Can anyone answer this ? Has the jumping carp got into Reelfoot Lake? I just join yesterday,so I am new at this. THANKS!

I have no idea but welcome aboard.

Yes they have. Its not overrun with them at this point, but there are some in there. This year is the first I have seen them in the lake and not just the spillway ditch. Cracker and I were fishing out there in March I think it was when the spillway was overflowing and they started jumping on the lake side and one hit him.

In mid june Crappie Cowboy and me were on the lake (in the middle of the lake) and I saw antoher one jump. Couple weeks later I was on the north end and saw another one jump out in the middle. I was spider rigging sitting still and I dont know what promted him to jump but he did. This is very concerning. We will see next year if there is any evidence of more of them.

Man I just hate that.Those thing's are nasty for any body of water.Im sure george bush released those thing's into our water and obama will get rid of em lol.

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Well guys, I would rather have a few bighead carp than these Asian Silver Carp down here in Lauderdale County. They have literally taken over most any body of water they get in. Trolling in the Cold Creek Chute back a couple of weeks ago after the river had been in it for a couple of months, they are still there by the thousands. You could stand on the front of the boat and look out front from it and they were everywhere running just ahead of the boat. Maybe just maybe they won't get in there, they will literally eat everything till its all gone.

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Thanks for the replies. I was wrong about the big head carp. Luvfishing is right. They are called Asian Silver Carp. They have taken over cold creek chute. Used to catch some nice crappie in the chute and quanity, but in the last 2 years not worth going. I wonder if its me or the carp causing me not to catch . Can't even catch enough crappie for supper.

Silver carp and Big head are closely related and are both often called Asian carp......they were exported or transplanted here some years ago to the Mississippi River Basin to cut down on the plankton levels and aquatic vegatation in drainage ditches, water treatment facilitys, etc. Unfortunatly, the populations have gotten way out of control.....just ask the folks around the Illinois River......originally cultivated by the Chinese as a food source; these fish will as Jody says eat everything in sight.....as much as 40% of their body weight a day in plankton. I have been told in some commercial fish markets they sell for around .14 to .20 a lb. In fact a World Record Bighead Carp was caught at Reelfoot lake that weighed 73lbs or so in 2003...I think that reord may have been broken at Sardis recently. The Bighead carp are not know for jumping as the Silver Carp which jump wildly when the speed of approaching boats agitates them. This is what fish Jody is talking about in Lauderdale Co. So, they are different....Bighead Carp grow in access of 100lbs. and get .14 lb at the market and Silver Carp eat eveverything in sight and jump in your boat and knock you out.

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Meet a resonable man halfway everytime....don't meet an unresonable man at all.

Yea there is a difference. I am thinking that these in Reelfoot are in fact the silver carp. It makes sense especially this year as the water got high enough for the ditch leading out of reelfoot to back into Reelfoot. That ditch runs into the obion river here just north of my house, and the obion runs into the mississippi just southwest of my place.

Anyway, they are all over. And they have taken over the river beds, oxbows, and and any body of water that is directly effected by the Big River. I was out in a river bed I used to catch crappie in earlier this year. Those things were all over the place just sucking at the top of the water. Filtering everything out, and the crappie have just not been in there recently like they used to be. I also think that this is the reason we just dont catch crappie down on the river like we did years back. Anyway, aint no good!

luvfishin, did u catch any crappie when u went to the creek a few weeks ago?

i went 1 day last week fast trolling and caught nothing but gar and catfish.