Asian Carp, an invasive species, introduced down south to attempt to clean up the heavy vegetation in the rivers, turned out to be a big mistake? Well, they are invasive, BUT... Did you know: They are not a carp at all? They are eaten all of the world, but not here? Maybe if we stop calling them carp, and at least the one species, call them silver fin, more people would try it. And interestingly, nowhere else in the world do they jump like they do here! Possibly some dominant gene mutation that stuck here? And Chicago has been for years, trying to stop the invasive species from reaching Lake Michigan. Installing electric barriers.... And you know what? They may not want to go there! Why? The zebra mussels in Lake Michigan, also an invasive species, brought in with ballast water of large ships, the mussels have cleaned Lake Michigan from the dark green to crystal clear. But, such changes have consequences. Like no more smelt, who need to feed on plankton, snarfed up by the zebra mussels, and now another mussel working the depths of the lake, to further clean any last bit of plankton. So....Asian "Carp" feed on plankton. If there's no plankton, why would they want to go there? BUT, headlines over the news, a new study showed that the Asian Carp were not going further towards Lake Michigan, which flows into the Illinois River, not going there because the water was too polluted!?!? Hmmm, I know the "Asian Carp" are probably the cleanest fish in U.S. Inland waters, from what I keep reading, because they feed off the surface, and not on other fish....but apparently they also dislike dirty water. Wait!!! That's the water we drink!??? The fish won't go there because of pollution, but we drink it?
Anyway, the attachment below, is a crazy event, which I did not partake in, but rather went when all things were calm and normal (dead, except for barges, and a half dozen other boats seen over 2 days). We did see, many, many fish jumping. Especially near the dam at Joliet where we settled on fishing for catfish, since we weren't having enough skill to catch them with nets on our own. The more boats, the more the fish are stirred up, and the better your chances of netting them. Or, maybe, we just stink at it? We did have one jump about 3' up literally an inch from the boat right where my fishing partner sat. He said it got him wet in the face when he turned to see it. So, we did get a cooler full of catfish. Oh, one Silver Fin, a baby...only about 6" long, found under a seat cleaning out the boat after getting home.
I've contacted the person in charge at the DNR regarding promoting the Asian Carp, and I talked to Clint Carter who is in the video, but recommended to me to go see to simply buy some. He sells it deboned, and vacuum packed. Just a short 3 hour drive to get to him? He doesn't ship anything yet.
From all the chef's talking about them, how good they are, and how they pick up the flavors of spices etc., that you use. Yep, that will be my next trip!
CRAZY, CRAZY, CRAZY Fish. Can never get enough watching them!
