Anyone here ever fish for Asian carp? I was catfishing below the spillway of Lake Carlyle in IL and wasn't having much luck, so I got out my ultra light to pass the time till I got a nibble. Well, I was using a little panfish-sized rooster tail, and on one of the casts I hit something in the water. For a split second I thought I was hung up, but then the line just started peeling off my reel like it was attached to the bumper of a car or something. The fish peeled off about a hundred yards of line before it got tired and I was able to reel it almost to the shore. But every time it got close to the shore, it would take off again, peeling off nearly all my line. Finally on about the fourth run, it took ALL the line off the reel. I figured the line would break, but instead the hook on the lure straightened out; so at least I got my spider wire back.

Some of the guys along the shore said I probably hooked an Asian carp, whatever that is.

Anyway, I went back the next week and fished all weekend with a bigger rooster tail tied to my baitcasting rig, but no luck. Yet, about a hundred yards down the riprap, there was this one guy pulling in these huge fish, about one every 10-15 minutes. They looked to be maybe 3 feet long and possibly 30 lbs. apiece. I had never seen anything like them before, and the guys said they were asian carp. I was too far away to see what the guy was using as a rig, but it sure looked like tube jigs or maybe curlytail jigs. Yet when I searched online, they said these carp are filter feeders.

So I'm wondering, do they eat anything other than plankton? Or maybe they're bad-tempered and strike at anything that looks like a fish? They're sure fun as heck to catch, I'll tell you that.

OK, I guess I get to update my own question

Went back down to the spillway last night with my reel freshly loaded with 50 lb test braided line. Put a two ounce sinker on the end of the line, added a couple of dropper loops above that and added two curly tail jigs. My daughter came as well, she had two crappie tubes set up the same way.

So we started casting. We could see the backs of some fish breaking the surface almost continually - the place was packed with fish. Anyway, my daughter hooked the first one. Nice fish, about ten pounds. We landed three more all about that size, and then something just about yanked the pole out of my daughter's hands. It broke off almost immediately - broke off 30 lb braided spectra line! My daughter's words: "Dad, that was awesome and sucks at the same time!"

I landed the last one, a 16 lber. Not bad for a first outing.

As I said before, the interweb says these fish are filter feeders; but they sure go after lures. Hard to hook, though - I must have gotten 10 strikes for every fish I managed to hook.

Oh yeah, here's a link to the fish I'm talking about: Bighead (Asian) carp

Hi Stonebreaker, Welcome to the boards.

I've never fished for Asian carp, but have read many articles on these fish. They were raised in ponds to control plankton. With high rains and flooding rivers, they escaped into the river systems. They quickly became overcrowded and detrimental to the fisheries. The DNR have tried many ways to combat this problem but are making only a small dent in the population.

I will be the first one to stand up for the conservation of most species of carp in America, and at the risk of sounding hipocritical, I must admit the Asian carp are very different and definitely on a destructive path of infesting the waterways.

I have no doubt they are fun to catch, as all carp are, and would not want to deny you or anyone of that. In 99.9% of the situations I would promote catch and release, but in the case of Asian carp, I would suggest that you do not release them back into the water. Take as many out as possible! Use them to fertilize your garden, or grind them up and use them as catfish chum...or whatever, does'nt matter, just get them out of the waters.

These fish can get quite large, so if you are going to fish for them, use adequate gear. I.E. strong line (like your 50lb braid) and very strong hooks not to mention a medium to heavy action rod.


Keep on carpin, but conserve the waters for the good carp!

Yeah, there's a sign at the spillway asking people to not put these fish back into the water after they catch them. From what I've read, though, they're actually one of the most popular food fish in the world. One of these times I'm going to have to try cooking one.

im not shure they have bigheads up here in northern indiana,but I have caught a 21lb grasser if that counts

Thanks for some great information, I would love to hear more of your Asian carp experiences. Do you have any pics?

Sure do:

And this guy was shot by a friend of a friend about 10 miles from my house:



92 lbs...

WOW! What a monster! Good job.

That thing is huge, any idea how much it weighed?

Yeah, 92 lbs. The guy said he thought it was a log floating by the dock at first till it moved.

Here in England we prefer to see our carp alive rather than dead and Asian carp are not allowed because of diseases.

I don't want to preach but shooting carp is not the way to fish although i do understand it might be the norm in the states in many areas but the carp would have looked a lot better alive than dead(i take it was dead).

catch and release is the way unless you intend to eat it,not kill just for the hell of it,carp are not vermin they are some of the best stillwater fish you can fish for,you are sitting on a gold mine in the states as far as quality carp go and there is a lot of money to be made if it is done right,just wish we in England had that quality of carp,so dont kill for the thrill,play for the pay;)

castout wrote:
Here in England we prefer to see our carp alive rather than dead and Asian carp are not allowed because of diseases.

I don't want to preach but shooting carp is not the way to fish although i do understand it might be the norm in the states in many areas but the carp would have looked a lot better alive than dead(i take it was dead).

catch and release is the way unless you intend to eat it,not kill just for the hell of it,carp are not vermin they are some of the best stillwater fish you can fish for,you are sitting on a gold mine in the states as far as quality carp go and there is a lot of money to be made if it is done right,just wish we in England had that quality of carp,so dont kill for the thrill,play for the pay;)

Asian carp are an invasive species and considered destructive to native fish; we are actually REQUIRED by law to kill them, catch and release is illegal.

In addition to crowding out the native species, they have a nasty habit of jumping out of the water when they hear a boat propeller - several people have been seriously injured by 30 lb carp jumping into their boats as they motor up the river.

Thanks for that info SB,now i know some of the laws and rules in the states!

Found this on Youtube:

I am from the US and prefer catch and release myself. While it may be best to harvest the carp or any fish for best size control, I like it to work out naturally.

But the biggest reason I let em all go is that I hate to clean fish. It is awful, so I just fish for sport.

I am new to carp fishing and enjoy it much. That Asian carp is huge!

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