This past spring led to an interesting discovering in Burton Lake.
Two common carp, also know as European carp, were caught this past May weighing in at 27 and 28 lb.
While carp have been reported in Burton Lake for the past five years, this has been the first time they have actually been caught in Burton, says Humboldt Conservation Officer Bruce McLarty.
“Fisheries did set a test net in 2016, so two years ago, and they didn’t catch any carp at that time but we had reports that they were in there.”
Considering the size these are adult fish, says McLarty, but where they came from is uncertain.
Common carp were introduced to North America in the late 1800s and are in the Qu’Appelle waterway, which includes the Last Mountain waterway, the Qu’Appelle River, and Wolverine Creek that goes into Stony Lake and the golf course pond.
“Burton Lake is just outside of the watershed but it’s close to the line so possibly in those flooding years through road ditches or who knows,” says McLarty.
Dead Moose, Houghton, and Waldsea are all saltwater lakes and while carp could survive in those lakes, being a fresh water fish, there would be little likelihood of carp spawning in saltwater.
As of the summer of 2018, there is also no path for the fish to go into surrounding fresh water lakes, like Lenore.
Carp are bottom feeders and have co-existed with game fish in surrounding lakes. But they are an invasive species and the health of the lake would probably be improved if they were not there, says McLarty.
If anglers do catch carp in Burton Lake, McLarty says that they should not release the fish back into the lake. It is okay to throw out carp catches he says.
