Lake Hopatcong Grass Carp:

[AndyS]

Lake Hopatcong Commission and Foundation
is interested in stocking Grass Carp in Lake Hopatcong to control the weeds. Currently the regulations only allow lakes less than 10 acres in size and they have to have containment. Lake Hopatcong does not meet either of those requirements. They were advised of that. To allow the stocking of Grass Carp in Lake Hopatcong would require a change of regulations.

[MattK]

Why not try it in lake musconetcong first? Dont they eat pretty much every piece of plant life in the lake? Seems risky to start in hopatcong.

[thmyorke1]

What's wrong with the weeds in the first place? Doesn't it promote good health and a big supply at the bottom of the food chain?

Whatever they do, I just hope it's sterile grass carp.

[FASTEDDIE29]

That’s a bad idea!!! Plenty of fish to be had in the big pond. They should stick em in RV, MC or maybe the lower Raritan! My carp friends would absolutely love that idea!!! Weeds are great, the panfish need a place to hide from the predatory species like Hybrids, Walleye and ESOX!!!

[NJSquatch]

This has been a hot topic lately. The pleasure boaters and residents along shallow coves (crescent cove, landing channel, jefferson canals, etc) are all for it. If it was left up to them they would kill every weed in the lake. The weeds (especially the invasive milfoil)do a really good job of choking up boat props and water intakes which damages the boat engine.

The Local communities have been spending a ludicrous amount of money on weed harvesting the last couple of years. Fortunately a recent bill was passed that has $500k of dedicated state funds to "enhance" the lake. Most of this money will be spent on weed harvesting which is essentially the equivalent to mowing the lawn and not a long term solution.

The Lake Hopatcong Foundation is pushing the grass carp agenda based upon the successes had at Candlewood Lake in CT.

Weeds are very important in a fishes life cycle and it is unknown what the long term impact will be on a fishery.

The reality is something needs to be done to maintain the viability of the lake as a public resource for all.

I say do a test area in the back of one of these coves to measure the impacts. The grass carp is sterile and there would have to be alot stocked to eat even a fraction of the weeds in the lake.

[bunker dunker]

without them weeds those herring will have no place to hide

[akoop]

While I enjoy the lake for both fishing and recreational boating and have on numerous times had to stop to clear my prop and water intake from weeds I feel this is a very bad idea. The lake seems to have an extremely healthy population of fish of various species and is just improving every year. Why mess with it?

[zhitoman]

Grass carp do not spawn in our climates, its way too cold for them. Grass carp eat insects and small fish as well as weeds. Grass carp are more like lazy gigantic chub in their behavior and are nothing like asian or common carp. I say put at least at least 1000 juvenile grass carp in the lake. Half of them are not going to survive the predators anyway. Guys, stop being whiny little girls, grass carp are harmless to the environment, I grew up in Europe and dealt with grass carp more than any of you here. We use carrots and cherry tomatoes besides other baits to catch them, they are fun and they taste delicious.

[Adrenalinerush]

Originally Posted by zhitoman

Grass carp do not spawn in our climates, its way too cold for them. Grass carp eat insects and small fish as well as weeds. Grass carp are more like lazy gigantic chub in their behavior and are nothing like asian or common carp. I say put at least at least 1000 juvenile grass carp in the lake. Half of them are not going to survive the predators anyway. Guys, stop being whiny little girls, grass carp are harmless to the environment, I grew up in Europe and dealt with grass carp more than any of you here. We use carrots and cherry tomatoes besides other baits to catch them, they are fun and they taste delicious.

I'm gonna have to try carrots and cherry tomatoes because I can't catch them on dough balls, thanks!

[oelgnal1]

Here is some info on different types of control.

The aquatic moth Acentria ephemerella, the water veneer moth, feeds upon and damages this water milfoil. It has been used as an agent of biological pest control against the plant in North America. The milfoil weevil (Euhrychiopsis lecontei) has also been used as biocontrol. Another method for biocontrol is Grass Carp, (one of the Asian Carp species) which have been bred as sterile, is sometimes released into affected areas, since these fish primarily feed on aquatic plants and have proven effective at controlling the spread. However, the carp prefer many native species to the milfoil and will usually decimate preferred species before eating the milfoil. In Washington State the success rate of Grass Carp has been less than expected. They were used in 98 lakes and 39 percent of them had no submerged plant life left after only a short time.

Since roughly 2000, hand-harvesting of invasive milfoils has shown much success as a management technique. Several organizations in the New England states have undertaken large scale, lake-wide hand-harvesting management programs with extremely successful results. Acknowledgment had to be made that it is impossible to completely eradicate the species once it is established. As a result, maintenance must be done once an infestation has been reduced to affordably controlled levels. Well trained divers with proper techniques have been able to effectively control and then maintain many lakes, especially in the Adirondack Park in Northern New York where chemicals, mechanical harvesters, and other disruptive and largely unsuccessful management techniques are banned. After only three years of hand harvesting in Saranac Lake the program was able to reduce the amount harvested from over 18 tons to just 800 pounds per year.