CARP ---

peabo

On another thread, they were talking about smoked Carp and it sounded good!! My question is, how do you catch a carp? I can't get them to bite on anything. I have put bait right in front of their noses, and they just turn away. I have thought about shooting them with a bow rigged for fish, with a reel etc. because you can see them looking down in the water. I know that looking down in the water, they are not where they appear to be, so your aim must be adjusted. Maybe some of the people in the archery forum will chime in if they have used a bow to harvest Carp.

Thanks---Peabo

shoff14

Corn flakes, bow, .22 .......


Cornflakes work well though, make cornflake balls. Grind some corn flakes up, mix with a little water and corn meal and make balls. I think that is how you do it. When you get to where you are going to fish, through a lot of cornflakes into the water to get them up there. then fish with the balls.

COLT

...shoffs right, and you can add a little vanilla flavoring, waffle syrup to it. Wheaties work w/all that too. Instead of mixing it all up with water, to make the balls, Ive talked to people that use Big Red soda, I guess it works, they had about 6 fish that were from probably 5-15 lbs...

hotshoot

When I was young, 5 or 6 I was fishing for carp with my dad, He had a bow rigged with a fish reel. It was very cool, We were in the boat and my dad was walking in the water. He stopped darwed and shoot, I still remember him reeling that sucker in. Then after it was in the boat he took out the arrow and we tied a milk jug to it and let it go. It was awesome to watch the bottle swim away.

MOMMASBOY

WELL PEABO THE WAY WE DO IT IS FIND SOME MUD FLATS THAT ARE NOT TO DEEP. YOU CAN SEE THEM STIRRING UP THE MUD FEEDING. YOU CAN SEE THEM TAILING THAT IS SEEING THE TAIL PARTLY OUT OF WATER AND THEY ARE FEEDING. THEY ARE REAL SMART AND CAN FEEL SOMETHING THAT IS TO HEAVY. I USE A EGG SINKER ABOVE A SWIVEL AND THEM A SMALL BUT STRONG HOOK. A HOOK ABOUT THE SIZE YOU WOULD USE ON LARGER SUNFISH. HOOK WITH A SNELL SIX TO EIGHT INCHES LONG. EGG SINKER JUST LARGE ENOUGH TO CAST IT OUT 15 TO 30 FEET. USE WORMS OF ANY KIND. RIVER WORMS ARE BEST BUT ARE GETTING HARD TO FIND. NIGHT CRAWLERS WORK OK ALSO. WATER ONE TO TWO FEET DEEP. CAST IT OUT AND JUST LEAVE IT LIKE FISHING FOR CATFISH. HAVE GOOD TACKLE CAUSE THEY HAVE A LOT OF POWER IF YOU GET LARGE ONES. WE GET THEM 15 TO 18 POUNDS ALL TIME. LOOSE A LOT OF LARGER ONES. HOPE THIS HELPS. THERE IS ALSO A LOT OF FUN CATCHING THE LARGE GAR. THERE IS A WAY TO CATCH THEM AND YOU DONT EVEN HAVE TO USE A HOOK. THREE TO FOUR FOOT GAR ON ROD AND REEL IS FANTASTIC.

peabo

The gar reminds me of the time I was using a net on the end of a 10 foot pole to catch fresh water shrimp to use as bait. I ran the net under some vegetation and came up with about a 4 pound gar and couldn't dump him out of the net. A fighting, flopping gar on the end of a 10 foot limber pole is quiet an experience. Tore the net up but I already had enough bait for the day, so all was not lost.

Thanks---Peabo

DIRTYRAT

Use a crawler and wad it up on the hook real good. Put a small split-shot sinker about 2 foot above it on your line. Cast and wait. Let him start running with it before you set the hook. Works for us...My son caught a 32 inch one on a "Snoopy Pole" once. Took 20 minutes to retrieve...

FEENIX

Originally posted by shoff14
Corn flakes, bow, .22 .......


... or PAINT BALL [}:)]!

bperdue21

oatmeal balls, just like the cornflakes. right about the small hook. their mouths are really small compared with their body size. they seem to suck the ball up and spit it out a few times before they run with it. then when they give a good run with it i set it in hard. i have missed a lot of them by jerking the bait right out of their mouths. have caught piles in the 10-15 lb range. caught a few over 20 lb and have seen some that look to be at least 4 foot long. i don't eat them and wouldn't. the river here where they thrive is polluted and they are just a nasty looking fish regardless of the river. but they are fun to catch and that is the main thing.

William81

When I used to take my kids fishing when they were small, I always took a can of corn. Three or four kernels on a hook would usually do the trick.

hissinggoose

Bread balls on small treble hook, weight with split shot. Used to catch them schooling in the dam wash, ripping a weighted treble hook thru the water...foul hook 'em end fight 'em, then give 'em to the orientals on the bank....seems like they were the only ones interested in keeping them. Never had the urge to eat one....


Recipe for cooking carp:
At least one good-size carp
skinned and gutted
soak in fresh water for 3 days (flush out the mud)
Heat oven to 400 deg.
salt and pepper
place on wood plank and put in oven
cook for two hours
remove from oven
throw away fish
eat the wood plank

yummy!! [:D]

fishermanben

Yes on the wheaties, but any real carp fisherman knows the "secret recipe" for the liquid substitute. I'm not sure I can divulge that information.[8)]

Ben

COLT

Ben
quote:Yes on the wheaties, but any real carp fisherman knows the "secret recipe" for the liquid substitute. I'm not sure I can divulge that information.
[:0]

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...I remember corn, had forgotten about that one!

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...not ever eaten carp, mucho bones, have to bleed 'em, too much trouble, but I'll relate this story...

Years ago I was at a friends store. A few doors down was a regular old time barber shop, shave, no "do's" haircuts and shoeshines. The shoshine guy brought us some salmon patties, golden brown, excellent, less "fishy" than most salmon! A few hours later "shorty" (shoeshine guys nickname) came back down and ask how the "salmon" patties had tasted?
"Good shorty, really good", we both replied. "Whats the recipe"? I asked.

....My friend and I were belonged to the same bass club at the time.
At the time, I was a bass snob, only bass fished, period. I later changed my attitude, as why limit myself to one type of fishing? Anyway, the salmon patties were made from carp [:0]!
How could this be? All the bones, and I "thought" carp would taste bad. How long would it take to get as much meat as needed, w/no bones from a boney fish? No problem really, after bleeding the carp, shorty would pressure cook the carp, bones and all! I know zip about pressure cooking, except kinda the idea behind it. I would have no problem with "carp patties if I knew the total recipe. Tons of big carp around, and a good tug on your line to boot!

...They (carp) don't eat more poop than catfish, do they?...[:0]

...

mrbruce

Eating carp is kinda like saying Leupold, it leaves a nasty taste in my mouth.

I hickory smoke a lot of fish and tried carp just one time, that was enough for me...

Sweet corn, a couple on each barb of a small treble hook works very well.

With a arrow you need to aim a bit beneath them to score, and then it's probably more fun than your allowed to have[:D]

Sav99

I use my Marlin model 60 .22 lr. I shoot em in the ditches in the spring, and pull them out with a 10' pole with a J hook. The neighbor smokes them.

mowart

As far as spearing them in water, that's supposedly the idea behind the "trident" spear, aka frog gig. Held vertical, you aim over the top prong and perhaps the lower one will get him.

blugill

Find a mulberry tree hanging over the water and watch as the berries get ripe. When the berries start falling into the water the carp come in and start eating on them. They will hit anything thrown at them when they are eating the berries. After you find the date the berries start to ripen you can go back year after year and catch all you want.

gumbydamnit

My father and I go at night, usually in the winter or early spring, and spear them out of a boat. We use a good size fish spear with a 18ft. handle. It is legal in Pa. to spear carp and suckers. They are best eating when the water is cold, and they are no trouble to clean, you just skin them like a catfish and cut out the dark strip down the center of the side(its kind of like a fat strip and it is where the oil taste comes from). Then either fillet it if you want to bake or broil, or cut it in half lenght wise if you want to smoke it. We filleted a bunch one time, and when I say a bunch, picture a 14ft. semi-v bottom boat where you can not see bottom, and canned them, better than any canned salomon you can buy. Like I said before when the water is cold is the best time to eat them.

stankemp

Ah, Carp. The most maligned fresh water fish on the planet!
However;
Ewell Gibbons in his great outdoorsy eating book,"Stalking The Wild Asparagus", (and no, I did not make this up) astounds the reader by delivering just the opposite opinion of the fish. He claims (and I haven't verified) that the carp is the BEST tasting fish he's ever had. Wasn't so in his initial trys at culinary persuasion though. He says the carp was awful until he found the right method of preparation. Ewell says to rip out only the backstraps (meat along the backbone) and give the rest of the carp to the garden. Deep fry in batter of choice and enjoy.
Incidently;
Gibbons also describes carp fishing in Texas as a lad. Guys would line up with pitchforks across an irrigation ditch. Others would start on horse back about a quarter mile upstream with the horses lined up across the ditch in similar fashion. The horse mounted cowboys would walk the horses downstream toward the pitchforkers. The carp driven by the splashing horses made easy and plentiful targets for the guys in the ditch who pitchforked the carp onto dry land. Always wanted to try that.
Stan

fishermanben

quote:Originally posted by blugill
Find a mulberry tree hanging over the water and watch as the berries get ripe. When the berries start falling into the water the carp come in and start eating on them. They will hit anything thrown at them when they are eating the berries. After you find the date the berries start to ripen you can go back year after year and catch all you want.


This post comes very close to touching on the secret recipe.

Okay, I'll tell you guys.

Wheaties w/ straberry jello mix and water. Them carps do love berry flavor.

Ben

Ox190

we always mixed big red and corn meal into a thick paste and wrapped it with panty hose on a treble hook. I was a snob to eating carp until an old man cooked some for me out of the Devil's river here in Texas. Man oh man is that some fine eating if you know what you're doing

MOMMASBOY

HEY OX190 IVE FISHED THE DEVELS RIVER IN THE EARLY 50. DIDNT THEY CHANGE THAT TO AMISTAD OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT? WHAT HAPPENED TO THE OLD DAM. BLOW IT OR LEAVE IT UNDER WATER?

Ox190

I'm pretty sure it feeds into Amistad...don't know anything about the dams down there I've only been fishing there once and I believe we were about 20 north of Amistad