Carpers,

I live on a private lake. It got stocked with grass carp 2 years ago. The lake is as clean as a swimming pool. It was once full of vegitation but no more. When I mow the lawn they come to my wall and dine on St Augustine clippings. They are 20 inches or so long. I have caught many common carp with various dough baits. What should I use to catch grass carp. They are shy and very alert to movement on the bank.

Maybe I. will let the lawn mower idle and throw out a brocoli tree. Seriously what will work for them.

Thanks,

Woodrow

Well, when you think about it, the White Amur are stocked to eat vegetation, since unlike common carp, they tend to be pretty strict vegetations.

You might consider corn, but baits like cherry tomatoes and grape tomatoes, and grapes, are said to make very good bait.

Of course, if they are already coming to the wall and eating grass, well, there's a great bait right there. Consider tying some grass clipping around a hook with some string or a twist tie, get them feeding on some grass floating on the surface, then free line the hook and grass combination out to them.

Another method I know Lonestar is fond of us to get them feeding on chunks of bagels off the surface. Once they are gulping them down, hook a chunk and free line that out to them as well, floating it on the surface.

Once they suck it down, set the hook!

Keep in mind, Grass Carp do not often fight as hard as commons, but they will sometimes fight themselves to death lol. Be ready for them to go crazy on the bank, too.

Edom......hmmmm......Sounds a whole lot like the town with 2 gated communities on either side of a lake I fished at a few years ago. I hope this isn't the same lake I'm thinkin' of, cuz it was a great bass/crappie lake. THere was vegetation, but not overbearing.......I'd figure out how many were stocked and see about getting half of them relocated......vegetation is home to other organisms that are part of the food chain, it's home to eggs from spawn, and it provides shelter and shade.

arent grass carp sterile???

Yes, White Amur that are stocked are Sterile.

they are quite the grower......they are worse than me at the pizza buffet

I may be wrong, but It's my understanding that about 99% of the Grass Carp stocked are sterile. However, in about 1% of the cases, Mother Nature plays tricks with the procedure and the fish are still fertile. Then the second generation is 100% fertile. With the way they can then reproduce, even an initial 1% fertility rate inevetibly ends up with a pond/lake being full of them in a very short period of time and that ends up with a waterway devoid of vegetation.

Amur naturally have VERY specific needs for reproduction. Its a common misconception that they will reproduce in ponds. This is NOT true. They just grow to enormous size and eat like elephants.

From a report by the State of Delaware available at www.dnrec.state.de.us/fw/warmwater/briefinggrasscarp.pdf

"The grass carp only spawns naturally during the spring in large rivers having flows of about 12,000 ft/sec or more. Rising or falling river levels, temperatures about 68�F, and the presence of turbulence, such as below dams or islands, are required to trigger spawning. Eggs must be carried along in 3.3 ft/sec flow until hatching. The length of river needed to sustain the eggs until hatching varies, but probably exceeds 31 to 50 miles depending on temperature. The young must have access to sheltered areas containing aquatic vegetation in order to survive. The fish are incapable of spawning in lakes or other still waters."

Edom.....the great calander lake? i used to live there,,i was told it's an artesian (spell check)spring water fed lake.the white on the bass was as white as snow and it used to have nice lilly pads all over that sometimes would be overbering..i miss that place! lol i remember my old address box CL81-2 it had three different towns involved

No doubt they overdid it. They put 1750 in the lake. That might have been ok but they sprayed too. They are supposed to slow their eating in 2 years. I suspect they are a little hungry. There are no lilly pads, no eel grass and no hydrilla. Tey will have to learn to eat sand. It would be like folloing Rosy thru a pizza buffet line. I plan to have a little fly rod fun with them.

Thanks to you all,

Woodrow