Hunting for Carp

ugh, bass. they only become a gamefish when some 500lb redneck in a nascar hat decides to make a tv show about them. god I hate bass.

Catfish on the other hand are FAR better eating, put up a stronger fight, and take no talent to catch (just like bass, but they don't pretend to be something they're not)


I'd eat catfish over bass any day.


Well.. A boneless small mouth fillet done up in a beer batter is f-kin delicious, or pan fried in seasoned flour and real butter. Tastes almost like perch. I love it. One of my favorites right up with perch and pickerel. The 80 or so lakes surrounding me are so clean, that they taste mmm I guess, that coupled with our cool spring and summers here.
 
Ketchup has the uncanny ability to make anything you put it on taste like... Ketchup.

most people would have no clue once a fish has been seasoned/batterd/fried what it was to begin with but when you pull some fish out of the water that have wiskers/teeth/bugeye's etc then have to clean it you lose your appetite...

i have tried sucker fish, carp, pike, lake trout and various other species and find most taste like fish... lake trout is quite mild in flavour but smell's the worst IMHO and pike in the 14-18" neighbourhood makes the nicest butter fried fish on the lakeside BBQ...

best line for fish with teeth that like to fight i have found is 20lb test Fireline... trust me you can reel in a pissed off beaver with that stuff.
 
Carp is good eating. As long as it is under 2lbs, and preferrably from a stream, not a lake. Then it does not have the 'muddy' texture.

I've eaten it more times than i care to remember. Especially in the old country (Poland).

For ####s sake it's a christmas dish, in a lot of european countries, well the catholic ones at least, hence the no meat a christmas eve meal, etc. etc. just cause you dont eat it or never tried it, don't knock it or be ignorant. Also pound for pound i believe carp are a good game fish, and i lived in BC and caught salmon, rainbow, sturgeon, etc. :)
 
I always wanted to shoot some carp with my bow. Never got around to it. Probably doesn't help that I don't really care for fish and would have to find someone to eat em for me (always heard that asians loved em). Still have my reel, 90lbs line, and 2 arrows kicking around somewhere if anyone is interested...
 
ive eaten a few carp under 14" and they werent too bad but i dont think its wise to eat the larger ones you will likely arrow. better off using the big ones for fertilizer or bear food ;)
Where did you get that information? I've had them past 24" and they are just fine. From a biological point there is no reason to say that anything past 14" is not going to taste good. I've had Jewish and Chinese meals with large carp and they tasted pretty good.
 
I have an aquaintance who eats the racoons he shoots,(I always ask what he's having before I accept a dinner invitation) and billions of people eat chicken,the filthiest ,dirtiest cannibal with feathers on the face of the earth. Some people eat beaver(aquatic type) and other rodents(squirrels,muskrat etc.). Some people insist on eating liver,kidneys and other internal parts(Why? There is so much good stuff on the outside of the critter to eat!). I prefer Pike over Walleye...The whole point being is we all have our own likes and dislikes... I hope the ice breaks up soon. With all the Carping about Carp I can't wait to get on the river...this could turn out to be an interesting adventure.
 
All this reminds me of a joke, some of you probably heard it before.......Whats the difference between a Carp and a lawyer??
One's a scum sucking bottom feeder, the other is a fish!
 
The "muddy" taste of carp is from a bacteria in the water/mud. This is the biggest reason why some people say that carp all taste like, well,.... mud.

Not all carp have the muddy taste. That is why they are considered a delicacy in some countries.
 
The "muddy" taste of carp is from a bacteria in the water/mud. This is the biggest reason why some people say that carp all taste like, well,.... mud.

Not all carp have the muddy taste. That is why they are considered a delicacy in some countries.

I have heard people complain about a muddy taste in Pike and Walleye caught in mid summer in small ,shallow lakes,rivers and streams. Most of these people use this as an excuse to go to the northern lakes and party with the black flies. I have fished the small lakes,rivers and streams for years and never caught a fish I couldn't eat. I think that processing your catch quickly would alleviate some of the bad taste problems. As with the 4 legged critters, stress can turn sweet red meat into a tough and sour mouthful that no one wants to eat. This is the case with cattle when they get wound up before slaughter. This probably would affect the taste of a wounded deer too if it took awhile to dispatch it after being hit the first time. I can't see why fish wouldn't react to stress the same way. I can see the bacteria thing too. You get back in a shallow flood pool where the algae stinks and there are rotting corpses..."Yum"...Gotta be some bacteria there somewhere...
 
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