The Truth About the Common Carp

As any real fisherman knows, Common Carp and Grass Carp are two totally
different species. One is destructive, the other is not.

In fact, Grass Carp are not actually carp at all. Grass Carp is simply a
common name for the fish known as "White Amur."

White Amur are the species of fish that really can devestate vegetation
because they are strict vegetarians. They get stocked into lakes and
ponds to control rampant grass and other aquatic plants, but are often
overstocked and clean the lakes out.

When people hear about "carp" destroying the lake, they usually don't
know the difference between the species. So they assume that true,
common carp, are just as destructive, when in fact they are not.

The fish many anglers target are Common Carp. They are not strict
vegetarians, they do not damage ecosystems unless they are *severely*
overpopulated. But then again, what fish doesn't mess up it's ecosystem
if it overpopulates.

Odds are if you catch a Carp it will probably be a Common Carp.

Here are some things to look for to tell the difference between the
destructive White Amur (grass carp) and the harmless Common Carp.

Look at the Dorsal Fin, Common Carp have a dorsal that runs down their
back behind its "point". Grass Carp have a small triangular dorsal fin.

Look at the mouth. Common Carp have a mouth that orients towards the
bottom when fully extended, while White Amur have a mouth that orients
forward, more like a bass or a minnow you'd buy for bait.

Also, look for barbels around the mouth. All Common Carp will have two
sets of barbels ( Small whiskers. ) around their mouth, a larger barbel
and a smaller barbel on each side.

Hope that helps.

The thing with the White Amur (Grass Carp)is that in most locales you
are either supposed to kill them immediately or return them to the water
immediately, depending on the water. So if you catch one, be sure you
know what the regulations are. If you need to kill it, I'd suggest
putting it on ice and taking it home, they are actually supposed to make
excellent eating fish.

Common Carp of course can be legally returned to the water anywhere you
catch them. In fact in most places it's illegal to kill a Common Carp
and leave it on the bank or in a trash can just as it is illegal to do
so with any other edible species of fish. There are laws and very steep
fines against wasting aquatic wildlife resources in that way, and yes,
they apply to common carp as well.

They are great sportfish.

JMC wrote:

As any real fisherman knows, Common Carp and Grass Carp are two totally
different species. One is destructive, the other is not.

real fishermen know the truth,, not the propaganda

In fact, Grass Carp are not actually carp at all. Grass Carp is simply a
common name for the fish known as "White Amur."

White Amur are the species of fish that really can devestate vegetation
because they are strict vegetarians. They get stocked into lakes and
ponds to control rampant grass and other aquatic plants, but are often
overstocked and clean the lakes out.

When people hear about "carp" destroying the lake, they usually don't
know the difference between the species. So they assume that true,
common carp, are just as destructive, when in fact they are not.

I know the difference,, my DNR knows the difference,, evidently you don't

The fish many anglers target are Common Carp. They are not strict
vegetarians, they do not damage ecosystems unless they are *severely*
overpopulated.


HELLO!!!!!!!! are you there ? that's the problem with the common carp,
they OVERPOPULATE "every" body of water, if their numbers are not
controlled, by killing every one of them caught.


They are great sportfish.

BULL !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The are an imported """""""""TRASH""""""""" fish, and should be wiped
from all US waters.

Why don't you do a Google on "carp" "damage", and see what the "real"
experts say about them


--
Rodney Long,
Inventor of the Mojo SpecTastic "WIGGLE" rig, SpecTastic Thread,
Boomerang Fishing Pro. ,Stand Out Hooks ,Stand Out Lures,
Mojo's Rock Hopper & Rig Saver weights, and the EZKnot
http://www.ezknot.com

"JMC" wrote in message
hlink.net...

Common Carp of course can be legally returned to the water anywhere you
catch them. In fact in most places it's illegal to kill a Common Carp and
leave it on the bank or in a trash can just as it is illegal to do so with
any other edible species of fish. There are laws and very steep fines
against wasting aquatic wildlife resources in that way, and yes, they
apply to common carp as well.



Carp are great fighters, though not considered Game fish.

If this B.S. sums up your rant, it is bogus. Carp cannot always be returned
legally to the water. Our moct pro-active states prohibit return of carp.
Most sportsmen selectively kill carp.

Nowhere in the US is it illegal to kill carp, and no closed season that I
know of.

If you think carp are edible, send me your address; I'll send you 25# of
steaks and filet every month .
till you say "stop".

There is no limit on carp and no fines for excess catch. Put the carp in
the barrel or risk a littering fine at most.

If you edit your rant for accuracy, I would expect you to have a better
response on uk.rec.fishing.coarse
(do *NOT* tell them I sent you.)
Those folks hand feed their pet carp and even name them.
(but they will jump your errors, too.)

Pepperoni

Well the Germans like carp. Maybe if we import some Germans and Brits we can
clean up Lake Mead. Removing all of the carp would Probably lower the water
level.
George in Las Vegas

Diamond Dave wrote:
On Fri, 24 Mar 2006 20:58:00 -0800, "George" wrote:


Well the Germans like carp. Maybe if we import some Germans and Brits we can
clean up Lake Mead. Removing all of the carp would Probably lower the water
level.


Then how do we get rid of the Germans and Brits?


Buy making it the law, that all beer must be sold cold

--
Rodney Long,
Inventor of the Mojo SpecTastic "WIGGLE" rig, SpecTastic Thread,
Boomerang Fishing Pro. ,Stand Out Hooks ,Stand Out Lures,
Mojo's Rock Hopper & Rig Saver weights, and the EZKnot
http://www.ezknot.com

JMC

Where do you read the laws about carp?
Here in Michigan,it is open season on them.
Most game wardens that I had talked to, They
told me and my sons to kill the carp as soon we
catch and land them.
Maybe in some clean waters here and in
Europe,carp is a direable food source. I had
tried it when I was in Russia,to adopt my daughter. It wasn't the best
tasting fish that
I had.
In my native California,there was some talk
about catching carp to be used as organic ferti
lizer. This at Lake Shasta and Clear Lake in
northern Californa,
I always kill any carp that I catch. I either
gave them away or chop them up and bury
them around my rose bushes. They do grow
very good.
I see bowfishermen go after carp and have
truckload of them for the market. I suggest you
go and study the game laws of all fifty states.


Trouter

JMC wrote:

As any real fisherman knows, Common Carp and Grass Carp are two totally
different species. One is destructive, the other is not.

And they're different from the most destructive "Carp" of all: the
Bighead and Silver Carp who destroy the building blocks of the food
chain by gobbling up all the plankton.

The fish many anglers target are Common Carp. They are not strict
vegetarians, they do not damage ecosystems unless they are *severely*
overpopulated. But then again, what fish doesn't mess up it's ecosystem
if it overpopulates.

Carp overpopulation is usually short-term. In the rivers near where I
live, there was a big Carp population surge in the mid 1990s. They
bred in overflow waters in floods (mostly 1993, also 1994-1995).
Within a few years, Carp populations stabilized and have gone down to
pre-flood levels.

Assholes such as Rodney Long hate Carp because they're too smart to
bite the horrible lures for which he continually spams illegal
advertisements on r.o.f. (take your sales pitches to
rec.outdoors.marketplace where such posts are allowed).

I do give the spammers credit for being up-front about their bigotry,
so good people know to boycott them. Better to be honest about being a
scumbag than to put on a false image of good attitudes. Therefore
Rodney Long is better than the closet liberal bigots.

Note how ALL the anti-Carp people approve the dams which cause the Carp
proliferation in the fist place. The main places there are lots of
Carp are impoundments which warm the water and have fluctuating levels
that allow many Carp to breed. If the dams were removed and reverted
to natural rivers, Carp populations would fall to near zero.

In addition, if MEATHOGS didn't keep most of the Catfish, Bass,
Crappie, etc, there would be more native fish and fewer non-native
ones. Release huge Cat, and they'll eat some of the Carp.

Nearly 100% of the people who hate Carp also murder Gar. Filthy KKK
Confederate redneck scum (and the Yankee scum equivalents in northern
states) throw Gar on the bank and shoot them with guns. Fact: Gar are
the best predator in terms of keeping Carp populations in check. Every
time you kill a Gar, you're creating countless Carp and large Gizzard
Shad.

Look at the Dorsal Fin, Common Carp have a dorsal that runs down their
back behind its "point". Grass Carp have a small triangular dorsal fin.

Common Carp of course can be legally returned to the water anywhere you
catch them. In fact in most places it's illegal to kill a Common Carp
and leave it on the bank or in a trash can just as it is illegal to do
so with any other edible species of fish. There are laws and very steep
fines against wasting aquatic wildlife resources in that way, and yes,
they apply to common carp as well.

True. There's a law against wanton waste. However, with Bighead and
Silver Carp, it's better to throw them on the bank (where they'll be
utilized by critters and the maggots will serve in the food chain) than
to release them, because Bighead and Silver Carp threaten the entire
ecosystem.

The wanton waste laws need better enforcement. In filthy states such
as Minnesota and Wisconsin, palefaces usually throw ALL fish on the
bank that aren't Walleye. They consider Northern Pike and Smallmouth
Bass trash fish and kill them without eating them. They murder all
good fish that are considered prize gamefish in the South: Catfish,
Drum, Smallmouth, etc. Of course they murder so-called "rough fish"
such as Bowfin. In addition, Yankees waste the vast majority of the
meat on the fish they do eat, using a lame technique called
"filleting", and Yankees never eat rib meat and other edible portions.
In the south, people tend to scale fish and cook them so it's easy to
peel off the skin, not wasting meat.

Ideally you know someone who has the good taste/ability to eat Asian
minnows. I'm thinking of pickling some bony "rough fish": Carp,
Buffalo, Bighead/Silver Carp, Suckers, etc. The pickling should
dissolve the bones over time.

My main concern with keeping Carp is buildup of toxic chemicals. Note
once again, the Bu****e Republican scum such as Rodney Long condone
pollution. If laws were enacted against pollution, people would be
more likely to keep and eat Carp, reducing their populations. Once
again Rodney Long is the main reason there are so many Carp (the other
reasons being his support of dams and his tolerance of meathogging
keeping of large Catfish and Largemouth).

They are great sportfish.

Yes they are, but you won't hear that in fishing magazines or TV shows
because those shows exist for only one reason: ADVERTISING. Carp are
too intelligent to get caught on the silly lures utilized for
less-intelligent Bass and Crappie. In addition, Carp anglers usually
fish from shore instead of using the fancy boats used by Largemouth and
Walleye anglers. Carp anglers (and Catfish anglers) utilize simple
tackle that doesn't break the pocketbook.

In addition, Carp are so tough, they're the one species where it's not
unethical to use light line for more challenging fights. For most
species, using light line is a death sentence for the fish. Anyone who
uses ultralite for big fish is probably killing the fish if released
(IGFA record chases are a major cause of death of fish). Carp are so
tough, they'll probably survive even if you spend 45 minutes to land a
10 pounder on 6 pound line.

Too bad that Texas-based Rough Fish Angler Forum seems to have been
discontinued; that was a great site. People often posted about the
great times they had fishing for Carp, Buffalo, and other so-called
"rough" species.

Terry,

Let us put all politics to the side,whether we
are Democrats or Republicans. Or independent. Carp is a imported or
alien species should not of been here in the first place.
In Europe,carp may be considered a food
fish,such in Germany,Poland,Czech Republic
and Russia. I had tried it,when I was in Russia
when I had pick up my daughter that we had
adopted there. It had a muddy taste to it.
Some of the other imported fish that we
had introduced to our waters are highly prized.
Such as the brown trout and in some waters,
the peacock bass from South America. While
others were thoughtless released into our waters,such as the walking and
armored catfish. As well as the round goby from Russia,
It eats the young and eggs of the sunfish and
perch family that is native here in Michigan.
If you want to get down to it about the carp
being a alien species. Most of the sunfish and
catfish family were introduce western US waters,from the eastern US.
And vice versa
about the rainbow trout in the eastern waters.
Also the brook trout from the east to some
California rivers and streams.
Most carp that I had caught was caught on
salmon eggs that I was fishing for trout. They
not only muddy ups our waters to feed on roots
of aquatic plants,but also on eggs and young of
most popular species. As well as eating the larvae and eggs that can be
eaten by most sport
fish.
True that we have some rough fish species
here in North America. Suckers,both the long-
nose and alligator gar,paddlefish,paddlefish and of course,the native
species of sturgeon.
Also some minnow cousins of the carp,such as
squawfish and killifish can grow large. As well
the freshwater drum,that can grow to be large
as fifty pounds in some waters.
Before I do forget,what about the famous
way of the striped bass came to the west coast.
And the american and hickory shad. I suggest
you start researching your fish species. If the
past Republican presidents are the ones that
brought the carp over here. That tells you of
the current party that is in Washington D.C.
I myself cannot stand carp as a foodfish or
otherwise.
I think it was bad mistake to bring it over
from Europe in the first place.


Trouter

Terry Lomax wrote:

Assholes such as Rodney Long hate Carp because they're too smart to
bite the horrible lures for which he continually spams illegal
advertisements on r.o.f. (take your sales pitches to
rec.outdoors.marketplace where such posts are allowed).


For your information,, I don't invent lures,, and my Standout hook is
awesome for carp fishing, keeping the bait off the bottom, along with my
Rock Hopper weight which won't hang up, even in rocks.

If my thinking about carp was based on me making money, I would be
promoting my inventions for/and carp fishing, and not bad mouthing that
"crap" fish. My beliefs on carp are based on science, not my feelings,
like yourS are
--
Rodney Long,
Inventor of the Mojo SpecTastic "WIGGLE" rig, SpecTastic Thread,
Boomerang Fishing Pro. ,Stand Out Hooks ,Stand Out Lures,
Mojo's Rock Hopper & Rig Saver weights, and the EZKnot
http://www.ezknot.com