imaging.
After going out to Cypress Creek on Kentucky Lake to investigate what species of fish were being seen on side scan, here are our results. We set 1500 feet of gill nets with mesh sizes ranging from 1.5 inches to 5 inches. This range of mesh sizes was used in an attempt to catch a wider range of fish species and sample for multiple size classes of Asian carp.
Our sampling resulted in the capture of:
• 11 Gar
• 6 Skipjack Herring
• 5 Spotted Sucker
• 2 Sauger
• 1 Channel Catfish
• 1 Bluegill
• 1 White Crappie
• 1 River Carpsucker
• 1 Redear Sunfish
• 1 Silver Carp
Although the results from our sampling did not give us the definitive answer that we were looking for, of what species of fish are being seen on the sonar; they do help portray the broad array of fish species present in Kentucky Lake. We appreciate input from the public and encourage you to keep us informed with your findings on this Facebook page. Next time, we may try other sampling methods such as overnight gill net sets or a trawl to see what else we can catch.

Missing a lot of info out of that report. How long did they wait to place nets for example, did they use imaging to locate any more schools, and how often do they place nets. Sorry but with the reports on here and other personal reports of huge schools i highly doubt that is an accurate measurement.

[Tim Powell]

Agree, they act like there are very few carp in the lake.

[artcarney_agr]

Missing a lot of info out of that report. How long did they wait to place nets for example, did they use imaging to locate any more schools, and how often do they place nets. Sorry but with the reports on here and other personal reports of huge schools i highly doubt that is an accurate measurement.

Check the Facebook page, there are videos of the side scan images and many more details about what they did.

[Revolution Sonar]

I personally think that while the carp are part of the problem, the fishing pressure (specifically tournament pressure) on breeding age fish is the greater factor. Your not going to ever build any kind of movement on this as there are too many pocket books involved. My theory is supported by similar major downturns in fish catches on other Tennessee River lakes that don't yet have a carp problem.

Back to the asian carp issue, there is only one potential long term "cure" for them and it is genetic re-engineering. They already have the technology to do it, just a matter of rolling it out. Watch this TED talk video and it will explain. She specifically talks about asian carp at 6:40.

[Leebob]

pbird, I agree 100% with what you said and the video is very interesting.

[572 Fitter]

I personally think that while the carp are part of the problem, the fishing pressure (specifically tournament pressure) on breeding age fish is the greater factor. Your not going to ever build any kind of movement on this as there are too many pocket books involved. My theory is supported by similar major downturns in fish catches on other Tennessee River lakes that don't yet have a carp problem.

Back to the asian carp issue, there is only one potential long term "cure" for them and it is genetic re-engineering. They already have the technology to do it, just a matter of rolling it out. Watch this TED talk video and it will explain. She specifically talks about asian carp at 6:40.

Especially when you factor in moving fish from a grass habitat 60+ miles away to a deep clear enviroment

[GRR884]

They said how long they let the nets soak in Cypress. Seems is was 6 or 7 hours.

[Rude196]

Check the Facebook page, there are videos of the side scan images and many more details about what they did.

I'm not on facebook. Appreciate every bit of info shared though. I generally fish central/eastern part of state but LBL is always one of our big yearly trips. Also if they can't be stopped there it's only a matter of time before they are everywhere.

I just have a feeling that kdfwr is either overwhelmed or hiding the obvious. I'm specifically talking about the lack of communication on this issue.

[pab1981]

I'm not on facebook. Appreciate every bit of info shared though. I generally fish central/eastern part of state but LBL is always one of our big yearly trips. Also if they can't be stopped there it's only a matter of time before they are everywhere.

I just have a feeling that kdfwr is either overwhelmed or hiding the obvious. I'm specifically talking about the lack of communication on this issue.

They aren't hiding anything and have communicated openly with the community in several meetings and on the Kentucky crappie forum. They are also attempting to on Facebook which I don't really do either. As mentioned it is a problem that nobody has a solution for, it isn't like it is the Kdfwr western district guys are the only ones struggling with it. Paul Rister is our lead biologist and a very experienced, competent guy. His e-mail is on the Kdfwr page if you would like to learn the truth about what is going on without Facebook.

[59tomitriton]

Paul is retiring at the end of the year just in case y’all put off trying to get information from him.

[Will Seyler]

Well I had almost 23# today. They was mostly crappie though lol.

[CaymasRodney]

Had a friend go today and caught 18 bass, best day I have heard of in a while.