Asian carp become rivers' sad reality

Peoria, Ill.

Eventually, someone's going to get killed. Marcy Poplett firmly believes it's only a matter of time before one of those stories about a boater or water skier colliding with Asian carp ends in a death. In fact, she's surprised she wasn't the first.

Her encounter came while idling her personal watercraft along the Illinois River in October 2003. A 10-pound carp startled by the engine leaped from the water and struck her in the face, breaking her nose and knocking her unconscious.

As her body slumped, it struck the accelerator, causing the craft to lurch forward and toss her overboard. A barge coming upstream encountered her unmanned watercraft and gave a five-blast warning that alerted a nearby boat. The Pontiac, Mich., family in that boat was able to pluck Poplett from the water.

"We still go out but never without thinking about how dangerous it is," she said. "I know four or five people ... who won't go out on their jet skis, or won't tube or will only ski in deep water. If we have kids out with us, children under 18, we're really cautious and freaky about it. We're hyper-sensitive."

The increased presence of Asian carp in Illinois rivers is having a dampening effect on recreational activities families have enjoyed for generations. At their largest, the two main invasive carp -- bighead and silver -- can regularly reach 60 to 70 pounds or more. They make for dangerous projectiles, and they eat through the food supplies of native fish.

Michigan has several rivers similar to the Illinois and Mississippi that provide excellent fishing and recreation opportunities. That has led many to wonder what would happen if the carp find their way to Michigan.

Meanwhile, in Illinois, a cottage industry has arisen that capitalizes on the huge number of carp and their propensity to leap from the water when startled. Illinois residents enjoy bow fishing for carp and annual tournaments celebrate all manner of doing away with the fish -- from nets to baseball bats.

It's a double-edged sword that has become a way of life for those who live along the rivers. For people like Poplett, it's a sad progression.

"We're all wondering how many years we have left to enjoy the river," she said. "It's a great natural resource, and we're not ready to give it up."

Concerns for Michigan

Spring Valley sits roughly 50 miles north along the Illinois River from the spot of Poplett's carp encounter. And the stretch of water there is considered by some to be the best fishing for sauger -- a walleye cousin -- in the United States. That reputation has drawn the first stop of the Masters Walleye Circuit fishing tour to Peoria for 25 years.

"For years and years, we'd line up 225 teams to participate on the first day," said Bill Guerrini, founder and executive director of the Spring Valley Walleye Club and a host of the annual tournament. "We'd have at least 20 teams on the waiting list."

Things have changed. The 2010 tournament featured 100 teams, and Guerrini attributes much of the drop-off to the Asian carp. Fewer sauger are available and those that are caught are usually much smaller than normal.

"The Asian carp have absolutely taken over the water," Guerrini said.

While there is no evidence that many Asian carp have passed the shipping locks in Chicago, several have been within a few hundred yards of Lake Michigan for more than four years.

But Michigan officials have been trying to anticipate what might happen if the carp make their way to the state's inner waterways.

"We have real concerns about some of our largest warm-water rivers, as well as some of our larger estuaries and bays," said Kelley Smith, chief of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment's fisheries division. "If you move north along the Lake Michigan side of the state, you're talking about the St. Joseph, the Grand, the Kalamazoo and the Muskegon rivers. On the east side of the state, you've got the Huron River and the Saginaw Bay area."

At age 11, Jayden Hoskins doesn't have decades of research to back up his theories, but he knows what he sees. At noon on an August Wednesday, the freckled redhead strolled through Lacon's small downtown several miles south of Spring Valley to reach the public boat launch on the Illinois River.

After reaching his favorite spot -- next to a bridge support in the shade -- Jayden tossed in a hooked worm with a fluorescent orange and red bobber. He usually fishes for freshwater drum.

"There are still fish around, but (Asian carp) eat a lot of the same foods that the other fish do," said Jayden, who is headed into the sixth-grade. "It drives down a lot of the population -- your regular bluegill and bass."

The Asian carp, he said, are always nearby, but you rarely see them when the waters are still.

"Usually you only see them when a boat comes ... see?" he said, as a small Asian carp broke the water on cue behind a small boat pulling into the marina. "There's one."

Fun with Asian carp

Earlier that day in Chillicothe, Steve Beres backed his boat into the Illinois River for some shooting practice. He and a friend were in town from Wisconsin to take part in a tournament sponsored by the Bowfishing Association of Illinois earlier this month.

The shoot is one of several events around the state that combines the desire to reduce the carp population with the thrill of hunting. All it takes is a fishing license.

"The (bigheads) don't jump out of the water," said Beres, a 41-year-old appliance technician from Rosendale, Wis. "You're just out there cruising and you see them sitting there and you shoot them. With (silver carp), you've gotta be alert because they're going to come up. You're focused on one, and as soon as you shoot that, (another) flies and hits ya. So you always have to be alert. And that's kind of fun. It makes you laugh, some of the things they do."

One operation that has tried to maximize the "fun" of the Asian carp is the Original Redneck Fishing Tournament in Bath, Ill. This year's festival, Aug. 6-7, drew about 2,500 visitors to a place with a population of about 350. For six years, more festivalgoers have celebrated the joys of plucking flying fish out of the air with a net.

The fishing competitions involve boats full of costumed participants -- more than 100 boats this year -- driving through the shallow waters of the Illinois River to make the silver carp jump, hopefully into a handheld net. For Sean Haney, Troy Biggs and Kent Deen, all from the southern end of Illinois, their first visit to the redneck festival was a trip they couldn't pass up. And while they didn't bring the most elaborate costumes -- an antlered football helmet, a Viking helmet and "Peter Griffin" mask from the television show "Family Guy" -- they quickly got into the swing of things.

"We knew we wanted to try this," Haney said. "And the tournament is a way to be able to do our part getting rid of the carp."

After finding a shady spot for himself, Bill Beach, 67, sat down to enjoy a fried catfish sandwich and take in the goings-on. The Knoxville, Ill., resident has had plenty of experience dealing with carp since the high-fliers tend to wind up in his boat even when he's simply out cruising.

"They're slimy and bloody things -- not the best looking fish, that's for sure," he said.

'They're not evil'

Over the years, the festival has become a moneymaker for the handful of Bath businesses. Set up in the backyard of the Boat Tavern, the festival offers karaoke, a live music stage, a dunk tank and merchandise that runs the gamut from T-shirts and visors to beer cozies and bumper stickers.

"The tournament has become huge here in Bath," said Betty Deford, the creator of the tournament and manager of the tavern. "We get people in from everywhere."

Others have taken notice. In Peoria, Chris Brackett has established a charter service that takes clients on the Illinois River to bow fish for flying Asian carp.

In Chicago, the Shedd Aquarium features several Asian carp in its invasive species exhibit that also includes round gobies, zebra and quagga mussels and snakeheads.

"We hear some very interesting things when people come to the exhibit," said Lizzy Latenser, a spokeswoman for the aquarium.

"One of the things we hear quite often is 'I thought they'd look meaner.' They're looking for an evil fish. We try to tell them that they're not evil, they're just in the wrong place."

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