The King of Carp - The Codfather of Sole - The Don

Are the carp any good to eat???


"Barry" wrote in message
. uk...
Hi:

I've just joined this group and looking forward to participating. If you
want to see me in action, here's a recent TV appearance.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LXK1mwGtss

catfish2006 wrote:
Are the carp any good to eat???

There great the way I cook them

Take your carp and place it on a 1 inch thick Oak board, season it well,
and cook in the oven at 350 degrees 10 min for each pound of fish,,
remove from the oven and then from the board, throw the carp away and
eat the board


--
Rodney Long,
Inventor of the Mojo SpecTastic "WIGGLE" rig, SpecTastic Thread,
Nutri Shield insect repellent. ,Stand Out Hooks ,Stand Out Lures,
Mojo's Rock Hopper & Rig Saver weights, and the EZKnot
http://www.ezknot.com

Rodney Long wrote:
catfish2006 wrote:
Are the carp any good to eat???

There great the way I cook them

Take your carp and place it on a 1 inch thick Oak board, season it well,
and cook in the oven at 350 degrees 10 min for each pound of fish,,
remove from the oven and then from the board, throw the carp away and
eat the board


From
http://www.und.nodak.edu/org/ndwild/carp.html

Just one of hundreds of such sites

Less Carping
At Bowman-Haley Reservoir

North Dakota Outdoors - June 1995
By Joe Bonneau, Dennis Scarnecchia, and Emil Berard
Although the word origins of the fish called carp and the word carping
(to complain in a peevish manner) are different, as far as sport
fishermen are concerned, carp and carping often go hand in hand.

In North Dakota's midsized reservoirs, overpopulation of undesirable or
"rough" fishes, can reduce numbers and diversity of more popular fishes
and harm sport fishing.

First introduced into the United States as a potentially important food
fish, the carp was stocked throughout much of the country in the 1880s
and 1890s. The species spread rapidly, so that by early this century a
fish still highly esteemed throughout much of Europe was considered a
pest in the United States, a reputation that, with few exceptions, it
retains to this day.

Carp are primarily bottom (benthic) feeders, eating a variety of animal
and plant life (although it is not uncommon to see carp feeding at the
surface on hot, stagnant summer days). Overabundant carp can severely
deplete lake bottom food sources needed by species such as yellow perch,
bluegills, and channel catfish.

Rooting activities of foraging carp stir up sediment and increase water
turbidity. Turbid water makes it difficult for sightfeeding game fish
such as walleye, sauger, and northern pike to see their food, as well as
an angler's bait. Carp impede growth and establishment of submerged
aquatic plants by directly uprooting plants, and hindering growth as
turbid water blocks sunlight needed for photosynthesis.

Elimination of submerged plants can diminish water quality, because
submerged plants reduce windcaused turbidity and help cycle nutrients.
Submerged plants also tie up nutrients, which helps control algae blooms
in nutrient rich waters. Besides aiding water quality, fish food
organisms live on or near aquatic plants. Some fish species, like
northern pike and perch, need aquatic plants for spawning. Underwater
plants also provide cover for small fish to escape from predators.

How Carp Dominate Waters?

In many nutrient-rich reservoirs, carp may at first reproduce
successfully, resulting in one or two strong year classes in succession.
Their long lifespan (up to 15 years or more) and potential to reach a
large size (up to 20 pounds or more) allow fish from strong year classes
to grow steadily, rapidly at first, but more slowly later on as they
become large and exceed natural limits of their food supply.

Eventually the reservoir is full of large, old carp whose reproductive
success is poor, because the reservoir's carrying capacity for carp is
reached. Growth and survival rates of young-of-the-year are low.
Although few young carp are added to the population, the damage was done
when the strong year classes were produced.

The Old Carp Syndrome may persist for years until a die off reduces the
dominant year classes. If the die off is sudden, the entire process can
start over. This cycle explains why biologists have often removed large
numbers of carp from waters, only to see survivors reproduce
successfully and recreate the Old Carp Syndrome 10 years later.

With fewer old carp, food for younger carp may be abundant. They can
grow rapidly, and quickly reach a size too large for predation. This
rapid growth permits a carp to live most of its 15 or more years without
risk of predation. The carp's high fecundity (reproductive capacity) up
to 2 million eggs in a 20-pound female and its adaptability to spawn in
different situations gives it an edge over many native or preferred species.

In addition, poor landuse practices in a watershed can result in
excessive sediment input and nutrient enrichment in a lake, conditions
which often favor rough fish over other species. Good land use practices
become especially important in reservoirs draining large watersheds, a
common situation on the Great Plains.

Because carp can alter their own aquatic habitats to the detriment of
other species, and because they can quickly outgrow predation, fishery
managers must often intervene in carp-dominated waters to reduce their
numbers. Contracts with commercial fishermen for harvesting them have
often been used, but economic returns of harvesting and marketing carp
are marginal.

In ponds and small reservoirs (less than 300 acres), a common approach
to restoring a desirable fish community is complete eradication of the
fish community with rotenone. Rotenone, a natural fish toxicant,
biochemically inhibits oxygen use by fish. After the eradications, the
waters are typically stocked with more desirable species.

Midsized reservoirs with carp create special problems because
eradication is usually too expensive. Other methods must be developed to
manipulate a fish community, improve water quality, and rehabilitate the
sport fishery. For this reason, the North Dakota Game and Fish
Department has begun a three-year project on Bowman-Haley Reservoir to
evaluate methods for controlling undesirable species in "problem"
midsized reservoirs.

The intent of the project is to develop an effective approach for
sustaining a quality fishery, and incorporate the approach into a
long-term management plan for this and similar-sized reservoirs with
carp problems.

Bowman-Haley Reservoir is a 1,750 acre impoundment on the North Fork of
the Grand River located 20 miles south of Bowman.

Despite repeated stockings of game fish, fishing success has gradually
declined as rough fish thrived. In 1993, the fish community in
Bowman-Haley was dominated by an estimated 1.5 million pounds of carp,
nearly all of which weighed at least five pounds and were at least 12
years old.

Submerged aquatic plants were nearly absent throughout the reservoir
despite large areas of shallow water apparently suitable for them.
Without aquatic plants, the reservoir became turbid when wind riled
sediments below shallow water. When the wind remained sufficiently calm
for the lake to clear, high nutrient levels in the clear water quickly
gave rise to blooms of bluegreen algae.

Such blooms act much like sediment caused turbidity, preventing light
from penetrating the water and hindering growth of submerged plants.
Fishing, boating, and other recreational uses of the reservoir were
suffering. Predators such as northern pike and walleye have had little
effect in reducing the multitudes of large carp, and disappointed
boaters and anglers increasingly voiced their concerns.

Turning Bowman-Haley Around

As a first step, in summer 1993 trapnets and gillnets were set
throughout the reservoir to capture, mark, and release as many fish as
possible. Sufficient numbers of recaptured, marked fish would allow us
to estimate the population of each species. Fish were marked by clipping
a fin.

In early spring 1994 we trapped or gill-netted and removed as many other
rough fish besides carp (carpsuckers, white suckers, and redhorses) as
possible, on the assumption that their numbers were high. In all, more
than 15,000 (nearly 73,000 pounds) of these fish were removed. Although
we initially thought that numbers of one or more of these other species
were as abundant as carp, we found they were not sufficiently numerous
to present problems.

To remove large numbers of carp with minimal cost and effort, we took
advantage of the carp's tendency to congregate each spring in large
numbers in relatively warm tributaries prior to and during spawning.
Bowman-Haley has three such inflowing tributaries Spring Creek, Alkali
Creek, and the North Fork of the Grand River -- and all were full of
carp in the spring of 1994.

During peak carp spawning activity, we positioned long seine nets
completely across the mouths of the three tributaries to prevent carp
from escaping back into the reservoir. The tributaries were then treated
with rotenone. More than 700,000 pounds of adult carp were killed,
nearly half the estimated 1.5 million pounds of adult carp in the reservoir.

Carp so dominated the tributary habitats that all game fish combined
constituted less than one percent of the total fish killed by number and
by weight. In essence, the effect of rotenone use on other species was
minimal.

After the tributaries were cleared of carp, we placed fences across two
of them to prevent carp from reentering, and monitored bottom food
organisms, zooplankton, water clarity, and submerged aquatic plant
abundance above and below the fences. A comparison of the two locations
would help us identify the effects of carp. Water samples collected
before and after the rotenone applications are being analyzed by the
North Dakota State Department of Health to assess effects on water
quality. Of special interest is how decaying carp affected nutrient
levels of the tributaries.

Within 24 hours after the carp were removed, water clarity within the
tributaries increased remarkably; from only a few inches with carp to
more than two feet without carp. The increased visibility above the
fences persisted the rest of the summer.

The clearer water above the fences enabled submerged aquatic plants to
flourish, so that by the end of July, areas less than two feet deep were
completely covered with submerged vegetation. Submerged vegetation
abundance also increased in deeper areas of the tributaries, as well as
in the main reservoir. In areas where submerged plants grew, seine
catches of young-of-the-year game fish were five times higher than in
areas without vegetation.

Above the fences, abundance and size of fish food items such as midge
larvae also increased significantly. Along with clearer water, this
should allow for increased growth rates of game fish.
Walleye fry were stocked above the fences in 1994 in anticipation that
their growth and survival might be higher above the fences than below.
In 1995, both walleye and northern pike will be stocked above the fences
as well as in the main reservoir. Growth of these groups of fish will be
compared to determine if there is indeed an advantage in stocking fish
in the carpfree sections of the tributaries.

Once carp numbers have been reduced, a second objective of the
Bowman-Haley project is to evaluate methods of keeping carp numbers low.
If carp cannot be reliably controlled, benefits of initial eradications
will not last.

Eradication of carp from the tributaries in spring appears to be a
cost-effective method. In 1994, nearly 50 percent of the carp in the
reservoir were removed by treating less than 180 acres with rotenone at
a cost of about $ 11,000. This spring we will again eradicate carp from
the tributaries. Once carp numbers are low, eradications may only be
needed every few years.

We will also evaluate the use of temporary weirs and traps to remove
carp as they migrate upstream to spawn. This trap-and-haul method will
permit the removal of live carp for disposal or potential shipment to
markets. It is likely that improved stream habitat quality in carp-free
areas above the weirs will benefit other fish species.

Rotenone baiting, a technique recently developed, is also being tested
as a means of controlling carp. First, nontoxic food is dispensed from
an automatic fish feeder three times a day for several days until carp
congregate there at feeding time. Food with rotenone is then dispensed.
We are experimenting with feeders in an attempt to attract large numbers
of carp necessary for the method to be costeffective in reservoirs the
size of Bowman-Haley. The best chance for success may lie in baiting
carp in the tributaries in spring.

Nontoxic food is dispensed three times a day from automatic feeders.
After several days when carp have concentrated in the area of the
feeder, food containing rotenone is dispensed.

Another method of carp control, used in Bowman-Haley in 1994, is a
spring drawdown of the reservoir. After female carp expel their eggs and
fertilization occurs, the eggs either attach themselves to submerged
grasses, weeds, and roots, or drift into shallow areas.

In 1994, a onefoot drawdown of Bowman-Haley during spawning left many
shoreline areas covered with mats of dried-out carp eggs. The slight (
1-2 feet) lowering of water levels for much of the year has an added
benefit of reducing erosion of shorelines by Cleaves, thereby increasing
water clarity. In addition to drawing down the water, North Dakota Game
and Fish and the Corps of Engineers are also cooperating to install wave
breaker structures near Spring and Alkali creeks to reduce wave action,
bank erosion, and sedimentation.

Biologists would like to see several changes in BowmanHaley Reservoir as
numbers of carp are reduced. The establishment of submerged aquatic
plants is essential in providing habitat for young game fish, reducing
windcaused turbidity, and decreasing the severity of algae blooms.
Because carp and other undesirable species are sure to reproduce more
successfully following reductions in carp numbers, stocking of predator
species is essential to control numbers of young carp. If predator
populations can be increased and maintained, biologists may not need to
intervene as often to preserve a desirable fish community.

For BowmanHaley and North Dakota's other midsized reservoirs, sound
management practices in the watersheds and a program of controlling and
more effectively utilizing rough fishes, especially carp, are the keys
to less carping and better fishing.

Joe Bonneau is a graduate research assistant at the University of Idaho
and is conducting his doctoral research on Bowman-Haley Reservoir.
Dennis Scarnecchia is Associate Professor of Fisheries at the University
of Idaho. Emil Berard is the western district fisheries supervisor for
the North Dakota Game and Fish Department in Dickinson.

--
Rodney Long,
Inventor of the Mojo SpecTastic "WIGGLE" rig, SpecTastic Thread,
Nutri Shield insect repellent. ,Stand Out Hooks ,Stand Out Lures,
Mojo's Rock Hopper & Rig Saver weights, and the EZKnot
http://www.ezknot.com