Why you should go fishing for carp now!

[Downunder35m]

In many european countries carp is a highly priced eating fish, especially around x-mas.
So, after catching one last night, I though I show you why:




That is what you get from in filet from one carp, and yes it is a normal size bin, not kids size

Don't get wrong, a carp kept alive in clean water for a week (or caught in a stream that is not muddy) taste really good but I want to show you why you should go fishing for cap in your x-mas break...
Imagine you like a good fishing spot or lake but every now and then you have to dispose of damn carp.
Being a pest in AU you don't care and put it in the bin.
But right now is the time to catch them in big numbers!
And here is all the reason you ever needed:

Check that the entire inside of the carp is filled with eggs!
The guts are reduced to a thing flat cake between two massive egg "containers" - all the way to the gills...


Here are they on a full sized dinner plate:


All up just under 600grams in eggs, that means about 250.000 baby carp in a few weeks time, growing to mums size and eating everything from yabbies over plants and smaller fish (yes, they just suck them in!) and all sorts of bait you can think of.
A good sized carp will be dominant in the waters and a few them can make sure no other fish has a chance to survive.
Tad poles are on their menu too including smaller froggs, so I guess there enough reasons to say:
Damn it! Let's go and catch some carp today!

[Mik]

This is true. We are from a European country and eat carp on Christmas eve. We eat it deep fried. Its got lots of bones and not the most tasty fish but we don't mind.

Mik

[Goodsy]

Its got lots of bones and not the most tasty fish but we don't mind.

Mik

Then why do you eat it.

[Poita]

I caught hundreds of carp as a kid. Tried all sorts to make them taste nice. Gave up and just use them for yabbie bait now.

[Dicko1]

They also eat dogs in China, crickets in Indonesia, possums in Kiwiland and rats in Vietnam...

Would rather eat these than carp!! Full of mud, bony and smelly. Have caught thousands of em up to 20lbs years ago in the Murray River. It is also illegal to return carp back into water once caught. Lobster fisherman use them as cray bait.

To each his own.

[sub888]

Boil them for six hours with a brick in the pot. Throw the carp out and eat the brick, much more palatable.

It is also illegal to return to the water dead or alive or any part of them. Ie: illegal to use for yabby bait.

[sub888]

BTW I agree to go fishing for them, they are good fun on light line or flyline, kill as many as possible doing so humanely and dispose of far from the water.

[Kirkster72]

Boil them for six hours with a brick in the pot. Throw the carp out and eat the brick, much more palatable.

It is also illegal to return to the water dead or alive or any part of them. Ie: illegal to use for yabby bait.

That's gold, but have to agree - would never eat one

[Dicko1]

Boil them for six hours with a brick in the pot. Throw the carp out and eat the brick, much more palatable.

It is also illegal to return to the water dead or alive or any part of them. Ie: illegal to use for yabby bait.

Thats the same recipe for cockatoo....

[Steve_H]

Boil them for six hours with a brick in the pot. Throw the carp out and eat the brick, much more palatable.

It is also illegal to return to the water dead or alive or any part of them. Ie: illegal to use for yabby bait.

Well its legal to return carp to the water they were caught in, in NSW, ACT and SA. Illegal to return them in Vic, Qld and WA.

Give me a salt water fish to eat over any fresh water fish any day of the week.

[Poita]

To correct some misinformation (for SA at least, where I live):

http://www.pir.sa.gov.au/fisheries/recreational_fishing/fishing_limits/species/freshwater/european_carp

Boil them for six hours with a brick in the pot. Throw the carp out and eat the brick, much more palatable.

It is also illegal to return to the water dead or alive or any part of them. Ie: illegal to use for yabby bait.

See above link, they can be used as yabbie bait, but must be killed before being returned to the water in pots.

Well its legal to return carp to the water they were caught in, in NSW, ACT and SA. Illegal to return them in Vic, Qld and WA.

Give me a salt water fish to eat over any fresh water fish any day of the week.

See above link again. It is ILLEGAL to return them alive to the water in SA.

In NSW is is legal to return them to the waters they were caught in but not recommended:

http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/fisheries/pests-diseases/freshwater-pests/species/carp/groups/recreational-fishers

In ACT it is legal to return them to the waters they were caught in:

http://www.environment.act.gov.au/cpr/fish/recreational_fishing_in_the_act/fishing_in_the_act

[Dicko1]

50 years ago when I fished the Murray River it was crystal clear in most areas. Long reed grass and you could see 2 meters down easily. Redfin to 6lb were common and bloody good eating. Yellow belly , sliver perch and cod were there as well. The introduction of carp into the system decimated much of the waters the native fish habituated. Redfin were an introduced species but seemed to fit in ok with the system. Carp just ruined water clarity, native fish numbers dwindled and redfin over a pound are not common. The cod are making a come back but I also think that fisheries education with catch and release has had a positive effect on the fishery as well.
Anyone who had a grain of intelligence would not return a carp back into the water it came from. I can remember shooting hundreds of them with a .22 from the banks of the Murray as they were in plague proportions. Actually a waste of a good bullet.

[my.paj]

We go fishing in the Murray at least twice a year and love to catch the big Cod but we always spend some time targeting Carp and would never put one back.

[Old Paj]

Carp

While living in Canberra in the mid 80s we deliberately fished in the Kingston area of Lake Burley-Griffin for European Carp (brother lived there, while we were down at Monash). We used to toss in a can of sweetcorn about 1hr before fishing the same spot, then using light gear with sweetcorn for bait in the same spot. Was good fun.

Best we ever caught was 21lb on 6lb line. Normal was about 10lb.

We cleaned, gutted and beheaded them on the lake and then chopped them up with the meat cleaver at home, put them through the course blades on the mincer and put them into cat feed size packs in the freezer.

The cat we had at the time would eat as much as he could fit in, then curl up and sleep for a day. He couldn't get enough of them.

[Dicko1]

We go fishing in the Murray at least twice a year and love to catch the big Cod but we always spend some time targeting Carp and would never put one back.

The one thing I miss about living in Cairns is fishing the Murray. Have caught some nice nice cod there Kept my first 2 but released everything after that. Biggest was 37 lbs. Nice fish and I like to think that he,s still swimming there somewhere. I actually caught my second cod near Yarrawonga golf course. It had 5 golf balls in its gut when I cleaned it!!! I suspect that the cod thought it was some sort of food as the golf balls probably bounced along the river bottom with the current. Thats my theory anyway. My uncle said that many years ago they used to catch cod on hard boiled eggs. Hopefully most people are putting the cod back alive.
cheers