Whopper of a fish is found in an Olathe drainage ditch

[mikkismom]

Don’t blame Jamie Schmidt for being skeptical when a man called last week saying he had found a 4-foot-long carp in a drainage ditch in Olathe.

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/article27222511.html#storylink=cpy

Picture of 60lb. CARP at link.

 

[Indy Anna]

Isn't that an awfully large fish to come from a lake? Wouldn't it be a sign that there is little aquatic life there because fish size is normally limited by its environment. E.g., a lone goldfish in a large bowl will grow much larger than a goldfish in the same size bowl containing several fish and plants.

If the lake were polluted, though, I doubt that the fish would have lived long enough to grow that big. My guess is that the lake had been polluted at one time, causing much of the aquatic life to die off; then the lake was cleaned up, but not enough time has elapsed for aquatic life to be replenished to its capacity. JMO.

Does that sound like a reasonable explanation or is there another reason why the carp grew so big?

 

[mikkismom]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grass_carp

It is cultivated in China for food, but was introduced in Europe and the United States for aquatic weed control.

They eat up to three times their own body weight daily. They thrive in small lakes and backwaters that provide an abundant supply of freshwater vegetation.