The invasive Silver and Big Head Carp have been moving up the Kansas (or Kaw) River for years now. They are believed to have started in fish farms in the Southeastern states. They then got into Missouri which the Kaw flows into. It was just a matter of time. Then several days ago the Kansas Department of Wildlife announced that spring and early summer floods caused a record spawn. The article can be found here.
Tonight I decided to check it out myself:
There are literally hundreds of thousands of these 3″ silvers stacked up below this low powerhead dam. I’ve never seen anything like it. They were constantly jumping on shore, upstream, on my feet, and into my backpack. You could catch dozens in one swipe with a 5 gallon bucket. I can only imagine what will happen in the next few years as these fish get too big for any of our local predators.
Honestly, I don’t know what can be done at this point anyway. The Kansas River has little recreation value and even less fishing value. Perhaps 5 years from now it will be a premier flying carp bowfishing destination?
One shot, a miss.
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