Gigantic Grass Carp Discovered in Louisiana’s Lake Concordia: A Remarkable Find That Highlights the Dangers of Invasive Species

Recently, biologists with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) caught a massive grass carp weighing almost 100 pounds during routine spring sampling in Lake Concordia. The fish, measuring 49.5 inches long and weighing 92 pounds, would have broken world records if it had been caught in a fishing competition. This impressive catch exceeded the “all-tackle” world record set in Bulgaria in 2009 by four pounds and would have tied the current world record of the Bowfishing Association of America set in Alabama in 2015.

What made this catch even more remarkable was that the grass carp was a species that had never been seen in Lake Concordia before. Biologist Shelby Richard speculated that the fish most likely traveled through Cocodrie Bayou and into Lake Concordia via a control structure. Grass carp are originally from Asia and have been used in the U.S. since the 1960s to manage aquatic vegetation in lakes and ponds. This discovery highlights the importance of monitoring and controlling invasive species to protect native ecosystems.