Gents,

I was wondering if this invasive species has impacted any of your local fisheries?  Personally, I'm concerned about it wiping out bass fishing in the next 30 years...

They are thick here along the Mississippi and its tributaries . Dont know if they will wipe out the bass . My niece was hit in the head by one  and knocked out of her kayak . She was OK .

About the only good thing about the number of dams choking off our rivers is that they keep the carp from invading all our rivers. Most lakes are cut off from the rivers they inhabit so the chances of bighead carp wiping out bass fishing is pretty remote.

5 hours ago, Scott F said:

About the only good thing about the number of dams choking off our rivers is that they keep the carp from invading all our rivers. Most lakes are cut off from the rivers they inhabit so the chances of bighead carp wiping out bass fishing is pretty remote.

They jump over the low water dams on the rivers around me by the thousands. They look like spawning salmon, except they do it all day and night all year long when the water is warm enough.

 

Bass will learn to eat them I'm sure. I know the big catfish in the rivers around here have gotten to where they almost seem to prefer them over other fish. It makes sense though as they're numerous and they have very small scales and no sharp fins so they're easy to swallow and digest. 

As far as I know they only thrive in rivers and would not be able to survive and/or successfully reproduce without current.