Carp Effect On Bass Bite? 2024
masterbass reply :
I was kayak bassin a few days ago and as I was approaching a large cove I was seeing massive splashes everywhere. I originally thought they were bass blowing up so I was paddling like crazy and dreaming about how this was going to be frogging day of historic proportions. As I got closer I saw them, thousands of carp just going crazy and my heart sank. I ended up only catching a couple in the morning. Into the afternoon the carp calmed down and started catching some decent bass. I'm wondering if the carp feeding frenzy turned off the bass bite. Has anyone had similar experiences?
Bluebasser86 reply :
I've never had much luck when they're spawning, like it sounds like you ran into. While carp are feeding in an area I have had good success, especially for smallmouth for some reason.
scaleface reply :
I actually hooked a big bass that was below some carp. I was going to try too snag one . I threw a Bomber Long A and started ripping it through them when the bass hit .
the reel ess reply :
I don't know...I've caught bass where there were carp splashing around. But it was a pond. The bass are captive and have to eat.
basscatcher8 reply :
I keep my Bow in the boat at all time for just such an occasion. I never mind taking a break from bass fishing to shoot the bow a few times.
flyfisher reply :
Carp feeding has only increased my bass catching. The carp rooting around stirs up the little bugs and other things that the baitfish will eat and then the bass are soon to follow.
I can also echo that this happens a lot for me with smallmouth as the carp and smallies seem to populate similar areas.
Turtle135 reply :
This past weekend I had the exact opposite experience. There were huge carp crashing through shallow aquatic plants and it seemed like the bass were waiting for baitfish to get flushed from the vegetation. A black & blue swim jig right behind the marauding carp frequently found an aggressive largemouth waiting to ambush.
georgeyew reply :
I know that this is a bass forum, but if I have a situation where that many carp are actively feeding, I'd be targeting the carp. They fight much harder than bass and are usually much bigger. It is not uncommon to see 20+ pound carp. Imagine the fun in fighting those fish!
Dave Jakes reply :
Splashing or just cruising around, I've never had a great bass experience if there's carp around. If I see more than 20 carp swimming around I'll just move on. Not sure if there's any accurate reasoning to this experience or if it's just coincidence, but it's been consistent enough for me to just avoid them.
I have buddies who believe the opposite, so who knows!
bankguy315 reply :
For me, when there are alot of carp the bass bite suffers.
papajoe222 reply :
When the carp are spawning, which follows shortly after the bass and before the bluegill, I avoid the immediate area as I've never done much good close to all their commotion. Their ritual is a good indicator to me that the female bass have moved off the nests and that's when I begin fishing deeper areas.
CeeJay reply :
On 5/28/2015 at 11:37 PM, georgeyew said:I know that this is a bass forum, but if I have a situation where that many carp are actively feeding, I'd be targeting the carp. They fight much harder than bass and are usually much bigger. It is not uncommon to see 20+ pound carp. Imagine the fun in fighting those fish!
Me too 
scaleface reply :
On 5/29/2015 at 1:43 AM, papajoe222 said:When the carp are spawning, which follows shortly after the bass and before the bluegill, I avoid the immediate area as I've never done much good close to all their commotion. Their ritual is a good indicator to me that the female bass have moved off the nests and that's when I begin fishing deeper areas.
Good tip . I need to remember that one .
MassBass reply :
River smallies will hang around carp that are rummaging the bottom, quickly darting in for crayfish and helgramites rooted up by the carp.
scaleface reply :
I remember watching a Roland Martin show where he was catching bass on a "carp and gar" pattern. He targets areas where these fish are visible ..
WRB reply :
Carp are egg eaters, enemy of spawning bass. The carp fry are a food source of the post spawn bass, young of the year carp are a prey source for adult bass, what comes around goes around.
Carp are a invasive species from Asia, not a native fish, do more harm than good.
Tom
cdunlapb12 reply :
For the last week the carp have been suspended near the surface around my dock. They're all facing upstream like they're waiting on something. They let me hit them with my spinnerbait and jig and never moved. In regards to the OP, I caught three good sized bass in the midst of all these carp.
BooyahMan reply :
On 5/29/2015 at 1:43 AM, papajoe222 said:When the carp are spawning, which follows shortly after the bass and before the bluegill, I avoid the immediate area as I've never done much good close to all their commotion. Their ritual is a good indicator to me that the female bass have moved off the nests and that's when I begin fishing deeper areas.
If this is true, it would explain my situation perfectly. Carp surfacing everywhere in the lily pads and on the weed edges, and the bigger bass just seemed to have disappeared for us bank anglers. The frog bite in the pads has been terrible these last two weeks, and all I see are splashes and wakes made by the carp.
Frog Turds reply :
On 5/29/2015 at 3:45 AM, MassBass said:River smallies will hang around carp that are rummaging the bottom, quickly darting in for crayfish and helgramites rooted up by the carp.
very true, when wade fishin river smallies over the years this has proven itself time & time again...see carp, there surely will be brown fish lurking around...many times standing on various foot bridges looking into the water i'll see a gang of carp in the river and on the outside of them, smallies...
flyfisher reply :
On 5/29/2015 at 10:28 AM, WRB said:Carp are egg eaters, enemy of spawning bass. The carp fry are a food source of the post spawn bass, young of the year carp are a prey source for adult bass, what comes around goes around.
Carp are a invasive species from Asia, not a native fish, do more harm than good.
Tom
Carp have been here for a long time and to call them invasive you would have to do the same with bass and a multitude of other species. I am also curious as to how they do more harm than good unless you are speaking specifically about the big head carp as that is one i have read about the negative impacts on specific fisheries but the common carp i haven't seen much information about het negative impact.
WRB reply :
Fresh water black bass, all 8 species are native to North America, no carp specie is native, they come from Asia and Europe. Carp are egg eaters, eating the spawn of all fish including bass. Carp also get big and eat the fry and fingerlings of all fish along with plankton that young fish need to survive. The problem is carp reduce the available food source for other fish while reducing to survival rate of eggs, fry and small fish.On 5/29/2015 at 11:06 PM, flyfisher said:Carp have been here for a long time and to call them invasive you would have to do the same with bass and a multitude of other species. I am also curious as to how they do more harm than good unless you are speaking specifically about the big head carp as that is one i have read about the negative impacts on specific fisheries but the common carp i haven't seen much information about het negative impact.
Most carp are introduced by folks releasing their pet gold fish, not aware of fishery management introducing common carp into fisheries, lots of efforts to eradicate them. The grass carp being used to eat aquatic vegetation is fairly new to North America, time will tell how this species adapts to it's new environment. All the other carp have adapted too well!
Tom
flyfisher reply :
Invasive to me doesn't always mean they aren't native to this country. A perfect example is when brook trout from the east coast were transplanted into the eastern sierras to supplement the population and they decimated the native golden trout population. So those to me, they are invasive at the same level as those fish from other countries.
Do you have inks to any studies around their impact because i would like to read up more on the topic. I know many of the areas I fish hold some very large carp and i would be curious to see what type of impact they may have had on the fishing.
CeeJay reply :
Common carp have been here in the US for over 180 years. They are well established, yet bass are still prolific and growing to enormous size.
No one here is old enough to know if bass fishing was "better" before carp were introduced.
A-Jay reply :
Don't know for sure if the presence of carp in the shallows help or hurts the bass bite.
But if your lake has any kind of depth and decent pike population - the Super Tankers are often not too far.
Yesterday the lake I was on, which is blessed with huge pike, had a ton of carp up shallow - quite a few of them looked like they had a fight with a meat grinder & lost - all scarred up.
A-Jay
rybobassmaster reply :
On 5/28/2015 at 7:53 PM, masterbass said:I was kayak bassin a few days ago and as I was approaching a large cove I was seeing massive splashes everywhere. I originally thought they were bass blowing up so I was paddling like crazy and dreaming about how this was going to be frogging day of historic proportions. As I got closer I saw them, thousands of carp just going crazy and my heart sank. I ended up only catching a couple in the morning. Into the afternoon the carp calmed down and started catching some decent bass. I'm wondering if the carp feeding frenzy turned off the bass bite. Has anyone had similar experiences?
hello, in my expereance in some lakes the carp will attack and beat up anything smaller (bass) so it hurts the bass fishing sometimes .
scaleface reply :
You've seen carp beating up bass ?
WRB reply :
My first hand experience with carp population explosion was at Big Besr lake located in the SoCal mountains.
Big Bear was named for the bear population in the early 1800's, the lake was small created behind a Indian dam they built who know's when? The Indian dam was a simple Birmingham or mound of dirt about 3-4' high located about 1/2 east of windy point, creating a lake about 2 miles long.
Back in the mid 1850's fox farmers planted carp into the small lake for fox food, the carp thrived, the fox farms became bigger. The bear population also grew feeding on carp the farmers left laying around after netting them and became a problem for everyone including cattle ranchers. The cattle ranchers blamed the Indians for cattle kills and whipped out the local Indian population. Gold was discovered near Big Bear at Holcome valley and population of people exploded. Ranchers and orange orchard famers decided to build a new dam in 1890 increasing the lake to over 7 miles long . The carp had a new home. Rainbow and brown trout were planted along with bluegill, crappie and bass. Resorts opened up, the fishing was great until the carp population already establish over populated the lake, something had to be done!
1957 when I was working on a boat landing on Big Bear lake, the DFG poisioned the lake to kill all the fish to end the carp problem and it worked.
To answer the question, have I ever watch carp wipe out bass spawning beds; yes, many times. A school of big 20 lb carp work their way across a spawning flat, the next day there are few bass left guarding nest sites. However after a few weeks, the bass return and usually spawn agian, that is how nature works if there is a balance in populations.
Tom
scaleface reply :
I didnt know carp were responsible for wiping out Indian tribes .
Sea Salt reply :
I have a few large grass carp in my pond that feed off the weeds on the surface. The bluegills and bass like to eat all of the small craws and baitfish that the carp knock out of the weeds. So I'm guessing that you could catch a few fish if you throw the right bait near a carp that is feeding.
WRB reply :
Now you know!On 6/1/2015 at 5:29 AM, scaleface said:I didnt know carp were responsible for wiping out Indian tribes .
Tom
papajoe222 reply :
White man known by many names. Chief Long in the Nose never hear this one.
WRB reply :
Lucerne Valley, dead mans point, was the location where the ranchers caught up with the Indians....do your research Chief Lng in the Nose.On 6/1/2015 at 10:18 AM, papajoe222 said:White man known by many names. Chief Long in the Nose never hear this one.
Ironically the local Big Bear citizens are trying to save some carp near Standfields cut-off as the lake recedes from the current drought...let the carp die, remember the Indians.
Tom
LuckyGia reply :
When I see carp, I move.
Ozark_Basser reply :
All I know is that the bite has slowed way down for me in my pond. Carp are everywhere right now also.
BASSPATROL247 reply :
On 5/28/2015 at 11:37 PM, georgeyew said:I know that this is a bass forum, but if I have a situation where that many carp are actively feeding, I'd be targeting the carp. They fight much harder than bass and are usually much bigger. It is not uncommon to see 20+ pound carp. Imagine the fun in fighting those fish!
X2 i fish them once in a while, they are a blast and fight like a freight train!! Now about carp affecting the bass bite, carp are spawning here now and for me that means any shallow(5ft and less) coves that taper off slowly to deeper water do not get fished, ive never been able to catch bass in that scenario but if its shallow with a drop off close by i will fish the edge of where the carp are spawning, i beleive the bass sit right inside the muddy water stirred up by the carp to ambush prey...
jitterbug127 reply :
At one of my local lakes the carp have all but eliminated the bass population, reel in carp all day. 10 hours might lead to a bass or two
Preytorien reply :
Many times in our area local nieghborhoods, they'll install triploid carp as a grass/weed management solution. It doesn't matter what DNR booklets say or pond management guys, I've never seen a pond with carp introduced that sustained its fishing quality. It always goes downhill. Like Tom said, they roam through bass beds and wipe them out, however I almost never see them come back and spawn again. It ruins their spawn. I can think of 3 large ponds they did this to, and within about 2-3 years the fishing is downright awful. I know they say they don't compete for the same sources, but when the carp eat the cover the bass/bluegill use to protect their young, and then mess up spawning beds too, the fishing quality is going to start suffering. A couple places' HOA's have realized that the water is extremely muddy after about a year too. There are no plants and small fry to keep algae and silt in check. So now they've got muddy ponds with virtually no fishability.....they had to drain them to kill the carp (and all the other fish too), then install diffusing stations every 200 feet or so to help with algae blooms. It was an expensive lesson to learn to quit putting carp in ponds. Carp aren't native, so they won't easily fit in with other species without unbalancing something somewhere.
BASSPATROL247 reply :
On 5/29/2015 at 3:18 AM, scaleface said:Good tip . I need to remember that one .
On 5/29/2015 at 3:18 AM, scaleface said:Good tip . I need to remember that one .
On 5/29/2015 at 1:43 AM, papajoe222 said:When the carp are spawning, which follows shortly after the bass and before the bluegill, I avoid the immediate area as I've never done much good close to all their commotion. Their ritual is a good indicator to me that the female bass have moved off the nests and that's when I begin fishing deeper areas.
The bluegills spawn right after the bass and theres usually a few bass spawning still when the gills move up and start to spawn, bluegills are almost all done romancing and the carp have been at it for a about two weeks now here in east central nebraska. Once carp get into a lake the vegitation starts disappearing wich affects all species and they grow fast and eat alot!! Only thing carp are good for is cutbait and a very good fight after wich when they lose they become cutbait ha ha ha... 110% bad for any gamefish species ie..bass,crappie,walleye etc... trouble here is when they impound a new flood control resivoir they usually put a no live bait regulation so they dont go from a minnow bucket to the lake, even if they dont get in that way all it takes is a pond or one of the creeks to flood and they find their way in the lake. If you fish lakes with live bait allowed and have no carp never never ever dump ur minnows in the lake when done, i ised to when i was young and dumm thinking i was helping the fish by feeding them when i was probably putting carp and god knows what else in the lake. All the lakes here have had carp since ive been alive except for a few but theyll end up in there eventually from high water periods ot an uneducated angler that dont know better...
CeeJay reply :
On 6/16/2015 at 1:47 AM, BASSPATROL247 said:The bluegills spawn right after the bass and theres usually a few bass spawning still when the gills move up and start to spawn, bluegills are almost all done romancing and the carp have been at it for a about two weeks now here in east central nebraska. Once carp get into a lake the vegitation starts disappearing wich affects all species and they grow fast and eat alot!! Only thing carp are good for is cutbait and a very good fight after wich when they lose they become cutbait ha ha ha... 110% bad for any gamefish species ie..bass,crappie,walleye etc... trouble here is when they impound a new flood control resivoir they usually put a no live bait regulation so they dont go from a minnow bucket to the lake, even if they dont get in that way all it takes is a pond or one of the creeks to flood and they find their way in the lake. If you fish lakes with live bait allowed and have no carp never never ever dump ur minnows in the lake when done, i ised to when i was young and dumm thinking i was helping the fish by feeding them when i was probably putting carp and god knows what else in the lake. All the lakes here have had carp since ive been alive except for a few but theyll end up in there eventually from high water periods ot an uneducated angler that dont know better...
I respectfully disagree
A few of us anglers, though not many, have tremendous respect for the common carp as American sport fish. Carp fishing is just about fun, just like bass fishing, crappie fishing, catfishing etc.
Whether we like it or not common carp have been here since the 1800's and are now very much a part of American rivers, lakes and ponds. Coexisting with all the rest of our favorite sport fish.
Fighting and landing a 20 pounder is still the highlight of my angling adventures to this day.
But it's all good and I have no problem with differing opinions on them. 
BASSPATROL247 reply :
Oh i agree!! On them being very fun to catch and are every bit if not more challenging than most.
species.. but they do alot of things that are not good for othef fish, more so than another species do to another..i still take a can of corn out sometimes and fish for them, wether i need cutbait or not...
MassBass reply :
Asian carp were widespread in Europe as early as 530 B.C.
Flippin4Biggins reply :
I agree I can't catch a d**n thing with carp spawning in the area in fishing
yugrac reply :
I picked a LMB up out of an area with about 20 carp holding near a shoreline, I cast into the fish, not knowing for sure what they were and picked up a decent bass, after closer inspection discovered all the other fish were carp.
ww2farmer reply :
Carp flopping around in the shallows = Bass in the boat............I like them up there splashing around and making the water dirty. What is highly undesirable is just cruising carp in ultra shallow, ultra clear water, they are scared of their own shadow, and take off like rockets alerting every fish within miles of you. A highly trained set of senses like I have LOL...........can actually smell carp in the area before I see them.............I'm not kidding either.
bigbill reply :
Carp isn't my problem it's snapping turtles. When they come around the bass bite is done.
Adleyfishes reply :
Something like that happens where I fish what is the science behind this?
Ginosocalbass reply :
If you understand what a carp is... You'll understand the impact on the fishery itself.... A carp is a fish that grows to massive sizes in relatively short time... They have an incredibly high motabulism, they feed on anything and everything. Carp are never "not feeding". It's a giant pucker mouth vacuum cleaner with fins and goofy eyes.
Like a lot of guys here, carp being around has made fishing interesting... I have done well in areas were big carp are spawning, or were they are hanging out. But the effect they have on the health of a small lake or pond can be devastating.
That being said. Don't kill every carp you see... Carp Babies are great bass food. Treat the fish with respect and let the biologist and experts handle the management.
Scorchx1245 reply :
Hate carp.....I love seeing them swim under the boat with down scan.....one or I snag one with 6lbs test throwing a super light rapala balsa.......snap.
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