Carp = Bad Fishy?...

[Panman]

Looks like one of those bath tube mats with all the suction cups

Looks like all my cousins descending on our abode for Thanksgiving dinner.

[Gnu Bee Flyer]

So, I guess, 6 years after they stop, they get to do it all over again?
Unless they can find a way to make the carp stop reproducing, It's a $1.5 million per year recurring nightmare.
It's amazing the exremes folks will go to in the name of a cause. Is this little sucker fish in any way ecologically important? Important for a reason other than being endangered, that is?
I'll bet these same folks would be trying to save the dinosaurs, despite the fact that Mother Nature had a different plan.
I think we sometimes have a greater sense of our role in the world than is warranted.

Just sayin'

Kirk

They don't have a hope in hell of stopping them, a single female carp can lay up to 50,000,000 eggs at a time...... that's 50 million eggs folks.

If they really want to save those suckers they need to find a compatible lake and stream that doesn't have the carp and will support the suckers. I suppose then the suckers will displace some other species and the cycle will start all over again.

The BC government fisheries dept is talking about poisoning several local lakes to get rid of illegally introduced yellow perch. They have a list of lakes they want to get the perch out of. Despite that,they put a limit on how many perch you can catch. Go figure.

I know an old couple who regularly go to one of the lakes mentioned and take many times the 25 yellow perch limit each time they go. They fillet them all and distribute them around to anyone who wants any. I know this because I have helped out at the local soup kitchen and have enjoyed several meals of donated yellow perch.

I could report them of course but to what end? The lake is to be poisoned and the fish will just rot on the bottom.

[Fly 4ta]

Man, just read this entire thread and can't believe we generated 7 pages from a post that was wrong in it's "facts." First, there are two fish the California DFG regulations require you to immediately cut the head off if you catch them, and neither is a carp. White bass and pike must be decapitated and it is unlawful to possess a live speciman of either species. You even have to put the pike, body and head, in your freezer, report the catch to DFG, and hold the fish until they come for it. As far as carp, it is unlawful to waste them so no DFG representative told the original poster they should be tossed on the bank or killed in any other fashion for the purpose of protecting the bass and sunfish.

Second, carp can do damage to lakes, but not the ones we have in Southern California. They have been know to damage natural, cold water lakes in northern states like Minnisota.

Finally, carp aren't known to target bass and sunfish eggs. Sure, they may eat some incidentally, but they don't target them. Sunfish and trout are species known to target eggs, maybe we should start throwing them up on the banks.

[Gigmaster]

A man after my own heart.....!

All of the species mentioned, to which I will also add Snakeheads, bowfin, and gar, are great table-fare, and vastly under-used resources, especially in this time of economic turmoil. Many would do well to consider adding some of these tasty tidbits to their diets in time of hardships.

It's just like I tell people about possum (one of my favorite stew animals)....if you'd turn down eating one, then you just haven't been hungry enough to appreciate the value of a good marsupial. And in my neck of the woods, we consider armadillos as "Possum-On-The-Half-Shell.

I assure you all, there is nothing wrong with a well-prepared Cyprinidae.

Carp are not native to North American Continent. European Carp were brought over here by our European Ancestors. Recent year we now have Asian Carp that have be brought over to North America. Both are are aggressive feeders, and they disrupt the Ecological Pyramid that keeps our water healthy, and balanced.

Unforunately, just like the "Genie let out of the Bottle", it is almost impossible to iradicate a species that has been introduced to a ecosystem, where that specie has no know predetors that keep them in check.

Once the damage is done, it cannot be undone! So I say, catch some carp, and eat them. They are quite good to eat! There are many fish that freshwater anglers do not eat, and that is a shame. Burbot (Eelpout) is a freshwater fish that is a member of the Cod family, its loins are good eats, a little melted butter and it taste like lobster.

I love White Fish, smoked and served with a white cream sauce.

I am glad the Northern Pike have restrictions in Minnesota for minimum length, before you keep them. But I do love eating Pike and Pickerell. Easy to fillet if you know how to get around the Y-bone.

I eat Suckers that are caught in clean water, they are good eats also.

[Gigmaster]

They want to get rid of Yellow Perch? Are they insane? They want to poison a whole body of water to remove possibly one of the tastiest fresh-water fish there is??? What's wrong with just lifting the limits, and even allow commercial exploitation?

They don't have a hope in hell of stopping them, a single female carp can lay up to 50,000,000 eggs at a time...... that's 50 million eggs folks.

If they really want to save those suckers they need to find a compatible lake and stream that doesn't have the carp and will support the suckers. I suppose then the suckers will displace some other species and the cycle will start all over again.

The BC government fisheries dept is talking about poisoning several local lakes to get rid of illegally introduced yellow perch. They have a list of lakes they want to get the perch out of. Despite that,they put a limit on how many perch you can catch. Go figure.

I know an old couple who regularly go to one of the lakes mentioned and take many times the 25 yellow perch limit each time they go. They fillet them all and distribute them around to anyone who wants any. I know this because I have helped out at the local soup kitchen and have enjoyed several meals of donated yellow perch.

I could report them of course but to what end? The lake is to be poisoned and the fish will just rot on the bottom.

[Clay]

A man after my own heart.....!

All of the species mentioned, to which I will also add Snakeheads, bowfin, and gar, are great table-fare,

Ok, have to ask, how do you eat gar. Many, many years ago when I use to shoot them with a bow I tried to eat one. Many of you know how the flesh of fish flakes into segments. In-between each 1/4 to 3/8 inch of flesh is a sliver of cartilage. It was like crewing a tennis ball. Thee worst fish that I ever tried to stomach in my entire life. I see no way or removing each section of cartilage. So how do you cook a tennis ball to make it eatable?

Rick

[NJTroutbum]

Carp are what they eat. If caught in clear cold water, they are excellent table-fair.....as are white suckers. If caught in slow, warmer and/or polluted water....well, they are what they eat.

They are a great gamefish....better than some of our favored fish IMO.

[Gigmaster]

You'll need an axe, or tomahawk (I always carry one fishing), a pair of tin snips, gloves, some rope, and a very sharp fillet knife.

Start by cutting the head and tail off the gar with the tomahawk/axe. Then using the rope, hang it in a tree, head-down, and let all the blood run out. Next, using the tin snips, split the gar's armored hide all the way down. either on the belly, or the back. Using gloves to protect your hands, pliers, and a knife when necesary, peel the hide from the meat. Now, just fillet the meat from the backbone just as you would any other fish, and cut it into loin strips.

Now, you can freeze it, smoke it, fry it, stew it, or any other way you wish to fix it. When cooked, the meat is white, flakey and tastes a lot like crappie.

Bon apetit.

Ok, have to ask, how do you eat gar. Many, many years ago when I use to shoot them with a bow I tried to eat one. Many of you know how the flesh of fish flakes into segments. In-between each 1/4 to 3/8 inch of flesh is a sliver of cartilage. It was like crewing a tennis ball. Thee worst fish that I ever tried to stomach in my entire life. I see no way or removing each section of cartilage. So how do you cook a tennis ball to make it eatable?

Rick

[Gigmaster]

If I catch them from questionable water, I keep mine in a #10 washtub, or in the bathtub for 3 or 4 days, changing the water often, and feeding them canned corn, before cleaning them. It lets them clean themselves out.

Carp are what they eat. If caught in clear cold water, they are excellent table-fair.....as are white suckers. If caught in slow, warmer and/or polluted water....well, they are what they eat.

They are a great gamefish....better than some of our favored fish IMO.

[Clay]

You'll need an axe, or tomahawk (I always carry one fishing), a pair of tin snips, gloves, some rope, and a very sharp fillet knife.

Start by cutting the head and tail off the gar with the tomahawk/axe. Then using the rope, hang it in a tree, head-down, and let all the blood run out. Next, using the tin snips, split the gar's armored hide all the way down. either on the belly, or the back. Using gloves to protect your hands, pliers, and a knife when necesary, peel the hide from the meat. Now, just fillet the meat from the backbone just as you would any other fish, and cut it into loin strips.

Now, you can freeze it, smoke it, fry it, stew it, or any other way you wish to fix it. When cooked, the meat is white, flakey and tastes a lot like crappie.

Bon apetit.

I have no problem cleaning he fish, I have an issue with the meat itself. Between each flake of meat there is a cartilage in gar meat. It's been years since I tried to eat the stuff but it was like crewing a rubber ball. While there armour plating does take some special technique to clean, the butchering isn't the problem.

Maybe I'm not describing it very well. But go out to your next Friday night fish fry and order baked cod. Now we are looking at a single piece of fish on your plate. Pick it up and break it in half. Where it breaks in half on gar flesh is where the cartilage is and inbetween each and every spot where it would break in half. I'm referring to these as flakes of flesh. Where the meat is segmented when cooked.

Now carp I have eaten and it isn't bad. I think that it is more between our ears than the taste on our tongue when eating it. I personally don't care for salmon, but that is another story.

Brook trout, bluegills and walleyes = something wonderful to eat in moderation.

Rick