Course How To

Stop the carp & fish from banging on our houseboat

by Rebecca
(Texas)


How to stop the carp & fish from eating the algae off the bottom of our houseboat? The banging drives me crazy!


Thanks, Rebecca.



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Reply - Answer
Well Rebecca, I can sympathize with your dilemma since the sound of fish & carp banging or feeding on the algae can definitely drive someone nuts.

One of the best products that I found that helps to eliminate the problem is to apply a special anti fouling bottom paint to the hull. This bottom paint with Irgarol is especially good on the algae and bottom growth, which will really help to provide much less of a feeding area for the fish or carp.

If you have a sense of humor, I can recommend having a party with many friends, and bring out the fishing rods, and have a "fish BBQ" :)

Joking aside, I know what's it's like to have them banging on your hull, and I found that this bottom paint really helped to let me have a great night's sleep.

Lastly, hopefully some of our readers will share and post comments about their fish & carp feeding on their houseboat hull experiences.


IAN from all-about-houseboats


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Comments for Stop the carp & fish from banging on our houseboat

Average Rating starstarstarstarstar

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Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Fish feeding on your boat hull
by: Jay

We use a green fishing light. It draws alligator gar and they keep the others away. Works pretty well. Most folks on my dock use the same method. The noise was driving me and the wife nuts. I started noticing others doing the green light thing and started asking questions. Glad I did. It’s helped tremendously.
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Carp nightmare
by: Bill

Only solution i found was to hang chainlink fence from my walkway.
Tried everything else.
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		It's not algae!
by: Anonymous

I just put fresh bottom paint on (VC17) and the boat’s only been in the water 5 days on May 12th, lake Erie. There's NO algea on my boat yet!
But the carp are banging in my hull like crazy, day & night. A 32' sailboat. They seem to like round bottom sailboats way more than the flatter bottoms of power boats. It seems it has something to do with mating.
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		carp hitting houseboat problem
by: joe

does shining and underwater light up to the bottom of you boat keep the carp away? has anyone had any luck with this they are driving me crazy
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Salt lick savior
by: Anonymous

What do you do with the salt lick, just hang it off the boat?
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Carp
by: John Saxon

I have this problem and read that you can hang containers with small holes filled with chlorine tablets. Another solution is to do the same filled with corn or dog food in an area that will not bother another boater. The idea is get them use to feeding there and not on your boat.
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Aerator
by: Anonymous

Man can I sympathize. I have a sailboat that for years we had the pleasure restful weekend camping at the dock. The past 4 or five years have been brutal.

In the winter we would use a Kasco ice eater to keep the slip free of ice. I use this same device in the summer at night to keep the water moving around the hull. It worked like a charm.

They don't want to work for their food by swimming and eating at the same time so they go to the next boat.
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Houseboat Noises - finally found the answer!
by: Anonymous

I have been going absolutely mad from the knocking on the boat and the lack of sleep doesn't help my state of mind either. I've been in the same marina for a very long time and never had the problem.

Two months ago I moved just across the river and every now and then I would hear the tapping. It suddenly got very bad where it's nearly constant 24 hours a day.

All weekend I've been crawling around with my ear to the floor, looking in compartments, flushing my bilge, re-tying my lines, etc. I haven't slept in three days from the noise and my obsession to figure out what it is!

I repaint the bottom every spring but I suppose I'll need to be more choosy with it. Maybe now that I know WHAT the sound is it won't bother me so much. My last resort was googling the problem and there it was! Good to know I'm not crazy.

Reply - Answer
Your comments made me laugh, as NO you are not crazy. I know of a chap that had the same problem with ducks going around "pecking" at the algae around the houseboats waterline.

IAN from www.all-about-houseboats.com
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Houseboat Tips to Stop the CARP
by: Tony

I have tried bleach - 5-10 min results (probably not a very green solution)

Underwater fireworks -10-20 min results (dock neighbors don't appreciate)

Fishing - they are tough to catch

Bottom-job: lasts for about 6-12 months. But I only pull the boat every 3 years.

Bow-fishing - very gratifying at 1am with that pecking ringing in your ear. You have 1-2 seconds to shoot once the light is on them.

Our next move is to try underwater lights. These carp hate light. One boat near the shore tested this and it worked for them.

If a unique solution is found, someone could get rich. I hate these fish.
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Spear 'em.
by: Anonymous

I have tried several ideas, some a little crazy to include dropping waterproof M80's into the water like depth charges. It would scare them, but only for about 10 minutes.

So far, my best solution was to rig up my grab pole with a ice pick on one end and use it like a spear. The carp are pretty stupid, so they don't run at the sight of a person, they just keep lugging along the hull. When they come up from the side's, I get them. This usually cures the problem for several hours.
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Great tips for this.
by: Capt. Ray

I started a thread on another forum about this topic several years ago. It ran for many months and got many serious and some very funny replies.

The best results are either bottom painting, or other ways to keep the algae down.

The other thing that is very important is to not dump your waste directly into the water without treatment. The use of a MSD type 1,2 or 3 will greatly help.

The carp are bottom feeders who love to eat the waste.
Rating
starstarstarstar 		Stop the carp from banging
by: John

Chlorine tablets did not work but what does and is an inexpensive fix is a block of salt lick. A professional tournament fisherman told me about it. You can purchase it at farm and feed stores.

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