The Dangers of Waterfowling...

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Pat Gregory

Well-known member
Lots of chatter recently regarding predators and the danger in waterfowling. On our part of the Illinois River, this is what we deal with....

In our neck of the woods, how'd you like like to get hit in the face with an Asian Carp while running your boat? Probably a better chance of that than encountering a gator in Florida or a shark off the coast. At our place, a standard tool we carry in our boat is a pair of pliers. These invasives are so slimey you have to grab them by the tail with pliers. And, they are bleeders. If you don't get them out of our boat, they'll bleed and slime all over your boat.


If you haven't seen this video before, it's fun. It was shot north of us near Peoria... Enjoy...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hN2gMP3Q2Z4
 
I wonder what some steal shot would do to them? be good target practice hahaha I'm sure its probably illegal.
 
Looks like the commercial fishermen have caught on to the fact that these are tasty, if not tricky fish to make boneless. I found it funny that there is a company now flash freezing them and shipping them to China, mainly because the Chinese find the fish from our clean waters much tastier than the native fish from their polluted waters.

We might as well start making lemonade from lemon, cause these fish are going away. Fillets, fish sticks, fish meal, sell them back to the Chinese, whatever. Let the commercial guys have at them 24/7/365. Better than targeting our native fish.
 
Looks like the commercial fishermen have caught on to the fact that these are tasty, if not tricky fish to make boneless. I found it funny that there is a company now flash freezing them and shipping them to China, mainly because the Chinese find the fish from our clean waters much tastier than the native fish from their polluted waters.

We might as well start making lemonade from lemon, cause these fish are going away. Fillets, fish sticks, fish meal, sell them back to the Chinese, whatever. Let the commercial guys have at them 24/7/365. Better than targeting our native fish.


Carl: With the Asian carp situation in the mid-West, anything to reduce numbers would seem like a good thing. But I worry that by creating a profitable market for catching and selling invasive fish, we may increase the incentives to spread them further. This could come two ways--from local boosters looking at a nearby watershed with a booming carp industry and seeking to legally import them; or from illegal introductions by unscrupulous folks.

These invasive species issues are hard. Let's not forget that we have Asian carp in the first place because we were trying to solve another environmental problem--water quality problems with sewage treatment plants and fish farms--and brought carp here to help clean things up. The law of unintended consequences can be harsh--and usually unexpected.
Click to expand...
 
The reality is, we've had to resort to commercially fish them as they are not only invasive, but are way over populated. More so in spring and summer, it is dangerous to boat our section of the river. One of our club members one summer day wanted to take his wife and grandson for a boat ride. They made it 200 yards from the landing and had to turn around because they were getting pelted by Asian Carp so bad. We've seen them up to 30-35lbs and, they fly out of the water aggressively at a high rate of speed. It is flat out dangerous. They do seem a little more dormant in the fall.

A good friend of mine is a retired biologist for our IDNR Fisheries. He spent the last 2 years of his career on a Commercial Carp boat studying them. He said they are good table fare yet most of them are being ground up for dog food.

Personally, the gators didn't bother me in Florida or, even the notion that they were there. When I run my boat at our duck club, I am on high alert for carp... Pat
 
Talk about a surprise to this rookie of the IL river the first time I boated near your place at Chautauqua 2 summers ago. Literally hundreds jumping at one time when motoring down the ditch, luckily most were jumping behind the boat. Not a real fun feeling when running in the morning.
 
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