# Carp



## twcrawford (Aug 27, 2009)

Anyone ever had Carp? 

I hear different stuff about it, some say it's very oily and boney and others say they're good eating. 

I'm thinking about targeting them on my next trip out to the Potomac Tributaries....any tips? What bait, hook size...any tips would help....

Thanks

TW


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## cducer (May 7, 2010)

carp are fun! And they can be quite good depending on the water quality they live in.
When I was in NY every spring at ice out we would go out at night in a 12 ft john boat, a spot light rigged up from an old headlight, and a gig and sneak up on big carp and spear them( later graduated to bow fishing, ). My friends father would smoke them and mix with cream cheese and it made a nice spread.
Smoked carp itself was pretty good as well.

Guess what I am saying is carp from muddy water tastes better in cold water times... rocky bottom reservoirs have good carp and they tend to edible longer in the season.

Google carp recipies and there may be some tricks to help with muddy fish.


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## cducer (May 7, 2010)

oh... as far as catching them.... a good rod and reel ( I have caught them on fly rods, Bass tackle, ultra lights)
A favorite way I have is to find an area that you know that have carp and "chum" the area with canned corn... keep it close so you can cast to it
Bait a # 4 hook with a few kernals of corn and with as little weight as you can... 0 is better... put your hook around the chummed area.

The corn juice will bring carp to the area to feed on the kernals. works every time !!


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## Croaker D (Apr 18, 2010)

TW i always get them with canned corn also, take some of the corn in your hand a nd chum the water they will start to come in. put the corn on your hook through it out just a little bit further than the corn u just threw out by hand and bingo. i personally dont like them to muddy and to hard to clean.


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## tonymac (Feb 4, 2011)

make cornmeal balls with honey, thats the best bait..yur rod should be real sturdy...these things can fight ...and will break a rod...yur hook set..any way yu prefer..with sinker or with-out...yur hooks, I've been taught to put 4 or 5 number #6 hooks together , then make a ball with cornmeal mix...they suck on there bait and their mouth have real soft tissue, so if yu do the set=up like i said yu'll be in business...the monster's all the time with cornmeal an honey..(smoking is better..or bake wit alot of hearbs..or jerky..)best soak in apple viniger 2 hrs..before cleaning or cooking..to kill the fishy taste and smell from the water it has come from...


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## chesapeakecarper (Aug 22, 2003)

Shredded wheat cereal dough ball wetted w/strawberry soda on a dough holder treble (these work to start but there are better options), behind an egg sinker. Or use wheaties... Thats how I started and you go from there. I now have my own doughball recipe and various flavored corns (canned is a great start). 

Carp are a lot of fun, VERY pleantiful, grow big and will rip the rod from your hand.

Carp Anglers Group is a good resource for info, they have a get together every year in DC on the Potomac and might be good to hang and see whats up.


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## chesapeakecarper (Aug 22, 2003)

twcrawford said:


> Anyone ever had Carp?
> 
> I hear different stuff about it, some say it's very oily and boney and others say they're good eating.


Yes to all the above...when prepared properly. You can research this on the 'net but ignore the Board Recipe.

No, consumption advisories dictate not eating them from the Potomac but many do; you can find this on the 'net also.


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## Fresh/Saltmaniac (Apr 17, 2010)

twcrawford said:


> Anyone ever had Carp?
> 
> I hear different stuff about it, some say it's very oily and boney and others say they're good eating.
> 
> ...


In my native country of Poland they're very popular and its a traditional christmas eve meal but the last time I ate one was when I was around 7 so I don't remember how they taste. I actually have a funny story about that. When I was a small kid we decided to get a live one before christmas. I convinced my mom to let me keep it as a pet before it was time to kook it and I fell in love with the thing. A few days later I accidentally knocked a chair into the large bowl it was in and hit it but it survived. Next morning it was dead. When it was time to eat it I took a coupe of bites and broke down in tears. And I never ate a karp again.....


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## zam (Jun 16, 2004)

When I was a kid I would sell the carp I caught in Baltimore. I'd put them in a wheelbarrow and walked around, word would get out quik. Some people loved them, I knew a few people that would buy one every time I caught them. I always heard you had to make sure you didn't cut the "mud line" when you cleaned them. never was quite sure what a mud line was
I always used corn or worms. but when a big storm came through and the river swelled, I could just scoup them up with a net


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## catman (May 28, 2001)

Without a doubt for carp to be table fare the have to come from the cleanest, freshness water possible. There's a spot off of route 32 on Liberty Reservoir that has the best tasting carp I’ve found. I like the ones under 18”, any bigger I release them. Carp meat is somewhat course so I’ll poach it and remove the meat from the bones. From there I’ll either make fish cakes just like crab cakes or use my cod cake recipe . Either way it’s great eating. Both types of cakes freeze very well - up to 6 months in a Zip-Loc freezer bag. Don’t forget to date the bags. 

The water is crystal clear and the carp spook very easily. It’s neat to watch them pick up bait and mouth it then spit it out if they detect the hook or any resistance. These fish are smart. For bait I’ll use red wigglers (compost worms) and or corn.


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## chesapeakecarper (Aug 22, 2003)

Fresh/Saltmaniac said:


> In my native country of Poland they're very popular and its a traditional christmas eve meal.


This internets is funny sometimes...I've received e-mails from parts of the USA (Alaska was the farthest) people looking for clean-water carp for traditional holiday meals, and do I have any to ship ? Many older ethnic groups in the USA, now especially growing Hispanic and Asian, have a demand for them. Regular on ice in the international markets in Baltimore, DC, Glen Burnie, Ellicott City. I give away as many as I can. During the Golden Years on Conowingo Dam's catwalk there was a veritable rod n reel quasi commercial fishery for this rough fish hauled back to New York City. Same on a smaller scale at the old Carroll Island Power Plant with a group of Russians. The Chesapeake Bay remains a commercial carp source, as by catch or intentional sale to paylake/pay-to-fish ponds down south. Not the best or advisable eating but like catman said, carp from cleaner waters properly prepared are worth keeping some smaller ones.


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## chesapeakecarper (Aug 22, 2003)

Fried Carp on Food Network's Drive-Ins, Diners and Dives...One ton of cooked carp a week...wonderful video!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bFCbifraN0


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## summerschool (Nov 12, 2009)

I had a friend from Germany who said he loves carp and and I told him that is a trash fish here. He explained to me that we do not know how to prepare it. He told me they keep the fish alive in a big tub for three days without feeding it. He said at the end of three days there will be silt at the bottom of the tub, the carp has cleaned himself out. He said thats when you kill it and it is the best fish you have ever tasted. I still have a hard time believing it but I have never done it.


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## hengstthomas (Mar 11, 2006)

tonymac said:


> make cornmeal balls with honey, thats the best bait..yur rod should be real sturdy...these things can fight ...and will break a rod...yur hook set..any way yu prefer..with sinker or with-out...yur hooks, *I've been taught to put 4 or 5 number #6 hooks together* , then make a ball with cornmeal mix...they suck on there bait and their mouth have real soft tissue, so if yu do the set=up like i said yu'll be in business...the monster's all the time with cornmeal an honey..(smoking is better..or bake wit alot of hearbs..or jerky..)best soak in apple viniger 2 hrs..before cleaning or cooking..to kill the fishy taste and smell from the water it has come from...


That is VERY ILLEGAL not to mention Unsportsmanlike conduct !


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## twcrawford (Aug 27, 2009)

summerschool said:


> I had a friend from Germany who said he loves carp and and I told him that is a trash fish here. He explained to me that we do not know how to prepare it. He told me they keep the fish alive in a big tub for three days without feeding it. He said at the end of three days there will be silt at the bottom of the tub, the carp has cleaned himself out. He said thats when you kill it and it is the best fish you have ever tasted. I still have a hard time believing it but I have never done it.


Whoa! I had no idea there was so much info out there on carp. A quick google underlines what most of you've already posted. I mostly bottom fish with at least two rods so next time I'm out I'll give it a try. Carp sounds like some serious action. 

I'll post my results.


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## twcrawford (Aug 27, 2009)

A tub for 3 days lol. Wifey isn't gonna like that. Hmm I could put him in the garage in a plastic storage crate though - same difference. If I catch one I'll try it. A couple seasons ago I caught a huge snapping turtle that I gave away. The guys on the shoreline phoned a guy with a pickup truck. The pick up truck guy stopped whatever he was doing and drove 30 minutes to take the turtle. They told me it was illegal to keep turtles that size... They also proceeded to tell me about the 8 different kinds of meat in a turtle. Anyways, yes, if I pull up a carp I'll make a way. Im not gonna knock it till I try it


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## twcrawford (Aug 27, 2009)

chesapeakecarper said:


> Fried Carp on Food Network's Drive-Ins, Diners and Dives...One ton of cooked carp a week...wonderful video!
> 
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bFCbifraN0


Guy can burn!


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## fish123 (Aug 26, 2008)

They're very popular in Germany, go to Google.de and lookup some recipes. I like them, they must be prepared correctly though.


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## twcrawford (Aug 27, 2009)

Fresh/Saltmaniac said:


> In my native country of Poland they're very popular and its a traditional christmas eve meal but the last time I ate one was when I was around 7 so I don't remember how they taste. I actually have a funny story about that. When I was a small kid we decided to get a live one before christmas. I convinced my mom to let me keep it as a pet before it was time to kook it and I fell in love with the thing. A few days later I accidentally knocked a chair into the large bowl it was in and hit it but it survived. Next morning it was dead. When it was time to eat it I took a coupe of bites and broke down in tears. And I never ate a karp again.....


Lol

I have a similar story about a plus sized woman that I'll not share due to 1, this being a PG forum, and 2, I have an image to protect


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## twcrawford (Aug 27, 2009)

Croaker D said:


> TW i always get them with canned corn also, take some of the corn in your hand a nd chum the water they will start to come in. put the corn on your hook through it out just a little bit further than the corn u just threw out by hand and bingo. i personally dont like them to muddy and to hard to clean.


Come on D we can target them while we practice casting. You don't keep nothing but croakers and stripers, ill take your throwbacks lol


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## twcrawford (Aug 27, 2009)

zam said:


> When I was a kid I would sell the carp I caught in Baltimore. I'd put them in a wheelbarrow and walked around, word would get out quik. Some people loved them, I knew a few people that would buy one every time I caught them. I always heard you had to make sure you didn't cut the "mud line" when you cleaned them. never was quite sure what a mud line was
> I always used corn or worms. but when a big storm came through and the river swelled, I could just scoup them up with a net


I've got a feeling mud line = intestinal track.


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## peteformation (Jun 18, 2011)

Carps have lots of bones, Y shape ones. Large one do tend to be oily. In Asia, we normally steam it with garlic, ginger, sesame oil and light soya sauce.

Can fish them with fresh sweet corn...


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## shadyfisher85 (Mar 17, 2010)

The carp recipe that I hear the most is to nail the carp to a board and bake it in the oven. After cooking for 30 minutes throw away the fish and eat the board because it will taste better then the carp ever will. Obviously this is a joke. I tried eating carp years ago and it tasted like boney fried mud to me. The carp was from the big gunpowder below loch raven. I would think this is pretty clean water? I think I'll stick with perch, trout, croaker, bluefish, spot, and striper as my favorite food fish. Carp are very strong and fun to catch though!


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