Can Carp And Bass Live In Harmony In A Pond? 2024

BassAssassin726 reply :

Ive been exploring lots of ponds around my way. Some of them really nice and extremely bassy looking. Huge trees laying on the bank that go out like 50 feet into the water, tons of structure. But in all these ponds I have yet to see or catch a bass but i constantly see HUGE Carp. Not sure which kind but theyre giangantic. Do these Carp have an effect on the bass population? It insane how much of a bass haven some of these ponds are but i cant find bass. Help! Tips on fishing pond would be appreciated as well!

WookieeJedi reply :

I have been told they deplete oxygen in ponds. I know this, whenever I see a pond with a bunch of big carp, it is rarely a good bass pond.

Ima Bass Ninja reply :

Yes they can. I have a pond u fish that has big ole carp and big ole bass both. The biggest problem that I see is the carp eat the vegetation which can lead to a lack of cover and oxygen content. But I have heard that once a carp gets a certain age they don't eat. Not sure if it's true or not though.

Nitrofreak reply :

Yes also, the carp are most likely grass carp that were put there to help control the vegetation, they may have overpopulated the pond.

If you know the owner of the pond you may be able to delete a few and help restore the balance.

00 mod reply :

Unfortunately they can. Most grass carp are put into ponds to control weeds and they are sterile. Around here, we have a bad asian carp problem. They eat a lot of vegetation, that affects the entire food chain. Which in sense affects the bass population.

Jeff

slonezp reply :

On 4/10/2012 at 5:31 AM, Ima Bass Ninja said:

But I have heard that once a carp gets a certain age they don't eat.

Do they just survive on love?

tomustang reply :

It depends on who maintains the pond

Ima Bass Ninja reply :

On 4/10/2012 at 5:53 AM, slonezp said:

Do they just survive on love?

Never really cared if it's true or not hence my disclaimer that" I'm not sure if it's true"

Seems after 5-7 years there effectiveness for Vegitation control and growth slows even though they continue to live for many more years which is why they continually need restocking. Thanks for bein a smarty pants so I could learn something. Here's a link incase you wanna read it. https://srac.tamu.edu/index.cfm/event/getFactSheet/whichfactsheet/160/

Marty reply :

I don't know how carp interact with or affect bass, but I do know that there is good bass fishing in numerous waters around here that have a lot of carp, both common and grass carp.

stanlje2 reply :

I grass carp, bluegill, catfish and bass in my pond and they all live happily together.

Avalonjohn44 reply :

There is just no harmony between the species. The carp think that the bass get all the media attention, the bass think the carp are freeloaders dropped into the pond to eat them out of house and home. Meanwhile the bream and crappie are busy reproducing at breakneck speeds, insuring that they will be the dominant population of the pond. Soon enough the fish version of jesse jackson will come along and jump in the middle of it and really screw things up. It's all just fish racism. Why can't they all just get along?

Tlaz reply :

On 4/10/2012 at 8:56 AM, Avalonjohn44 said:

There is just no harmony between the species. The carp think that the bass get all the media attention, the bass think the carp are freeloaders dropped into the pond to eat them out of house and home. Meanwhile the bream and crappie are busy reproducing at breakneck speeds, insuring that they will be the dominant population of the pond. Soon enough the fish version of jesse jackson will come along and jump in the middle of it and really screw things up. It's all just fish racism. Why can't they all just get along?

NICE

justin apfel reply :

Is it illegal to kill carp when caught? Or is it up to the person who owns the pond? I fish in a few ponds that are city owned and sometimes I get bored and throw some corn and catch some monster carp. It's pretty fun but I have always wondered if I should kill some or not.

Edgy reply :

Not all carp are invasive i believe. One of the lakes i fish have 3 huge koi fish, which i think are carp, i might be wrong and bass living in there. One of my best ponds has shiners, bass, like 1 or 2 carp, catfish, bluegill, and some sort of sun fish.

BassAssassin726 reply :

Thanks for the info guys. I just dont get it. These pond Ive been checking out look bassalicious, basstastic, THEY LOOK LIKE A BASS HAVEN! But nothing, just a few moster carp. I fished the crap out of the with everything. Plastics, spinnerbaits, in line spinners, cranks, lipless cranks, wacky worm, texas rig, carolina rig, shaky heads, everything in my tackle bag. Its frustrating and mysterious. Could it be because i live in Pennsylvania?

BassAssassin726 reply :

Also jerkbaits, suspending and floating, flies, tiny hair jigs,

Avalonjohn44 reply :

On 4/11/2012 at 7:17 AM, BassAssassin726 said:

Thanks for the info guys. I just dont get it. These pond Ive been checking out look bassalicious, basstastic, THEY LOOK LIKE A BASS HAVEN! But nothing, just a few moster carp. I fished the crap out of the with everything. Plastics, spinnerbaits, in line spinners, cranks, lipless cranks, wacky worm, texas rig, carolina rig, shaky heads, everything in my tackle bag. Its frustrating and mysterious. Could it be because i live in Pennsylvania?

What about other types of fish? Sunnies, crappie? If those are there, so are the bass most likely.

Another idea might be to try live bait - minnows, shiners, whatever. Could be that they are uncommonly shy and artificials aren't doing the trick.

whiteatnight reply :

Carp mud up the water... Bass are sight predators and that characteristic is one the reasons they are so fun to fish for. Less carp means better fishing for bass.

unionman reply :

Could be the time of day you are fishing. I highly suggest getting a solunar calendar and try following its peak days and peak times within those peak days. This WILL work.

TourPT reply :

I don't know about in harmony but one of the ponds I fish a lot has some monster size carp in it and also has a good bass population of 2 to 5lb bass. In this pond the carp all seem to want to swim around in a school most the time, except for this one horse that I always see swimming alone. The water is fairly clear, has good weed growth and you can easily spot the carp.

The good news is what I like to call The Carp Factor. Doug Hannon has his Northwest Factor, I have The Carp Factor. LOL

I use the carp to help find the bass or at least eliminate a section of the pond. If the carp are all bunched up on this side of the pond or in this corner of the pond, I know to go bass fish somewhere else on the pond for I have yet to catch a bass around a bunch of king size carp.

averagebass123 reply :

If carp annoy you, get out the fly rod and some floating flies made of foam or cork, and just drag it near 'em when they are near the surface and then catch and kill them

LTownFisher764 reply :

What ponds is the op talking about? I was at a lake yesterday on my yak and there were a lot of carp spawning and causing a lot of noise on the surface by the banks and I caught 2 descent sized bass. I talked to a few other people and they caught bass as well as crappie and blue gill.

Grizzn N Bassin reply :

Yeah the grass crap here do a number.on the big pond I fish.. but I still catch qualtly bass 2-5 with me personal catching 14 bass over 6 all the way up to 9 lbs.. right now the whole thing is covered with vegiation... in 2 monyhs it will be all gone.. except for a few weed beds I have found..

WRB reply :

On 4/11/2012 at 7:17 AM, BassAssassin726 said:
Thanks for the info guys. I just dont get it. These pond Ive been checking out look bassalicious, basstastic, THEY LOOK LIKE A BASS HAVEN! But nothing, just a few moster carp. I fished the crap out of the with everything. Plastics, spinnerbaits, in line spinners, cranks, lipless cranks, wacky worm, texas rig, carolina rig, shaky heads, everything in my tackle bag. Its frustrating and mysterious. Could it be because i live in Pennsylvania?

Try catching the carp, if they are the common brown/gold color carp they fight good. Look up how to catch carp.

Next thing to try is a buzz bait the first hour after sunset, should get some action if there are any bass.

Carp are egg eaters and can do some real damage to bass spawn survival, plus they eat the fry, unless they are grass carp.

Tom

derekxec reply :

where i used to work they had a pond and they put 7 giant grass carp in there for years to eat the grasses and such in the water...lake was pretty clean and there were lots of bass and it didnt matter the oxygen because they had a 5hp sprinkler pump constantly pumping in water from the canal to keep the pond full

only problem was the bass didnt get very big because 2 red tail hawks used to feed in the pond all the time plucking the bass out when they got to 2-3lbs lol...its great seeing a hawk come slamming into the water realllllly fast and grabbing a bass lol

ww2farmer reply :

Carp and bass live in harmony and each species thrive in the same bodies of water around here. Ponds, creeks, rivers, lakes etc....... People hating on carp are either.................#1 ignorant, believing old wives tales and grumpy old man stories on how carp "ruin" bass water, #2.........can't face the fact they suck at bass fishing and have to blame it on something other than themselves, #3...........fish waters where there are carp but no bass, or #4............all of the above.

BassAssassin726 reply :

Since posting this ive since found places with big carp and big bass. The two small quarry lakes I fish have some pretty big carp and a nice population of solid bass.

craww reply :

There is a nice little back water lagoon on a local lake that used to be an outstanding area for pickerel and LMB. 6 years ago grass carp were released to combat hydrilla. Ive fished it extensively this year, and have noticed that the carp (now over 3') have cleaned it out of vegetation. Ive also noticed that to catch bass now out of there, you have to be fishing directly in cover. The bass no longer are in open water anymore. Interestingly, i havent caught the first pike since the carp have taken over. Used to catch more pike than bass. I suppose the hydrilla was perfect for an ambush predator like a chain pickerel.

MDP4BASS reply :

It wouldnt hurt to just go get some shiners (YES LIVE BAIT) and take one day and tie the bobber and hook on and just see if there are any in the pond!

12439

Can Carp And Bass Live In Harmony In A Pond? 2024

related General Bass Fishing Forum topic

previous topic

next topic

most viewed General Bass Fishing Forum topic