Where and how can I catch carp?

[pmmpete]

I have been challenged to catch a carp and figure out some good ways to cook it.  So I have the following questions:

1. Where are some good places to catch carp?  I'm from Missoula, so I'd prefer locations in the west half of the state.

2. Can you recommend effective ways of fishing for carp?

3. I do a lot of snorkeling and spearfishing for pike.  Montana's fishing regulations don't permit speargunning for carp in the western district, but they do permit speargunning for carp in the central and eastern districts.  How spooky are carp?  Do you think it's feasible to speargun carp?

4. Do you have any suggestions for good recipes for the common carp, which seems to be what we have in Montana?

I have been told that carp are a lot of fun to catch, so I'm looking forward to pursuing this challenge.

[walleye_guy]

I don't know a lot about spearfishing or fishing on the west side in general but I do know that in the central district if you through a worm on the bottom you will probably reel in a carp.  That is if you don't hook a sucker, goldeye, sturgeon, etc first.  Also I have never personally eaten a carp but I have read that smoked carp ribs are supposedly delicious.  I plan on giving that a try this summer. 

[Smr18]

Ya have at it haha

[rmdocks]

If you put a worm on the bottom anywhere in the Missouri you will find a carp. I tried canned carp when I was a kid not knowing what it was. It wasn't bad.

[flyfish59102]

We used to make "boileys" in the Midwest. It was a mixture of sweet corn, a little egg, and cornflakes. Then you would boil it so it stays together on the hook. The carp loved it. Goldfish did too. I caught a few goldfish upwards of 8lbs. If you want to get a lot feeding around you we would take a slingshot with a large pouch and shoot birdseed around us. That would get them feeding. You could see them come in and their tails start to stick out of the water. The other option was to take cans of sweet corn and spread around the niblets but that was a lot more expensive even though it worked well. We used to fish for them with deep sea rods with the boileys. We also made a special pole holder. The trick was that it held the pole and put very light pressure on the line. Then we had a guage that measured the line moving up or down. The carp were increadibly sensitive to line tension and it didn't take much to make them spit out the hook.

I just looked up carp rod holders online. Here is a pick of what we used to use....sort of. http://catsandcarp.com/gear/rod-holders/ . THe key is the rod was pointing at the water and then there was a piece that hooked over the line pulling it down a few inches. When a carp would bite...the indicator would go up. The speed at witch it would go up let you know if it was a carp or another kind of fish. It was super sensitive so while they were sucking the bottom around it you usually got movement. Hope that helps.

Something else you may want to try is reading a great book. It is called "Carp on the Fly". It is a pretty entertaining read. I used to catch the ugly things on purpose with my fly rod and spinning rod. Catching a 20lb carp on a 5 Weight Fly Rod is a kick and a half. They usually start by running about 100 yards.

flyfish59102

[flyfish59102]

Oh yeah.... Cooking them. You are on your own big guy. Not a chance is hell.

flyfish59102

[quietwater]

Didn't a person harvest carp on the causeway in Helena? I'm sure it was served somewhere ?

[Mac Attack]

You can catch them in NY.


 



 


See Bob.  He can help you.

(rgfixit)

[Boomer]

Been catching carp here in Indiana since I was young. Some baits can be very complicated but we usually went with Wheaties or whole kernel corn. For Wheaties use a small treble hook and take a handful of Wheaties and crush them. Dip your hand in the water and make into a dough ball. Knead the dough ball around the hook and squeeze hard. You will be amazed how hard it is to get this off the hook. Toss it out and wait. (no sinkers or anything. Carp can be very shy.)  Whole kernel corn just place on a hook a few kernels and use a sliding sinker rig.  May want to throw some extra corn in the same area if laws allow.

Eating carp? A friend of mine's mother grew up in a German community in southern Indiana. She could cook the carp and it was great. (She would not cook anything less than ten pounds.)  I have also smoked carp and it was pretty good.

Good luck.

[rgfixit]

Or.....you could tie up some of RG's "Corn Flies" and play with the fly rod.



Or maybe some "Mulberry Flies"







As far as cooking and eating them is concerned.....let us know how you make out with that one.

Rg

[curdog]

I have tried corn and some home made boilie recipes with not much success best for me was just a little hook with as much balled up worm I could get on . I sure would like to figure them out to they are a lot of fun to catch

[pmmpete]

Carp have been raised commercially for thousands of years in different parts of the world.  And various species of carp were introduced to the US by immigrants from Europe and the far east who liked eating carp, and wanted to be able to catch and eat them in the US.  There are a lot of recipes for carp on the internet and in cookbooks.  But it sounds like you need to remove the skin from carp, and you need to deal with all the bones which are found in carp.

Northern Pike present similar issues.  Pike is one of the tastier fish around, but you have to remove the skin, and you have to remove the "Y" bones. I've been told by a number of people that they tried pike, and it was horrible.  They refer to pike by derogatory names like "slime rocket," and say that when they catch a pike they toss it up on the bank to rot.  I ask them "Did you remove the skin and the "Y" bones before you cooked it?" And of course they hadn't.  I explain that when pike are processed properly, they are terrifically good eating.

[missoulafish]

Flyfish, what type of fly did you use?

[rgfixit]

They'll hit a wide variety of flies from nymphs to crayfish imitations and those I posted. Certain times of the year they can be caught on cottonwood imitations. Lots of fun on the fly.

Rg

[perchgypsy]

There is a big tournement near me west of syracuse NY ...alot of guys use these little net sacks and make there own "bait"..fill the little sack full and tie it to the hook...Google search it and you will be suprise how world wide carp fishing is...Sadam Hussain was huge into carp fishing ...he would stock them all over middle east ...I'm no fan of his but read a article on it once