Asian carp are the most infamous aquatic invasive species of all time. As a result, there are many fallacies and conspiracy theories about these fish among the general public. Because of my profession as an aquatic ecologist, I have heard endless stories about this group of fish, not limited to, but consisting of the following: The government dropping them into the Illinois River via helicopter; Various DNR’s stocking them in hopes of producing a sport fishery; Eating all the eggs of gamefish species, or even eating gamefish themselves. Then there is the big question of what happens if they make it into Lake Michigan. This crisis then falls on “fish people” like me to try and keep these rumors from proliferating even further.

There are five species of Asian carp which include common carp, grass carp, the lesser known black carp, silver carp, and bighead carp – the last two being the species causing the most problems in the Illinois River.



Black carp for instance are a species slowly migrating their way northward, and soon could be causing many problems because they feed on mussels. They would be especially detrimental in Illinois, because many of the Illinois mussel species are threatened or endangered due to habitat degradation. Black carp could hamper our statewide rehabilitation efforts to restore native mussel populations such as the reintroduction of the northern riffleshell in Eastern Illinois.

Silver and bighead carp were originally brought over to the United States as a biological cleansing tool to improve water quality for catfish aquaculture ponds constructed in the floodplains of the lower Mississippi River Valley in states such as Mississippi and Arkansas. However, in the floods of the 1970’s these ponds were inundated and the fish escaped. They have spread northward ever since and were first reported in the Illinois River around 1993 by commercial fishermen. They remained off the general public’s radar until around 2000 when they began spawning successfully and rapidly, and their populations grew exponentially. Soon after, there were reports of fish jumping into boats. These fish were becoming a danger to boaters on the river, and it was only then as the public then began to take notice.



Many people have blamed Asian carp for the decline of our various sport fisheries of the Illinois River. In truth, sportfish had been declining in the river long before the Asian carp had established themselves. The decline in sportfish can be attributed to the loss of viable spawning and overwintering habitat. The Illinois River was historically one of the most productive fisheries on the continent. However, as a result of the various commercial transformations, the river has undergone man-made alterations such as channelization, and the construction of levees and dams. Consequently, the fluvial dynamics of the river have completely changed. Interestingly enough, the sauger fishery in the Peoria to Spring Valley stretch of the Illinois River is still world class. However, some of the effects of the carp are not as visible.

Silver and bighead carp feed voraciously on phytoplankton and zooplankton, which are at the base of all aquatic food chains. All species of fish depend on these resources at some point in their lives. Baitfish such as gizzard shad are planktivores and feed on plankton for their entire lives. Commercial species including paddlefish, which are already heavily pressured and threatened just about everywhere in the United States, have also suffered from unnecessary competition from the invasive carp. Also, young of the year sportfish depend on zooplankton early on in their lives before moving on to larger prey as they grow. This being said, the Illinois River is still very productive in the lower trophic levels. This may be what is sustaining native fish populations, and unfortunately, also creates the perfect storm for fish like Asian carp.



Peak production of zooplankton occurs during the spring season in the floodplains and this is very convenient for young-of-year sportfish. However if the region experiences several drought years in a row, floodplains become limited and many Asian carp overpopulate these types of habitats. This could possibly lead to less food sources for native fish in these nurseries, and result in lower recruitment of young of the year sportfish.

Knowing all of this information, the question to ask now is what happens if they get into the Great Lakes? There is no way of knowing the answer to this and is a very controversial subject.

As of now, there is an electric barrier in the Sanitary Ship Canal, a Chicago waterway. All signs are indicating it is effective as a deterrent. Over the past few years, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources has received millions of dollars in funding, and they hand this money out the form of grants for various projects that universities in Illinois do to further learn more about the fish and possible modes that can be used to prevent further range expansion.

To date, the best solution that has been presented for completely stopping the Asian carp invasion is to fill in the shipping canal. Unfortunately, the shipping companies have rejected this idea because they rely on the waterway for transporting goods. If closure were to happen, these companies would lose millions of dollars.

Therefore, scientists have been forced to devise other alternatives. It is widely speculated that the salmon fishery in Lake Michigan could collapse if Asian carp make their way in, but there is no evidence to support that. Furthermore, there have been studies conducted for predicting how successful Asian carp could be if they expand their range into the Great Lakes. Studies have shown that the general water chemistry of the Great Lakes is very different than the Illinois River and spawning success would be very limited. Egg hatching is greatly reduced in softer water like that of Lake Michigan. In addition, increases in current flow are important spawning cues for Asian Carp. There would obviously be no flood pulses like the Illinois River system in a large lake. The larger problem might be if they make their way into other prominent fisheries such as many of the streams that run into the Great Lakes. There are also other important fisheries upstream on the Mississippi River such as Eastern Wisconsin’s Lake Pepin, and the Saint Croix River.

While fisheries biologists work toward solutions to prevent range expansion and the control of existing populations, there are things that, you, the avid fishermen can do to help. Lobby your local lawmakers to fight for the Illinois Department of Resources to continue to get money so that they can keep their doors open and continue to manage the great fisheries that the state of Illinois houses. Keep yourself educated about other invasive species such as the spiny waterflea and zebra mussels, and educate other anglers about these nuisance species. In addition, report new sightings of invasive species to local conservation offices. Last but not least, follow regulations regarding the transport of bait and emptying livewells. With the help of anglers, it may be possible prevent further range expansions of several of our waters invasive species.



Article as-seen in Issue-9 of Fishing-Headquarters Magazine

Regardless of what many people say, lipless crankbaits will have their shining moments at any point of the season.  On occasion, I hear of some folks complain of how it’s an “idiot bait”, a technique that requires extremely long casts and quick retrieves that enables you to catch easy fish by covering water.



Unlike some folks, I beg to differ. Lipless crankbaits play a huge role in my early season fishing.

During the end of March last year, I experienced a bitterly cold day of fishing. A dusting of snowfall was covering the ground as a result of an overnight front that came in. To make the situation seem even worse, air temperatures were about 20 degrees below seasonal average, and water temperatures were barely breaking 30 degrees, all because of this massive cold front.

On this particular early spring day, I had nothing but fishing scheduled in my plans for the late afternoon.

My fishing partner and I decided to head over to the small lake in town. This particular place had been worthwhile for us during the previous weeks since ice-out. Our plan was to fish a weedy flat near the main channel. I decided to approach this day a little differently than a lot of people would approach a postfrontal outing. Most people would fish VERY slowly. I, on the other hand, wanted to cover water and find a couple of aggressive fish because I didn’t have a large amount of time to fish it thoroughly.

As we began fishing, I was immediately regretting my decision coming here. During the first ten minutes of uncomfortable casting, my hands were freezing from palming my Quantum Tour Edition TE1160 PT bait-casting reel.

Skeptical of our efforts, and my lack of success while fishing during post-frontal conditions, I had a feeling that we were going to catch nothing, and our day of trying to fish would be a waste of time.

Following our half an hour of futility, I was in the process of suggesting to my partner that we conclude this outing sometime soon. Then suddenly, my fortunes changed and all hell broke loose for us.



Out of nowhere I encountered a subtle bump on my Yo Zuri Rattlin’ Vibe. This completely caught my off guard. I set the hook and sure enough I had a fish on. I immediately knew it was a “biggun” because of its weight. When it was played in and lipped, I was in shock.  I knew right away that it was the biggest bass of my life.

Final measurements were taken. The big bass was 23 inches, and estimated to be around 7 lbs. Pictures were taken and the fish was released to fight another day. After this fish, we continued to fish, but could not entice anything else. Victimized by the cold, and my lucky catch, we retired as happy anglers for the day.



This forever would cement my confidence in fishing with lipless crankbaits during cold weather periods and post-frontal conditions.

Quite often, I get asked the following question by inquiring anglers; “What is the reason behind bass aggressively attacking rattle baits?”

When females are nesting and preparing to spawn, anything that intrudes their nest will be aggressively attacked. It’s in the nature of almost all egg-laden fish species. The fish may not necessarily be hitting out of hunger, but more out of a reactionary parental instinct because of the objective is to protect their nest.

Any strike like this, that isn’t influenced by hunger, is called a reaction strike. There are many ways to trigger reaction strikes at any time of the year. Examples are bouncing crankbaits off structure such as rocks and wood. In addition, varying your speeds of retrieve also lead to a plethora of strikes.

When fishing lipless crankbaits, I tend to use a variety of retrieves. My preference is burning them, with the combination of giving them erratic jerks and pauses. Many times I have gotten a strike following a pause on the first crank of the reel.



Plan-B Options

Besides rattle baits, there are other fine lure selections that can be used in the springtime, most notably jig & pigs, and jerkbaits. These often serve as my backup plan if lipless crankbaits aren’t on the fishes menu.

Jig & pigs are most effective for me during the first few weeks of spring, immediately after ice out.

The bass at this time are in the process of working their way out of their winter doldrums. During their sluggish movements, it is imperative that a slow approach be used. Early in the season, I prefer using red or brown colored jigs with craw trailers because one of the first main forages of a bass is crayfish. Hopping a jig along the bottom at a very slow pace will replicate a crayfish crawling on the bottom. I prefer using downsized versions such as Strike Kings Bitsy Bugs and Booyah Baby Boo jigs.

In addition to the much slower fishing presentations dictated by the jig and pig, jerkbaits also prove their effectiveness during slow days of fishing.

As the spring season progresses towards a warmer summer, jerkbaits are an excellent option for post-frontal conditions and especially in situations when the fish are flat-out active. The key to fishing jerkbaits at this time of year is to keep the retrieve slow and deliberate. The retrieves should consist of erratic jerks and very long pauses, sometimes even a ten second count is necessary between any continued movements.

My favorite jerkbaits include Storm Thundersticks and the Rapala X-Rap 8 and 10. Color choices are not all that important to me. Just remember the basic color rules in respect to water clarity, like using darker colored lures in murky water, and so forth.



Trap Attack

Due to the power fishing mentality that I have, I will always remain sensitive to the lipless crankbait because I enjoy its fast paced fishing, and rapid casting mode.

As opposed to other methods that work well during early season situations, I enjoy fishing with lipless crankbaits in particular because you can cover a lot more water, present your lure in diverse casting angles, and can quickly find more fish and get them to strike out of annoyance of the rattling lure.

Through my experiences of early season fishing, the prime water temperatures for fishing with lipless crankbaits are between 45-55 degrees.

I usually begin the season first by targeting smaller bodies of water such small lakes and ponds, or places that receive a lot of overland and tile drainage because these are the places that warm up the quickest. In addition, I also focus often on areas such as northern most shorelines that are baked by direct sunlight.

On any body of water, whether on ponds or big lakes, the general rule of thumb is to find shallower water adjacent to deeper water where the females will come out of to begin the spawning process. They will often be sunning in shallow water or by other structures that attract heat. These areas, specifically, can include rocks, wood debris, emerging weedgrowth, and sand.

As far as color choices are concerned, I like to keep most lipless crank selections limited to any sort of red or orange color. The reasoning for this is that one of the main early season forages of bass is crayfish, as they are abundant, and get set to spawn themselves. In addition to the reds and oranges, a lot of other color options work well such as firetiger. Also worth noting is that if fishing in clear water situations, it is important to match the hatch and pay attention to the patterns of the available pelagic forage species.

When fishing with lipless crankbaits, or making your selections on which brands, models, and styles to use, the most important factor is determining how noisy and effective the internal rattles are. My rule is the louder the vibration, the better.



Many of these lipless crankbaits are expensive for their designs and styles. However, they are definitely worth using. My favorites include the Yo Zuri Rattlin’ Vibes and the Spro Aruku Shads. Besides these two, other cost-effective options are available, and these work just as well. Some examples are the following: Bill Lewis Rattletraps; Strike King Redeye Shads; and Cotton Cordell Super Spots.

To fish effectively with rattle baits, I use the Quantum Tour Edition TE1160 line of reels with the 6.3:1 gear ratio. The mid-range gear ratio seems to work best for me because I do not want to move the rattletrap too fast. That is my overall preference, but sometimes a faster gear ratio greater than 7.0:1 such as the blazing fast Quantum Tour TKVD150HPT is required if you really want to make the lure move and get the fish to bite when nothing else can.



As far as rod lengths and actions are concerned for fishing with rattle baits, most anglers prefer using medium to medium-heavy action rods. I prefer using a 7 foot medium heavy rod for this type of fishing so that I can make long casts. In addition, the long rods help for stronger hook sets I as get to the backbone of the rod quicker. It helps to have as strong as a rod possible to bring in the big female bass that are full of energy from heavy feeding to meet the energy requirements for spawning.

For any rattle bait rod and reel combo, I like to use 30 lb. braided superline such as Power Pro, Spiderwire Stealth, or Sufix Fusion. These superlines enable anglers to make long, smooth casts and gives more leverage when fighting fish and not having to worry about a break off. Besides braided line options, copolymers and 10lb fluorocarbon will work when needed.

Like a number of anglers who began fishing with lipless crankbaits, I was skeptical of the benefits that can be had from triggering reaction strikes. After long hours of trial and error, I progressively gained confidence in them and feel as if I can catch fish no matter the situations being presented.

During your early season big bass hunts, keep angler ethics a high priority. Practice catch, photo, and release on those big females to ensure they can be back in the water, guarding their eggs from nest raiders.