Why you should go fishing for carp now!

[bilgeboy]

the European Carp is one of the main reason Murray cod are a endangered species.
they are the enemy to any native fish as they are a bottom feeder (EDIT) ( they suck mud from the river banks and spit it out causing erosion and root damage to native grasses and reeds) as well as foul the water with the silt. they eat the eggs and spawn of any water borne reproduction, as well as reduce the habitat for egg laying fish as well as waterbirds. I have a friend who is a scientist at SARDI, reckons the Murry Cod will be extinct in 20 years in the wild, they are a very slow growing fish, and even taking 1 breeding female out of the eco system is devestating to the species. they are feircley territorial, and taking one from its part of the river also makes its territory available to carp, and the devestation continues.

If you are fishing over the holidays pls dont target Murray cod or trout cod. they are magnificent animals, check out the one at the Melbourne aquarium to see one up close.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murray_cod

[Dicko1]

the European Carp is one of the main reason Murray cod are a endangered species.
they are the enemy to any native fish as they are a mouth feeder ( they suck mud from the river banks and spit it out causing erosion and root damage to native grasses and reeds, as well as foul the water with the silt. they eat the eggs and spawn of any water borne reproduction, as well as reduce the habitat for egg laying fish as well as waterbirds. I have a friend who is a scientist at SARDI, reckons the Murry Cod will be extinct in 20 years in the wild, they are a very slow growing fish, and even taking 1 breeding female out of the eco system is devestating to the species. they are feircley territorial, and taking one from its part of the river also makes its territory available to carp, and the devestation continues.

If you are fishing over the holidays pls dont target Murray cod or trout cod. they are magnificent animals, check out the one at the Melbourne aquarium to see one up close.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murray_cod

Totally agree mate. Cod should be a catch and release fish only. They were a plentiful fish at one stage but not now. Magnificent fish to look at and to see one around 40lbs is special.

[madfisher]

Carp

I love flyfishing for carp, but we mainly do it in former trout streams like the Turon. Now the interesting thing is the Turon is a crystal clear freestone river with no mud, and the Carp out of it provided they are put on ice straight out of the water taste better then a lot of trout from streams out around Rockley way.
Mind you I still dong the majority on the head and leave them for the goannas to clean up.
They are a brilliant sport fish, in that they can be sight fished(That's all we do), fight like crazy and grow big. My best last week was 17lb, with 3 over 10lb, got snapped four times on 12lb tippet trying to keep them out of snags but still landed 8 for half a day.
If anyone wants any tips on flyfishing for them please feel feee to contact me.
Cheers Pete

[vladguan]

Where I came from, Carp was the main fish from a mountain river up in the North West of China bordering Russia. We continued to eat them here and go on an annual Xmas pilgrimage to Milang at Lake Alexanderina to catch and net them and also to get fresh milk, Stopped doing that when they no longer sold fresh milk to the public.

[Troy711]

We call the "mud marlin". All they're good for is shark burley.

[vladguan]

We call the "mud marlin". All they're good for is shark burley.

We have a way of cooking them so that you don't taste the mud at all. We roast it with lots of herbs and spices. There is a saying in Chinese when eating Carp, never have anything else in the mouth.

Its only bony (small bones) past the rib cages and we don't eat that section anyway.

[rotare]

They are a brilliant sport fish, in that they can be sight fished(That's all we do)

With all respect, any fish caught on light line can be considered a sport fish, when given a sporting chance. I've caught hundreds of carp and yes they can put up a fight when they're a decent size. But pound for pound in reality they don't even rate compared to most similar sized fish and really aren't a 'sports fish' at all.

[Dicko1]

They are not classe as vermin without good reason. Muddy tasting scum eaters, thats all they are. I,ve caught everything from roach to marlin. Carp rate -7 out of 100. There is no lower rated fish........

[madfisher]

Carp

I can not comment on salt water fish,but the only native fish that will outfight a carp lb for lb is Bass. Silver Perch go very very hard, but not as hard as carp. Now I am talking about high attitude streams like the Turon, Abercrombie etc where the carp are used to fighting fast water .
Well known angling writer Peter Morse will target carp in Australia, but goes to NZ for quality trout angling.
I flyfish for most species and have caught Cod to 85cm on fly, Golden Perch to 60 and Silver Perch on fly to 55cm. In fact I pioneered fly fishing for Golden Perch in Windermere back in the early 90s.
Its the fact that they can be sight fished to similar to Bone fish that makes them and attractive sporting proposition. I removed over 300 last year from the Winbourdale riverlet near Bathurst, if more people used efficient methods to remove them we would not have such a problem.
Cheers Pete

[Phil]

Such a shame that introduced animals have and will continue destroying native flora and fauna.

[Lost1]

Chasing carp is a great way to get kids interested in fishing. They are fairly easy to catch, its usually easy to find plenty of fish and benefits the aquatic environment. Unfortunately I don't think we will ever eradicate this pest species from our waterways.

[Aussie_Dan]

Last time we went camping up the river (about 4 months ago or so...) the wife caught a carp and for the sake of experimentation, we decided to eat it.
I scaled and gutted it, then we wrapped it in foil and threw it onto the coals.
Once cooked we were able to peel the flesh off of the super bony skeleton and to be honest it wasn't bad in our opinion!
There would be no excuse for starving to death if you were stuck out on the Murray somewhere.
However they are a boring species to try and fish for. Super dumb and they don't put up any form of a fight.
Such a shame that they have taken over our waterways.
Cheers, Dan.

[madfisher]

Carp

Interesting you are the 2nd person to say they don't fight. I have never fished the murray so can not comment on the carp caught their. But in our neck of the woods the central west of NSw, in rivers like the upper Macquarie, turon etc the carp put up and out standing fight. I use 12lb nitlon tippet material, yet of `12 carp hooked four still broke me off while I was trying to keep them out of the snags. But four of those I landed where over 10lb. I usually use a med action 6wt flyrod on theses carp, and its normal to be run to your backing.
Flyfishing for carp has really taken off in this area in the last few years, and medium sized swtreams like the Winbourdale riverlet are now much clearer.
Cheers Pete

[RodZone]

I have never tried this but a few years ago an Italian TV chef in the Riverina put several carp in a rain water tank for a few days and when filleting took the extra run of lateral bones out. Cooked up and served with some sort of sauce they were said to be good eating. If this is true and Aussies took to it the carp would be cleaned out in a few years - same as any fishery targeted by the greedy brigade.

[madfisher]

Rod no need to put Turon carp in a tank, its a freestone stream with very little mud, all shingle, as long as they are put straight into and ice slurry they taste fine. I did try one from the Darling once and it was truly discusting. So I think its got more to do with the environment they are caught in.