Jumping carp now a bother to fisherman

NEW ATHENS, Ill. -- When silver carp first started showing up back in 1994, they were a novelty. People laughingly referred to them as the "Kaskaskia River Dolphin."

Silver carp jump as high as 5 feet in the air and the Asian fish seem to jump a lot when the weather is warm, the river is low and especially when aluminum boats pass by.

Cherie Smith owns the Kaskaskia River Marina with her husband Ervin "Smitty" Smith, and said everyone thought the jumping fish were funny at first. But they aren't funny now.

"It was pretty cool until people started getting eight or 10 in their boat," Cherie Smith said.

Cherie Smith called the Illinois Department of Natural Resources because she thought someone was mutating the fish by dumping radioactive material into the river. That was not the case. Instead, it is theorized this exotic species was introduced into the Mississippi River during the 1993 floods, when the fish escaped from farmers' ponds, where they were kept for algae control.

At Smitty's tavern on the marina, stories abound about people who have been hurt by fish flying through the air.

The silver carp are causing more problems than just landing in boats, said Randy Sauer, an IDNR stream biologist. The fish can grow to 30 to 40 pounds and consume massive amounts of plankton, robbing from the native game fish such as young bass. Minnows and shad.

"They kind of go nuts and sometimes out-compete some of the more desirable native species," Sauer said. "They have an unfair advantage because they have no natural enemies. Once the horse gets out of the pond, it's hard to control these species."