Grass carp and a few others!

across the river

Senior Member
I don't get back there often QMOG but that hydrilla sure did make for some good diver hunting back in the day.

I'm with you, but that was back in the days when you could find birds and there was a good chance no one was going to mess with them before you went back to hunt them. They don't hit the water good now before some yahoo is running them up either "scouting" or trying to shoot them out of a running boat.

That's why I hate seeing grass carp introduced, but hydrilla is an invasive, so I guess they have to take care of it someway. Fishing will hurt too, especially bass and jack fish, but only time will tell, I guess.

Just look at Santee to see where it is headed. Years ago you could kill some ducks on Santee with all the grass, then they loaded it down with grass carp and turned it into a lake "dessert" with no vegetation and no where for the fish to hide. It went from holding thousands of ducks to holding thousands of cormorants. Now they actually have select cormorant hunts on the lake, and the only ducks that get killed are on the corn ponds the folks with some money have on some of the surrounding private land. You would think the SC guys would of have pumped the brakes on it a little with some of the back lash they got there, but that is your government at work to save a bald eagle or two. Maybe they will have a cormorant hunt on the hill in a few years as well since they will be even less in the way of ducks visiting each winter.
 

Mexican Squealer

Senior Member
My best duck hunting (Atlantic flyway) memories were on the Cooper river and the lakes. Hydrilla was thick and so were the Widgeons, Gadwall, divers and plenty of other ducks. We hunted every day of the season when we should have been in class...and i wouldn't change a thing. Love thinking about those days...then they decided hydrilla was the devil and sprayed it. Now I own corn ponds but always reflect on the good ol' days...putting in at Quimby creek and waiting on shooting light. Sorry, got nothing to do with your thread
 
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Quackmasterofgeorgia

Senior Member
I'm with you, but that was back in the days when you could find birds and there was a good chance no one was going to mess with them before you went back to hunt them. They don't hit the water good now before some yahoo is running them up either "scouting" or trying to shoot them out of a running boat.



Just look at Santee to see where it is headed. Years ago you could kill some ducks on Santee with all the grass, then they loaded it down with grass carp and turned it into a lake "dessert" with no vegetation and no where for the fish to hide. It went from holding thousands of ducks to holding thousands of cormorants. Now they actually have select cormorant hunts on the lake, and the only ducks that get killed are on the corn ponds the folks with some money have on some of the surrounding private land. You would think the SC guys would of have pumped the brakes on it a little with some of the back lash they got there, but that is your government at work to save a bald eagle or two. Maybe they will have a cormorant hunt on the hill in a few years as well since they will be even less in the way of ducks visiting each winter.
Yeah, hydrilla is a horrible invasive, but it does have a few benefits. They say those cormorants don't eat game fish, but I'd bet $100 if you cut one open there'd be crappie. You can still find spots where hardly anyone is because they don't want to put in that extra effort. They don't need to fight an invasive with another invasive, or at least remove the ban on shooting grass carps after a few years and throw in native aquatics to have a foothold to delay the inevitable return of hydrilla.
 

Quackmasterofgeorgia

Senior Member
My best duck hunting (Atlantic flyway) memories were on the Cooper river and the lakes. Hydrilla was thick and so were the Widgeons, Gadwall, divers and plenty of other ducks. We hunted every day of the season when we should have been in class...and i wouldn't change a thing. Love thinking about those days...then they decided hydrilla was the devil and sprayed it. Now I own corn ponds but always reflect on the good ol' days...putting in at Quimby creek and waiting on shooting light. Sorry, got nothing to do with your thread
I wish there wasn't as much competition as there is now, or at least more respect for someone who beat you to a spot. They're trying to do away with hydrilla because of eagles.
 
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