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Post by texaswoodie on Jun 15, 2007 13:53:13 GMT -5
Sorry, but I was bored. ;D We have gotten so much rain that the 2 twelve inch overflow pipes on our lake can't handle it and the water is going over the spillway. We have a lot of hydrilla problems, so we put grass carp in the lake to eat it. They are actually a giant minnow, not a carp, that will reach 50 pounds or more. This morning 3 of them were laying dead on the spillway. Poor guys. This one is about 2 ft. long and probably weighs 12-15 pounds.  Curt |
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Post by rocktard on Jun 15, 2007 14:07:55 GMT -5
Do catfish and bass help keep that population down? I'm always curious to see how manipulated environmental experiments turn out. Never saw those things before. 50 lbs eh? That'll fill a hook for sure. Are they any fun to catch? I know some of my best battles were with carp believe it or not. Just the shear size of a 40 pound carp that doesn't want to come up will give you a workout on small test line. When I was 12, I caught a 40 lb Carp on 8 pound test.....lol Took me 20 minutes to land him on the dock.  |
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Post by krazydiamond on Jun 15, 2007 14:18:15 GMT -5
the cats in the neighborhood eat tonight!
KD
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Post by texaswoodie on Jun 15, 2007 14:30:01 GMT -5
In the stste of Tx the only grass carp you are allowed to have are sterile ones, so no problem with population control. The only thing they eat is vegetation, so you'd have to put a big glob of grass on a hook to catch one. :-) Besides, they are $25 apiece when 6 inches long. There better not be any hanging on the wall!
12 year old and a 40 pound carp? Wow, I betcha had the time of your life!
Curt
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blarneystone
spending too much on rocks
Rocks in my head
Member since March 2010
Posts: 307
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Post by blarneystone on Jun 15, 2007 14:44:54 GMT -5
I used to fish for Carp in Dallas on White Rock Lake... well actually it was the creek running off of the lake and carp was the only thing in the creek... Anyway, I used whole kernels of corn soaked in Bourbon for bait. Just string the kernels on a hook... hehe. Works great! ...and after taking the Bourbon soaked bait the fish don't mind being caught at all  Lake Conroe is overwhelmed with Hydrilla right now. I've heard that it probably came from someone's fish tank. Don't know if they've introduced the sterile carp yet but it seems almost too late to do so. |
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Post by texaswoodie on Jun 15, 2007 14:59:45 GMT -5
Good fish bait! If you don't catch anything, you can sit on the bank and sip burbon. :-)
They'll have to poison the lake first. No way the fish can get rid of it when it's that bad. I forget the ratio, but we have a 95 acre lake and had to buy several hundred, and that's after we poisoned. The hydrilla did originally come from aquariums, but now it's everywhere. Birds, boats and everything else is carrying it from lake to lake.
Curt
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Post by rocktard on Jun 15, 2007 15:05:00 GMT -5
That's depressing about Lake Conroe. I fished there a couple of times when I was much younger. It's a pretty dang big lake or was at the time. To think of that much water filled with Hydrilla....well, that's ALOT of Hydrilla!
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fossilman
spending too much on rocks
Member since April 2007
Posts: 256
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Post by fossilman on Jun 15, 2007 21:13:19 GMT -5
The best carp fishing I know of in TX is Lake Buchanan. They regularly get 30-50 pounds. It's really fun to watch the 7 foot gars swim through a school of them and go nuts, impaling them on their pointy toothed snouts.
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blarneystone
spending too much on rocks
Rocks in my head
Member since March 2010
Posts: 307
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Post by blarneystone on Jun 15, 2007 21:20:51 GMT -5
Yea... that's a huge lake. Big Striper Bass in that lake. I've been to Inks lake a couple of times which is next to Buchanan.. I'd love to go back and fish there.. never got a chance too because we were there to ski.
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earthdog
Cave Dweller 
Don't eat yellow snow
Member since June 2006
Posts: 2,731
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Post by earthdog on Jun 15, 2007 21:27:54 GMT -5
Here in Wisconsin when we went catfishin, we would use stink bait and always hook a nice, fat sucker carp. They gave a good fight. It was so much fun hookin a 15/20# on 12# line and fight with 'em.
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Trouble
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since June 2007
Posts: 93
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Post by Trouble on Jun 15, 2007 21:37:09 GMT -5
The best carp fishing I know of in TX is Lake Buchanan. They regularly get 30-50 pounds. It's really fun to watch the 7 foot gars swim through a school of them and go nuts, impaling them on their pointy toothed snouts. That's where I was. There used to be a dock with a little motel/cabin outfit on the west side (I think). Me and my Grandaddy would go there and rent one of the little cabins and fish for a week. Now, THAT lake is big for sure. And deep. I doubt that outfit is even there anymore it was so long ago now. |
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Post by texaswoodie on Jun 16, 2007 5:52:17 GMT -5
Speaking of gars. Try going down the Sabine River, or any other for that matter and use a bow and arrow to catch 'em. Get ready for a ride!
Curt
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blarneystone
spending too much on rocks
Rocks in my head
Member since March 2010
Posts: 307
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Post by blarneystone on Jun 16, 2007 7:46:13 GMT -5
Some of the strangest fish I've ever seen was in the Big Thicket near Cleveland Tx. The Trinity river is loaded with giant gar.. some as long as 6-7 feet! ...and there are these strange pre-historic fish called Paddlefish... their snouts are flattened like a ducks. Can't set a hook on 'em because the mouth is just all boney plate. They're endangered so you can't keep 'em if you could catch 'em.  Weird huh? Dan |
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Post by texaswoodie on Jun 16, 2007 8:03:48 GMT -5
Dang. I've lived in Texas all my life and never knew we had anything like that. Gonna have to check it out.
Curt
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blarneystone
spending too much on rocks
Rocks in my head
Member since March 2010
Posts: 307
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Post by blarneystone on Jun 16, 2007 8:11:26 GMT -5
I was fishing there once and a game warden came up to ask if I had caught any Paddlefish... didn't ask to see my license just wanted to know if I had caught any Paddlefish. I told him I hadn't and of course I knew to throw 'em back if I did. He said that if I did catch one that I should weigh, measure and get a picture if possible then report it to the fish and wildlife commision. I guess it helps document the population... anyway, they sure are interested in those fish. There are posts on the trees next to the creeks warning folks not to keep 'em if they catch 'em.
dan
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fossilman
spending too much on rocks
Member since April 2007
Posts: 256
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Post by fossilman on Jun 16, 2007 11:03:51 GMT -5
Once when I was out on Lake Buchanan near the dam, I was fishing with a deep sea rod and a 12 inch fish-shaped lure. Something massive hit it, bent over the deep sea rod, and actually started pulling our boat against the current. This was a 25 foot family / water skiing boat, mind you, not a fishing boat. Whatever it was eventually broke the 80 pound test. There's BIG ass stuff in that lake. If I remember right, that lake was built in the 40's, so there's the possibility of 60-80 year old fish in there.
Lake Buchanan is NOT a lake you want to be on when the waves pick up, they can swamp a small boat.
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Trouble
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since June 2007
Posts: 93
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Post by Trouble on Jun 16, 2007 12:29:39 GMT -5
I've heard those tales about 100 lb catfish down at the dam at Buchanan. I believe it at that lake.
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fossilman
spending too much on rocks
Member since April 2007
Posts: 256
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Post by fossilman on Jun 16, 2007 12:57:14 GMT -5
I don't think a 100 pound cat could snap 80 pound deep sea test... that gear's used to go for sharks. Makes you wonder what's down there, same near the Lake Travis dam too.
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chinook203
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since February 2006
Posts: 849
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Post by chinook203 on Jun 16, 2007 21:44:18 GMT -5
Your paddlefish are protected? We have a snagging season for them. It's pretty strict, I've never gone, but several waters here and Oklahoma have a snagging season for the Paddlefish.
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KG1960
has rocks in the head
Member since August 2008
Posts: 512
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Post by KG1960 on Jun 16, 2007 22:18:32 GMT -5
There are some paddlefish here in the Illinois River. I saw one once - a strange looking fish. They are plankton eaters or filter feeders. They won't go after a baited hook but may accidentally run into one.
I just looked at the IL DNR web site. It said paddlefish have a cartilage skeleton and average 2 pounds (in IL), but have been known to reach up to 160 pounds and 20 to 30 years old.
In regard to the original post: It reminded of of something. A long time ago a friend and I went golfing. There had been a lot of rain and the creek that went through the golf had flooded, but had receded some the day we went. This was in the Chicago area and I believe that the creek was some branch of the Chicago River. Anyway, the receding creek left some large puddles. In some I noticed what I thought were carp in some of the puddles, now land locked, but on closer examination, most turned out to be goldfish over a foot long! One was especially pretty with gold, white, and black. People pay big money for these guys to put in their ponds. Unfortunately we didn't have any way of catching them to get them back in the river.
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