Establishment of bighead carp in an Illinois river floodplain lake: A potential source population for the Illinois river

The bighead carp (Hypopthalmychthys nobilis) is a recent invasive species along the mainstem Illinois River and has been found in increasing numbers over the past few years. We found that young-of-year bighead carp produced in Lake Chautauqua, a floodplain lake that maintains some connection to the Illinois River, may be a source population to the mainstem Illinois River. Catch rates of bighead carp increased from incidental in 1996 to 10% of the total catch in 2000.