Carp are killing me

[MNTrout]

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...glance&s=books

both this and his two pike books are excellent

[Kenny Joe]

Didn't bestbugz mention his 0weight exploded!! I have wanted a carp on the fly for a year and a half now, but haven't really, really tried. What exactly is a "trash fish"?? I never heard of such a thing.

[fcch]

One man's trash is another man's treasure
(I read that somewhere)

[Pete]

Originally posted by Kenny Joe
.......... What exactly is a "trash fish"?? I never heard of such a thing.

I know the term is no longer politically correct, but it's hard to believe that some people are too young to have ever heard it.

It's been used carelessly and applied to many fish, for various reasons, but in this context..... "An exotic species who's presence is detrimental to the ability of the native species to thrive". Of course this assumes that there are no environmental or other factors preventing the native species from surviving.

For most of my lifetime, carp were considered undesirable, except perhaps in waters that were too polluted for any native species. It was generally accepted that importing them had been a mistake.

[Pete]

Actually when Browns were first introduced, to US waters, many people did consider them undesirable. After many streams declined and could no longer support brook trout, the attitude changed.

Brookies and Browns appear to be able to coexist in streams like the Battenkill. Considering the limited protection given to carp in NJ, I was wondering if any new findings indicate that they are less harmfull than originally thought.

I really wasn't trying to shock anyone with the term. Merely wondering if releasing a carp, that was taken in waters that support bass and are marginal for trout, is good, bad, or indifferent.

[fcch]

Pete,

That would be the same for 90 % of the Raindow fisherie in some really neat places (New Zealand for example), King Salmon in the Great lakes drainage, Steelhead East of the Rockies, Browns in South America. The list goes on and on.

As I pointed out above "One man's trash is another man's treasure ". We can take that further too as Today's trash can be tomorrow's treasure (for exactly the same society). Look at Wolves in Yellowstone, THE forest as seen by settlers in the 1700 vs our view today, Eastern mountain lions, ...

Natural resource management and acceptable utilisation/exploitation is a social thing. Hey we used to grind up pacific salmon for fertiliser. What the "public" (in downtown NewYork) WANT, Need and think they need are really different things. I do lots of public consultation in forest resources issues and the PERCEPTION that one has in an un-informed matter is MORE important than reality. (in terms of one who wants get a message/education across the table)

Ideas ???

[JAD]

One summer in my youth, I worked as a lab tech in a research facility. One of the engineers that was my boss was a fisherman, and we fished saltwater together a lot. He happened to be from Taiwan. One day, I happened to mention carp fishing that I did with my friends. His eyes lit up, and he asked what we did with the fish. When I told him we released them, he couldn't believe it. Anyway, I then took him carp fishing with me, and soon after had my first (and only) taste of a cooked carp. Actually very good.

Go to any Chinese fish store, and you will see them for sale.

[Pete]

Hmm...Although no one actually came out and suggested releasing carp, I can sense a resistance to an automatic kill.

I think the January 2004 issue of New Jersey Fish and Wildlife Digest solves the dilemma. Near the end of page 6 and the beginning of page 7 there's a paragraph entitled "Waste of Fish". I assume that "Fish of any species" includes carp.

I guess if you don't have any use for the flesh and there aren't any "meat fishermen" nearby who want them, releasing unharmed is the best policy.

If they exist in fishable numbers, the population is probably established. The efforts of one fisherman aren't going to make much of a difference one way or the other.

[cingras53]

Andre, now that you got suggestions on how to get those carp,mine being the best, please try those suggestions and let us know how you did.

[Bernie]

Have you caught any carp yet? In my area (Central NJ), carps are not active until Summer. I used a home-made fly that simulated meal worm and was on a 20+ minutes tug-o-war with a carp on my light trout fly rod. I put in my 2 cents on the 'carp on fly?' thread...

Happy 'carp'-ing

[fluid]

I have only had a carp once. It hit a bead head nymph size 16. I had to cast about 2' in front of the mouth of the carp..then strip little strips really slow...The carp wagged its tail and sucked it in. The carp was feeding on bottom.

I have tried about a dozen times at one particular location. This location allows you to see the fish. The water is only 1-2' deep. If you can't sight fish for them it is pretty tuff if they are subsurface. If they are on top then it may be a little easier. I like fooling them with a nymph becuase I think that you are actually fooling them that you have a nymph.

It is tuff though I have made so many cast that they just ignore.

I actually snagged one fishing wooly buggers early season in a pond one time. I did not see it.

As a side note I have caught lots of "Common Golden Shiners" on bead heads too.

These fish only run to about 8"(females)....but I can catch them early season in many local lakes.


I attached some pictures of the "golden shiners".


They are much easier than carp IMO.

Carp are actually the tuffest fish I have tried for.

[flytire]

Listen to Ian Collin James on this podcast and then go to hos web site to learn more on carp fishing

He'll talk about a 15 foot level leader.

http://www.flyfishradio.com/2006/01/...ings-some.html