There are three datasets associated with the manuscript ‘Experience matters: Commercial fishing can reduce biomass of invasive bigheaded carps’. The first dataset represent harvest from the invasive carp harvest program in Kentucky and Tennessee from 2009-2021 only in Lake Barkley and Kentucky Lake where the majority of harvest occurs. The second data are length data from a subset of those fish harvested in 2018-2021. Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources and Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency conduct observations onboard commercial vessels. During these observations total lengths are collected from a subset of that capture which we have used to develop a length-based stock assessment. The last dataset are the results from a survey delivered to fishers participating in the invasive carp harvest program in Kentucky and Tennessee.