What do you do when you catch invasives?

i was up in the hawks nest state forest here, above kanawha falls in WV, on the new river just below the new river gorge bridge, me and my brother caught 5 or so male/female mixed longear sunfish, they were 3-4" in length so he kept two males and a female for his 75 gallon tank he setup two weeks ago, and i kept a male and female.

after i got home i looked up the range for this fish and it says they are evasives anywhere above kanawha falls, i was curious what you guys do when you catch evasives?

seems like the longears have a large population up there.

matthew

I'll admit, they can be difficult to catch! When people catch a Carp, I've heard some folks kill them on sight.

If you catch evasives, you give yourself a pat on the back for your hard work! If, on the other hand, you catch invasives...

That would depend, to some degree, on what you caught and where. For example, I've been spending a lot of time in NE OH. If you catch a round goby there, you are required to kill it; you are forbidden to put it back in the water. If, on the other hand, you catch a grass carp in certain lakes there, you MUST put it back unharmed. Yes, they are sterile, triploid grass carp. The point is, there is no easy answer to your question. Some invasives, the responsible agency wants to be there; others are unwanted.

Are the ones below Kanawha Falls easier to catch? But seriously, being upstream of a waterfall instead of downstream doesn't suggest to me that they are invasive. They just made their way upstream somehow, or were just not documented there. They apparently do belong in the Kanawha/New River. I wouldn't be concerned.

If you catch evasives, you give yourself a pat on the back for your hard work! If, on the other hand, you catch invasives...

Damn guys, you beat me to it. Those damned evasives - they're really evasive, aren't they! Hard to catch too!

Edited by Irate Mormon, 05 May 2008 - 06:17 PM.

guess i should have noticed i got the wrong word.

guess if i catch more of them ill leave them be

id rather see 100x more longear sunfish than those ugly ole bluegill, atleast when you catch longears you get a nice looking fish instead of a plain ole bluegill.

matthew

guess i should have noticed i got the wrong word.

guess if i catch more of them ill leave them be

id rather see 100x more longear sunfish than those ugly ole bluegill, atleast when you catch longears you get a nice looking fish instead of a plain ole bluegill.

matthew

Bluegills are so easy to catch (even I can do it!) it's a wonder there's any of them left to multiply.