The Asain Carp Have Arrived

This is grave news to be sure. We might remember this year as the last year we fished the great lake before the plight of the Asain Carp arrived...

Straight from an article today in the Star Tribune:

"New research shows the super-sized fish likely have made it past the $9 million electric fish barrier on the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, a source familiar with the situation told the Journal Sentinel late Thursday."

In news relating to river poisoning, as I discussed earlier this week:

"In addition to plans to poison the river, the Army Corps is scrambling to build a twin to the new barrier. It also is looking at building an emergency berm to prevent the fish from riding floodwaters from the carp-infested Des Plaines River into the canal above the barrier."

This is bad news readers. Bad news indeed. Please read the article in full :: here ::

Chicago River to be Poisoned : Asian Carp

Straight from the Chicago Tribune :

"Alarmed that Asian carp are swimming closer to Lake Michigan, state officials plan next month to poison a stretch of the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal."

"The Illinois Department of Natural Resources announced Friday that it will dump Rotenone, a potent fish-killing chemical, into the canal between Romeoville and the Lockport Dam in early December."

"Poisoning the canal has been considered a last-ditch solution to preventing Asian carp from spreading into the Great Lakes, where the fish are considered a serious threat to the region's $4.5 billion sport fishing industry. The main deterrent has been two electrified barriers in the canal near Romeoville, but one will be shut off for maintenance next month, and the other is considered too weak to stop younger fish from swimming through."

I would be interested in viewing the shocking they plan on doing to relocate native fish. It is always fascinating to see the diversity of fish in a system.

Here is some more about the electro shocking.

"Before Rotenone is applied to the canal, crews will use electrodes to shock fish to the surface and identify sport fish that can be safely relocated. After the dead carp are sent to a landfill, the crews will apply another substance that speeds up the breakdown of Rotenone, a chemical widely used across the country to kill invasive fish.

Rotenone is not considered a serious threat to people or wildlife. Water quality experts from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency will monitor water quality downstream to ensure the chemical doesn't drift beyond the targeted area. And the Sanitary and Ship Canal will be closed to boat traffic for up to five days."

We'll see if it works, and I'll keep you updated if I learn anything new.

-Great Lakes Angler

Milwaukee River Carp : Fly Fishing

Photographs from a couple of weeks ago on the Milwaukee River. I took my boss and his son Salmon fishing on the Milwaukee on a beautiful fall day in Wisconsin.

Instructing the youngster. He was mending and roll casting like a pro after an hour of practice.

He caught a carp in a deep pool. I unhooked it for him, we got a shot of it before release.