John Gillio Posted September 21, 2016 Report Share Posted September 21, 2016 Fished the Vermilion the other day. The water was very high, swift, and silver on almost every cast. Only landed a few fish but tiny silver scales were on the hook almost every time. The Silver Asian carp are thick in the river again. I ran into the same carp situation in the lower Fox too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark K Posted September 22, 2016 Report Share Posted September 22, 2016 Are you going eat them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eugene f collins Posted September 22, 2016 Report Share Posted September 22, 2016 When you say lower Fox, you mean below Dayton dam? Right? Glad your catching. ...... Sorry that is the most abundant fish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Gillio Posted September 22, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 22, 2016 Are you going eat them? Not this bunch Mark. I have cooked them in the past and will again. They are pretty good eating and I don't feel bad about doing them in. When you say lower Fox, you mean below Dayton dam? Right? Glad your catching. ...... Sorry that is the most abundant fish. Yes Eugene, that is exactly where I meant. Hopefully they don't find a way upstream. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob G Posted September 22, 2016 Report Share Posted September 22, 2016 I see you're using that ole classic lure, " the snag-ar" similar to the ole Sonar but more productive ; ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Gillio Posted September 23, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 23, 2016 I see you're using that ole classic lure, " the snag-ar" similar to the ole Sonar but more productive ; ) As I said, little silver fish scales on almost every cast . I started off casdting a gay blade for white bass. The blade kept bouncing off of silvers so I switched to the ole classic which has a treble up front instead of the double hook. It snags the dorsal fin much better on a strait retrieve . Sometimes a monster gets snagged and you just hold on until they rip off. This was taken a while back when the water was down some: Check out the rod. Almost spooled the 30 pound braid before it ripped loose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob G Posted September 23, 2016 Report Share Posted September 23, 2016 Must be a well made custom rod because most other rods would have catastrophically failed under that torque. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Gillio Posted September 23, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 23, 2016 That rod has held up to a considerable number of back hooked Asian carp of about 4-5 ft. in length. It is also my favorite hybrid striper rod. It is a medium light 7' Pacific Bay IM7 rod blank that was made for Cabela's when they sold rod building components. I think it has been discontinued. My favorite smallmouth rod is made from the same blank. The photo below is of an Asian bighead that was mouth hooked and landed with the same medium light rod equipped with a Shimano reel spooled with 10 pound mono. I fought that fish for just over an hour. It just wouldn't give up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe R Posted September 23, 2016 Report Share Posted September 23, 2016 Wow Im just floored from this. I dont know much about the asian carp and where they are besides Illinois river however now im thinking a couple lower dams on the fox should always remain. Id imagine the vermilion is to shallow for the carp likings but obviously they are in part of the lower range. I think ML rod that is not as fast action surprisingly has less chance to break since it can bend a lot.. take a stiffer fast action rod that is heavier and that is more likely to break. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Gillio Posted September 23, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 23, 2016 Wow Im just floored from this. I dont know much about the asian carp and where they are besides Illinois river however now im thinking a couple lower dams on the fox should always remain. Id imagine the vermilion is to shallow for the carp likings but obviously they are in part of the lower range. I think ML rod that is not as fast action surprisingly has less chance to break since it can bend a lot.. take a stiffer fast action rod that is heavier and that is more likely to break. Joe, it is a fast action rod but the tip is softer than most. It has a lot of guts in the butt end. Dayton dam is definitely protecting the upper reaches of river from this mess. I have even seen Asian silver carp way up the small creeks I have been fishing. My buddy the other day was all excited about the size of the fish he was casting to in the creek until I pointed out that it was an Asian silver carp. The Vermilion has Asian Carp all the way up to the Streator dam. They have not been stopped by the low head dam at the cement mill, the wildcats, or any other barrier other than the big dam at Streator. Sadly it is by far the most dominant species in many parts of parts of the river. They seem to swarm upstream each time the water rises. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob G Posted September 23, 2016 Report Share Posted September 23, 2016 Yea, the Asian carp made it past two low head dams down here and the North Fork river is only saved by the large dam which creates Lake Vermilion. The Salt and the MiddleFork are not so lucky. Whenever I see kids seining minnows down on the rivers and know that they are likely fishing up on the lake, I know it's only a matter of time before that barrier is broken. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eugene f collins Posted September 24, 2016 Report Share Posted September 24, 2016 Joe, it is a fast action rod but the tip is softer than most. It has a lot of guts in the butt end. Dayton dam is definitely protecting the upper reaches of river from this mess. I have even seen Asian silver carp way up the small creeks I have been fishing. My buddy the other day was all excited about the size of the fish he was casting to in the creek until I pointed out that it was an Asian silver carp. The Vermilion has Asian Carp all the way up to the Streator dam. They have not been stopped by the low head dam at the cement mill, the wildcats, or any other barrier other than the big dam at Streator. Sadly it is by far the most dominant species in many parts of parts of the river. They seem to swarm upstream each time the water rises. Dayton damThank the army core of engineers got the Dayton dam. Sorry that is the 1i would like to see STAY for ETERNITY! Sad they have covered so many streams. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErikV Posted October 4, 2016 Report Share Posted October 4, 2016 Not this bunch Mark. I have cooked them in the past and will again. They are pretty good eating and I don't feel bad about doing them in. I read a study earlier this year that found that the Silver Carp had the least amount of toxins (Mercury) out of any large fish in the state. They had about 1/2 of the toxins of an average bluegill or crappie, which in turn are much lower than larger game fish. So if you are going to keep a fish to eat and were concerned about that type of stuff, I guess the Asian Carp would be your go to fish. Here is the link to the report: https://www.csu.edu/cerc/researchreports/documents/RiskyFishingPowerPlantMercuryPollutionIllinoisSportFish2006.pdf Data on page 16. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Gillio Posted October 4, 2016 Author Report Share Posted October 4, 2016 Thanks Erik. I read a similar article. It is due to the fact that they are plankton eaters. They do not consume other fatty fish that toxins build up in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErikV Posted October 5, 2016 Report Share Posted October 5, 2016 Np! That is what I was thinking. The lower on the food chain the fish feeds on, the healthier it is for humans to consume the fish. Silver carp: healthy. Sharks: not so much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Gillio Posted October 5, 2016 Author Report Share Posted October 5, 2016 Np! That is what I was thinking. The lower on the food chain the fish feeds on, the healthier it is for humans to consume the fish. Silver carp: healthy. Sharks: not so much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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