Bowfishing is one of my favorite things to do with a recurve in hand...second only to white tails in the fall. I was rained out of the log woods and Rachel, my wife, took a break from the taxidermy shop and we hit the water today. Common carp are really getting primed up in the shallows. Water level is rising in the lake and they are wearing out the grassy areas that are creek fed. My first shot was a double...

Yea , been seeing a lot of fish in the shallows , Gar and grass carp , bass

I just now got it been reading you treads and posts for some time I didn't know it was you . Seen a bunch of carp on salt lick this morning. Come over we will shoot some.

What state?

Hey Gene! We would love to come around there and shoot some carp with you. We need to get around there and hang out with y'all again anyways.

We are in Tennessee kenn1320.

tenn

Actually got 2 doubles today...

Hey Gene Terry...you ever seen one of these? Rachel shot it at the double bridges at Flynns Creek. There was this spotted one and a smaller solid white looking one. They were running right with the common carp. They were together to begin with but we broke them up. This one ventured back to the shallows...the white one stayed in the deep water. I tried him several times but it was just too far and deep. It's got a bunch of folks stumped. TN fish biologist says it may be a mirror coy. Trying to get Rachel to send me a better pic to post but phones are stupid slow tonight for some reason.

Yeah...that's big time fun for me too.

Ya it's getting prime here in Oklahoma too bow fishing is a blast!!

Better pic

We're still getting a ton of snow here in Colorado. That is one crazy lookin' fish. Lousy bucket biologists!

What are you doing with Them? I ask because a couple of guys from California were in today and said game and fish requires you do something other than bury them-as before. I said my Vietnamese neighbor would eat them as he likes them. Is there something that can be done- smoke /?deep fry? I used them as chum when I lived back east What do you do with them?

Time to break out the flats skiff and the fly rod!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxhxgKYt3cY

Videos deals with the truth about carp. As far as eating them goes, they are not going to taste good out of mud soup. You can improve things according to the video by removing the "mud vein". or putting them in the bathtub for a week before eating, which is apparently a tradition in some cultures. But that is out if you shot a huge hole through them with an arrow.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxhxgKYt3cY

Fishing for carp is gaining ever more traction. It can be a high dollar event. Carp are no more invasive than brown trout, and many other fish, so I think the day will come when wholesale slaughter is banned.

This is an old video, but it shows how even 10 or 20 years ago carp fishing was picking up a high dollar appeal. That's a 50K skiff he is poling.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LrP-PU6K9c

Glad that somebody is out shooting those pests! SHOOT MORE! GETTUM GO! Batman

Shag, is what I see, is a lot of skin with just a few scales Or is it fully scaled.

It takes 47 carp to equal the fiber contained in 1 bowl of Total.

I'm fisheries biologist, and that yellow/blackish one does look like a coy, and also has mirror carp scaling, but weird colored. Never saw one like that. If there is also a white one out there, maybe someone's coy pond got flooded out, or they just got released into the wild. A coy is nothing more than a variation of a carp, also just a full grown goldfish. All very similar, they are all minnows actually - Cyprinidae family. If its a carp, its a really small one. Carp are usually brownish orange colored.

Thanks guys, Im in Michigan so we shouldnt be far behind.

The fish in question kind of looks like a Koi to me.

Again, what do you do with them?

Lowcountry, thanks for that - Koi, duh..(not 'coy'). :^) Stickbow, since they are invasives, in most states (not sure about all of them) you are not required to 'do' anything with them. There are no limits, not restrictions, nothing required. We used them for garden fertilizer. The best thing for any ecosystem is to get them all the hell out of there, but that will never happen. Same for goby, snakehead, mitten crab, zebra mussels, etc. Eurasian milfoil, purple lustrife, all that bs should be eradicated. If it's an ethics thing you are concerned about, God forbid in the case with carp, that aligns pretty nicely with the needs of members of PITA.

Correction PETA - same thing as PITA actually...

I will say this about eating carp. Their palatability depends on the water they come from. I flyfished from a driftboat for them in the Bighorn Reservoir, Wyo. It is a 600 foot deep 80 mile long body of water that runs very clear and cold during the summer. Carp are there, and they frequent the surface over deep water during the warm summer months. They like to slurp cottonwood fluff from the surface, stealthily approaching the glass surface with their orange oval lips and vacuuming in the seed with an audible 'thupp'. A size 8 Griffiths Gnat makes a great fluff imitation, and when quietly presented a ways out from the boat (carp are very spooky), there is potential for one helluvan exciting battle. You spot the approaching scud torpedo, wait for the orange oval to break the surface, and when the 'thupp' sounds, you set the hook and hang onto your rod for dear life. Because in a matter of seconds, that fish is deep beneath you under the boat, taking you well into your backing for a 15 minute tug of war until you finally bring it u. I took one home to try eating it a piece out of curiosity since the water was clean and cold (and the rest went to the coyotes). I carefully removed all the fat around a few cubes of pure white flesh, rolled them in flour and salt and pepper, and fried them in butter. And let me tell you, it was actually delicious, mild, tender, and bone free with great flavor. It's all about the water... :^)

Trapper - sorry, I wasn't intending to "correct" you. I somehow didn't see that you had already posted an identification.

Concerning Carp, are all Carp invasive? If so, I didn't know that. Are Buffalo and suckers/chubs the only native carp like species here?

As far as catching and eating them, I have read that Carp is the main fish targeted (with expensive, custom, specific rods) in England and considered an excellent food fish over there. I don't know if, or how true that is, but they have such a stigma attached to them here, that it is hard to tell what the truth is as far as eating them goes.

Thanks for all the responses guys.

As to what I do with them, I've got a hole dug on the back 40 and I just toss them in there when I get them home. I wouldn't even think about eating one of the nasty things unless it were in a serious survival situation. However, I never throw any back or litter the banks with them.

The fish in question that the wife shot, she stuck it in the freezer and is seriously thinking about mounting it since it was so odd and almost kinda pretty.

Lowcountry, I am glad you did correct me. A fisheries biologist that forgot how to spell 'Koi' - embarrassing. Buffalo fish, like Bigmouth Buffalo, and suckers, chubs, shiners, dace, etc. are all closely related to or are 'minnows' (like carp), but these are native to NA. All carp, including grass carp, goldfish, koi, etc. are native to and introduced from Asia. I don't even think carp are native to Europe necessarily, but further east in Asia originally. It is true that Carp fishing is big business and money maker in the UK. People pay triple figures to fish for them there, and it is growing in popularity here too. They are exceptional fighters, large but as far as I'm concerned, BUTT UGLY! I kinda like the Mirror carp (a few large scales) and the scale-less Leather carp though. I don't think they taste that great out of cruddy water, and they can thrive in polluted water, so be selective where you eat them from. They accumulate a lot of toxins esp. in their fatty tissues, like anything.

Lowcountry, I'm pretty sure all carp species are invasive and non native. Buffalo, on the other hand, are a native species and they are a sucker. They should start spawning in the next week or so as well. I've never eaten one but I'm tempted to try this year.

Shag, that water you're fishing in looks pretty clean. Probably be fine to eat one there. Sucker is actually very tasty and sweet in the cold spring water periods. Suckers are bony though so many people pickle them.

I've eaten many of them. They can pickled as mentioned by Trapper. You can also cut the meat from the bones, and fry the chunks up and make a "tuna salad" type dish with them.

A friend of mine's wife used to take them after they were filleted, or chunked, depending on how big they were, and put them in a pressure cooker for a little while, 15 minutes I THINK. she would then take them out, gather all the meat, and make fish patties, or fish balls that were absolutely delicious. I have heard of people smoking them, but I've never tried that.

I hear the trick is to prepare them on a mesquite board. Heavily season with salt/pepper and any other favorite spice(s). Lots of butter. Grilling or smoker is preferred. When the fish reaches 160deg internal temperature, remove from heat. Throw fish out and eat the board. You woodnt believe the taste.

I was told by one waterfowl hunter that jumping carp are good eating, he also thinks baked snow goose is good. His getting them technique is to drive his john boat into snag and gun the motor, They come swarming in and often jump into the boat. We got them in an area river, people have been injured by them jumping in front of on coming boats.

Grass carp - bad news!

Carp rut is 6 months from the deer rut.

I never concerned myself with disposal. A guy from California told us they could no longer bury them or use them as bear bait. I will read the CA Regis as we cross over to fish there all summer, and I thought of taking my bow rig. Just wanna make it right if I do go. Thanks for all the responses

Man, I love to go after spawning carp. Great practice on moving targets and a barrel of fun. I've given a lot away to fisherman on the banks, put a lot in the garden and smoked a lot...its not Scottish Atlantic Salmon but very edible and responds well to flavored brines. I've eaten carp patties made with steamed and canned carp with onion, spices and bread crumbs , and I've heard that a lot of what is sold as pickled whitefish is actually carp. Europeans and Asians love carp.

WOW, so reading the thread I feel like I just went through a short Bio seminar. When I lived in South Louisiana we used to eat Buffalo almost on a nightly basis. The really big one's ( anything over 24" to me) we did a side of ribs from along with the more boney fillets. Treat it all the same. Remove fat chill well and best eaten FRESH. BTW- COOL looking Koi, or Hybrid, or???

-Bones

I've eaten some that was white, flaky, firm and delicious. I've also eaten some that tasted muddy and pasty. I don't know if the water quality had anything to do with it.

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