Lake Hopatcong Grass Carp:

[AndyS]

Lake Hopatcong Commission and Foundation
is interested in stocking Grass Carp in Lake Hopatcong to control the weeds. Currently the regulations only allow lakes less than 10 acres in size and they have to have containment. Lake Hopatcong does not meet either of those requirements. They were advised of that. To allow the stocking of Grass Carp in Lake Hopatcong would require a change of regulations.

[MattK]

Why not try it in lake musconetcong first? Dont they eat pretty much every piece of plant life in the lake? Seems risky to start in hopatcong.

[thmyorke1]

What's wrong with the weeds in the first place? Doesn't it promote good health and a big supply at the bottom of the food chain?

Whatever they do, I just hope it's sterile grass carp.

[FASTEDDIE29]

That’s a bad idea!!! Plenty of fish to be had in the big pond. They should stick em in RV, MC or maybe the lower Raritan! My carp friends would absolutely love that idea!!! Weeds are great, the panfish need a place to hide from the predatory species like Hybrids, Walleye and ESOX!!!

[NJSquatch]

This has been a hot topic lately. The pleasure boaters and residents along shallow coves (crescent cove, landing channel, jefferson canals, etc) are all for it. If it was left up to them they would kill every weed in the lake. The weeds (especially the invasive milfoil)do a really good job of choking up boat props and water intakes which damages the boat engine.

The Local communities have been spending a ludicrous amount of money on weed harvesting the last couple of years. Fortunately a recent bill was passed that has $500k of dedicated state funds to "enhance" the lake. Most of this money will be spent on weed harvesting which is essentially the equivalent to mowing the lawn and not a long term solution.

The Lake Hopatcong Foundation is pushing the grass carp agenda based upon the successes had at Candlewood Lake in CT.

Weeds are very important in a fishes life cycle and it is unknown what the long term impact will be on a fishery.

The reality is something needs to be done to maintain the viability of the lake as a public resource for all.

I say do a test area in the back of one of these coves to measure the impacts. The grass carp is sterile and there would have to be alot stocked to eat even a fraction of the weeds in the lake.

[bunker dunker]

without them weeds those herring will have no place to hide

[akoop]

While I enjoy the lake for both fishing and recreational boating and have on numerous times had to stop to clear my prop and water intake from weeds I feel this is a very bad idea. The lake seems to have an extremely healthy population of fish of various species and is just improving every year. Why mess with it?

[NJSquatch]

Just like the No Anchoring proposal (introduced last year) this is being driven by folks with influence (i.e. $).

The fishing community will need to stay on top of this and be very vocal as it is being discussed. Complaining about it after the fact will do nothing.

Here are some articles on the topic:

http://www.hopatconglakeregionalnews...orough-council

http://www.njherald.com/20171107/hop...oblem-solution

http://www.thejeffersonchronicle.com...ake-hopatcong/

[Chrisper4694]

apparently grass carp introduction completely saved a popular bass lake up in Connecticut (candlewood lake) that's why they have this idea. Idk anything more about it but you can find info online. I'd rather have plant eating fish than chemicals like they do on some private lakes, that's all i know.

[Jigman13]

I'd like to know a couple of things:

How do they sterilize the grass carp?

Is it 100% effective in regards to sterilization? Bc we all know, nature finds a way...

What's the typical average life span of grass carp?

How many would they be introducing?

With lake hopatcong's expansiveness, measuring effectiveness would be extremely difficult unless stockings are done in designated areas and the fish are realistically trapped within the confines of their theoretical containment. Otherwise, you're just throwing fish in a massive water body with next to zero ways of managing and measuring effectiveness. The words "controlled study" come to mind.