"Phil L" wrote in message
...
Phil L wrote:
:: riverman wrote:
:::: I'm not a carp fisherman, but its interesting to watch an entire
:::: industry springing up. In advertisements for carp lakes, I see
:::: pictures of these guys with these giant nets, filled with carp.
:::: Many of them look like they have two or three dozen fish or more,
:::: with a total weight into the hundreds of pounds.
::::
:::: My question, being primarily a C&R fisherman, is what do you DO
:::: with all that fish?? It seems like (and I know I could be wrong
:::: here) that the purpose of the net is to be able to brag to other
:::: carp fishermen about what a huge pile of fish you caught, but I
:::: cannot imagine someone EATING that much fish. And some of them
:::: (the really big ones) are pretty old: I also cant imagine the carp
:::: lake having too many of those monsters.
::::
:::: So what do you do with all the fish? Sell it to a catfood company?
:::: Toss it in the woods? Eat it? Sell it to a fish mongerer? This is
:::: all entirely foreign to me....
::
:: We generally let the fish go in the UK, I know in America they eat
:: everything they catch, but over here, we only eat trout, salmon, the
:: occasional pike, and sea fish...if you are in this country then this
:: is obviously a troll.

After a brief search, you are American but in the UK?
Don't take your catch home with you in this country as it's
illegal.......lots of people like fishing for carp as they provide good
sport and it requires a high level of patience....also you want to catch
something wich is going to pull back a bit!


Yeah, you got it: I'm an American, but in the UK for the summer. The concept
of Carp Ponds is very new to me.

So you leave them in that big net while you fish, but release them when you
leave? I suppose the net must hang out in the water, then. I hadn't thought
of that, as in the pictures I've seen, the nets were up on land and the fish
didn't seem to be flopping. Then the purpose of the net really IS just for
bragging rights?

In the US, I don't know of anyone who keeps carp. They are usually
considered a 'trash fish', which is a rather prejudicial term, but they
aren't fished for sport by anyone over the age of about 9. I suppose when
they get into the 40 pound range, they must put up a serious fight, and
fishing for them sure has gained in popularity over here. I dunno, different
strokes for different folks.... I like flyfishing for brown trout, myself,
but YMMV.

And in the US, I believe (at least for trout) there is a much stronger trend
to C&R than here. I am constantly suprised at the local fishermen who keep
the large trout they land. As for other fish, it really depends on whether
you are fishing for dinner, or sport. I won't disagree that there are a lot
of folks who keep everything they catch, but there's also a lot of us who
release everything we catch.

Thanks for the clarification on the carp thing.

--riverman