Carp...a varmint?

npm352

WKR
Joined
Apr 18, 2018
Messages
450
I say yes....here is one I got today on a quick stop running some errands with one of my kiddos. 20180604_140323.jpg

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Joined
Feb 20, 2014
Messages
1,043
Location
Southwest Colorado
What do you do with the dead carp? I have always released them after catching. They are really fun on a fly rod when you can sigh fish for them.
 

boom

WKR
Joined
Sep 11, 2013
Messages
3,185
i think Carp just needs a better Public Relations office.

they taste pretty good. my stepdad cooked one that fooled everyone. i was just shoveling in when he told it was a carp.
 

Beendare

WKR
Joined
May 6, 2014
Messages
8,247
Location
Corripe cervisiam
Someone told me its the #1 consumed fish in the world....

I just can't get past eating them after them being in 1/2 full garbage can all bloody with slimy eggs all over....yuch!

We were in the Delta years ago and found these asian guys in a tiny inflatable up against the tules in a back channel. They didn't speak a word of English. My buddy holds up a carp.....trying to tell them, "Do you want these?" Finally I just nosed in close [had to be careful, the water was about 3" from the top of their inflatable rail]

My one buddy was handing them off one at a time but the wind was fighting us....suddenly the other guy just dumps the garbage can full of 10#- 18# carp right in on top of them. They were laughing....happy as a clam.....with a couple hundred pounds of fish vs the tiny bluegills they were catching.

I was worried they wouldn't make it across the slough as now the water was right at the rail.....not to mention they were covered in blood and slime.

Some things just stick in your mind....dang, that was one of them.
 

Mt Al

WKR
Joined
Dec 16, 2017
Messages
1,214
Location
Montana
Excellent post! Definitely a varmint! Non-native, invasive but a blast on light tackle, as stated above.

A great trip is to go to Yellowtail Dam south of Hardin, MT. Beautiful lake. Many, many carp. Used to huck a treble hook over ones surfacing, snag (sometimes) and haul them in. They fight like crazy, lots of fun.

Someone, not me, should start a conservation group "Carp Forever" "National Carp Foundation" or "Carp Unlimited" and swindle people out of their money and time to protect this valuable resource.
 

Lawnboi

WKR
Joined
Mar 2, 2012
Messages
7,687
Location
North Central Wi
Very destructive fish. I used to shoot them but haven't in years. Too much mess and hassle for something that will end up rotting in a farmers field.

I don't know a person who eats them. They are in most river systems around here and are harmful to a lot of native fish in regards to spawning. Fun to catch and shoot yes. Don't let them go, bury them in the garden.
 

boom

WKR
Joined
Sep 11, 2013
Messages
3,185
it's the stigma attached to them. junk fish.

they eat mostly plantlife, so the flesh is actually super firm. way firmer than a blackbass. no bonier than a bass. i agree the flesh will have an occasional vein..you can avoid them easily.

there are some uglyass fish out there that we eat. (chilean sea bass comes to mind) just good PR and marketing. if people would turn it around, it is a very sustainable food source. hell, it might solve even a few problems.

but i get it. we love our chicken nuggets and stuff :) food that quit looking like the animal it came from.
 

boom

WKR
Joined
Sep 11, 2013
Messages
3,185
my stepdad passed away..i dont know how to cook a carp. jus saying. but he did.
 

Genograusam

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Oct 11, 2018
Messages
103
Location
Grand Forks, ND
Like anything... Meat prep... In Illinois during the early spring when the grass carp were up, I'd take a cooler of ice and cut the fillets out for smoking. 90% of the carp I shot went into a farmer's ditch where the coyotes, coons, and crows would feast. But carp, especially the grass carp and silver carp (flying carp) are very good smoked or deep fried if prepared correctly.
 

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Joined
Aug 10, 2015
Messages
2,243
Grass carp are very good eating. The flesh on the jumpers is even better.

All the common carp I ever stuck fed the turtles or coons.
 
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