I'm a scientist studying bighead and silver carp and working on methods to control and manage their populations. Among other things, I have been working on characterizing the habitat choices that radio-tagged bigheads and silvers choose for almost two years. E.J.D.'s description of bighead habitat is perspicacious, and is the kind of post that keeps me coming back to bowhunter sites - bowhunters watch fish and learn their habits in ways that other fishermen don't. Every once in a while I even learn something that I wouldn't have learned even through my research, or get ideas on new paths to take. It also helps keep me in touch with new range expansions. Anyway, as EJD noted, bigheads and silvers like to be in low velocity water, but not necessarily zero velocity. Bigheads like just a bit more current than silvers, but for some reason the silvers tend to use the bigger rivers more than the tribs unless the big rivers are flooded and/or muddy. Both fish like eddys a lot. Bigheads feed right on the surface sometimes, especially at night but sometimes in the day too. This makes them good bowfishing targets. Silvers are much harder to bowfish, but if you can find concentrations of them you can use the boat to make them jump and then try to shoot them out of the air. This is difficult but it can be done and it is a hoot trying. But it is a bit dangerous - getting hit by a carp can really hurt you, and they also tend to damage things in the boat, like fishing rods, depthfinders, and girlfriends.