I have been reading all the posts of all of you getting these carp, and targeting them.
Do they make your hands STINK, I mean STINK ??
The reason I ask is, years ago, I was bream fishing with a friend, in a private irrigation farm pond, in NC. The owner of the property stocked some grass carp ( so I was told)('cause I don’t know carp )( yes I spelled it right ). But he put them in there to keep the vegetation down. WELL I caught one, by accident, with a cricket,( spin casting, before FF). I am a fairly clean person ( no phobias ), and I swear it took over three days to get the smell off my hands.
I shower at least once a day, I always wash my hands before dining, and using restroom, and I still could not get away from that smell. And to think of you guys actually targeting them has me “AMAZED”
So my question is !! Do your carp smell better ??? ( yes I spelled it right )
I have never had a problem with smell from carp, they are slimy and hard to hold onto at times but never caught one that I would say stinks. But I mainly fish larger lakes and thier feeder streams for carp so the water never goes stagnet.
I have caught a few grass carp and never noticed any unusual odors from them, they fight hard for sure.
Hi MSD,
I have not noticed a particularly strong odor from carp, but on the other hand I work hard at avoiding touching a shad, on those extremely rare times when I have caught one. They really smell nasty, and it is extremely difficult to wash off. In fact, it takes quite some time to wear off.
I have only caught one grass carp, and it was huge, but didn’t notice any particular odor from it.
I don’t even like to have my shoes or any other clothes touch them.
Regards,
Gandolf
Common carp, in really skunky water, may have it to a lesser degree, but I’ve run into it with grassers. Once in a drainage ditch and once in a farm pond. Both these were old (40#) fish… and they stunk. I actually ate smaller grass carp out of a gravel pit and they were just fine. Must be environment.
Grass carp and common carp are not even close to the same species, but I have caught both of them and have had no issues with smell, slime or anything else. In my opinion, the slimiest fish to catch is probably a northern pike…those suckers leave a slime trail straight from ghostbusters. I think any fish smell or “gross factor” has a lot to do with the quality of the water you catch them in. I used to catch a lot of carp in sloughs with very poor water quality and they didn’t have the vibrant color or clean scales of the fish I catch in cleaner water. While I don’t remember a smell, I do know that I much prefer clean water carp. I think the “smell” thing is just part of the carp predjudice with American fisherman. Heck, I have a buddy who swears that mountain whitefish stink and they are one of the best indicators of water quality out there.
I think carp are actually a pretty fish! I am fairly biased though!
They’re slimy, and, depending on water conditions they can stink, but man-o-man are they fun to catch!! I’ve never had trouble getting the smell off my hands. A little soap and water generally does the trick.
I’ve never noticed any smell from any carp (common or grassie.)
theres a few places where iv fished and if its a certain time of year then the fish are natsy with 3 days of stink stuck to you. but most of the time their fine. i think it has to deal with the amount of weeds and algae in the water. that makes them bad. hope it help.
I’ve never noticed carp or grass carp having especially bad odors (fish are fish, after all). You other guys nailed it on the head with gizzard shad and northern pike having stinky slime, though.
Wow John. . . That’s is a cool scale pattern. I’ve caught the occasional “mirror” carp but never one like that. By the way - I eat common carp regularly. I thnk I even have an article in the archives on preparing them.
This is the best way I know of to counter bad stink and it comes from hunting with bird dogs. When a dog gets sprayed by a skunk, it can be really hard to get the dog clean. I always carried a couple of large can of tomato juice with me. Hold your nose and wash the dog down really well with the tomato juice. After you rub it in really good, say for 4-5 minutes, then wash the dog off with soap and water. So - - - wash your hands off in tomato juice and then in soap and water.
My grandmother used to keep lemons in the kitchen specifically for getting rid of stinky fish smell. I still use that method today - works better than soap to get rid of fish smells. Take a slice from a lemon and squeeze/rub it in your hands as though it is a bar of soap.
lye soap works great to git fish smell off ya… I still make it every year…
Slimiest fish is a Fall fish. Nasty!!
lady fish are fairly slimey and stinky but it does wash off
Best thing I’ve found is the degreasing hand soap - the citrus kind with the pumice in it - usually found in the automotive section. As far as odors, I don’t think the pumice has much effect, but it takes care of any odors for me, other than the orangish scent left over.
One reminder - if you are not keeping the fish, that slime is there for a reason. Wet your hands before touching the fish, minimize your hand-to-fish contact, and you will not only help someone else enjoy catching that fish, but minimize the odors on your hands.
Tall
While I never have a problem with carp handling on the water they do have strong fishy smell when you store them in the cooler with ice for few hours. Cooller can be cleaned with dish soap and maybe bit of bleach.
As for cleaning them wear latex gloves then wash your hands with Dawn dish soap…
Like many others, I’ve never noticed that carp smell any better oir worse than other species. They can be a bit on the slimey side, but the worst fish for slime (for me at least) are eels. They’re regular slime factories.
Jim Smith