Carp Fishing

[Ben]

Do any of you guys fish for carp? Turns out I have some decent sized carp in my pond (biggest I caught so far is about 20"), and holy hell, do they put up a fight! That's some fun reeling! I've only figured out how to catch them on bait so far, and want to catch them on the fly. I want to buy some carp flies this week to give that a try.

I need to look at how many I want to keep in the pond (and figure out how many are in there now), which is supposed to be a bass pond. I put 150 bass fingerlings in a couple of months ago, but they won't mature till next year (if the herons don't get them or the minnows they eat first). In the meantime,  I want to keep some carp just for the fun of catching a big fish and having them tow my RHIB around. 

I haven't eaten one yet, just been doing catch and release. I guess if you prepare them right they are pretty good. They are a highly rated eating fish in Europe. When I was in Germany in my 20's, an Uncle took me to a sportsmans restaurant where we had fish, which turned out to be carp. If I had known it was carp beforehand, I wouldn't have even taken a bite, just from always hearing "trash fish" in the US, but  I recall it was pretty good.

[BobR]

We used to fish for carp using a hook baited with a few kernels of corn. I am not sure how your pond carp would taste but I used to catch them out of the Colorado River near Picacho SRA and they tasted fine. I was brought up being taught that as long as you got them out of flowing water they would taste better. The ones I caught in the lakes growing up I would trade for gas with a guy that owned a gas station.

You will want to keep an eye on them, if they are grass carp they cannot reproduce in ponds according to some sources so you don't want to run out of them. They do make an effective way to control the vegetation in ponds.

I usually bake the fish whole and eat it from one side, it is not a bad tasting fish.

bob

[Ben]

We used to fish for carp using a hook baited with a few kernels of corn. I am not sure how your pond carp would taste but I used to catch them out of the Colorado River near Picacho SRA and they tasted fine. I was brought up being taught that as long as you got them out of flowing water they would taste better. The ones I caught in the lakes growing up I would trade for gas with a guy that owned a gas station.

You will want to keep an eye on them, if they are grass carp they cannot reproduce in ponds according to some sources so you don't want to run out of them. They do make an effective way to control the vegetation in ponds.

I usually bake the fish whole and eat it from one side, it is not a bad tasting fish.

bob

These are common carp, which likely came in as fingerlings. I top off my pond via an irrigation pump, and they likely come through that as the creek  I get the water from has them, bluegill, crappie, catfish, and lots of little minnows or else fingerlings that I can't identify. Idaho DFG requires a permit to get sterilized grass carp, which I'm thinking about. I don't look to have a big vegetation problem right now.

I've read that if you get carp from water like farm ponds, to keep them alive in a big bucket of fresh, clear water for a couple of days before you eat them.

[BobR]

I've read that if you get carp from water like farm ponds, to keep them alive in a big bucket of fresh, clear water for a couple of days before you eat them.

If they are wild carp and they can reproduce you will need to keep an eye on how many you get, they can take over a pond from what I have seen in other places. maybe a screen filter on your irrigation intake to keep the unwanted fish out?

I was also told when growing up if you pressure cooked a carp a lot of the small bones would dissolve so there would be less to deal with. I never tried it.

bob

[Ben]

If they are wild carp and they can reproduce you will need to keep an eye on how many you get, they can take over a pond from what I have seen in other places. maybe a screen filter on your irrigation intake to keep the unwanted fish out?

Yeah, I'm thinking about that. DFG doesn't require it, only a screened outflow, but it would help with unwanted stuff. I'm pretty sure the previous owner had no screen but the intake is in a freakin' dangerous location that I'm afraid to check, so I probably won't do anything about it until that pump needs work, then I'll have the pump guys do it.

[charby]

Springtime jumping carp and a shotgun, lots of fun.

[Ben]

Springtime jumping carp and a shotgun, lots of fun.

I was actually thinking of breaking my bow back out. :)

[MechAg94]

When my brother still had his boat, he used to bow fish for them quite a bit.  I went with him a couple times.  It was a lot of fun.  More fun than fishing to me at least. 

[grampster]

Carp are generally bottom feeders.  Bow hunting in the spring is fun.  I ate carp that we cooked over an open fire when I was a kid.  We also ate sparrows and robins and various other birds we got with bb guns..just sayin.  My gustatorial desires were more broad when I was being Jedediah Smith or John Colter with my BB gun.

[brimic]

I used to shoot a lot of them from the local river with a bow when i was a kid.
I had an uncle who would smoke them, they tasted pretty good smoked.
As far as eating them otherwise? No. There were a lot better eating fish like walleyes, northern,  catfish, and smallmouth to be caught in the same river.

[zahc]

I've caught one accidentally on 2" tube once. On purpose with small curly tail grubs. But mostly with corn or mixed vegetables.

I tried to eat one once and it was nothing but scales and bones.

[Ben]

I've caught one accidentally on 2" tube once. On purpose with small curly tail grubs. But mostly with corn or mixed vegetables.

I tried to eat one once and it was nothing but scales and bones.

Yeah, as BobR alluded, there are apparently cooking methods that will dissolve the smaller bones, but they seem to be a pain in the ass to prep for cooking, and I hate fish with heavy scales and bajillions of little bones to deal with.

[Pb]

Yes, carp fishing can be fun!   

[slugcatcher]

My Grandfather used to make a paste out of wheaties and shove a hook in it. 

[RoadKingLarry]

My Grandfather used to make a paste out of wheaties and shove a hook in it. 

And it was still better eating than carp.