# Do you c/r?



## JShort

I was wondering what all you carpers do with the carp you catch. Do you kill them or toss em' back. They muddy the water and that can kill good vegetation for other fish. And they can cause lots of other problems that I'm sure you know about. So I'm kinda hoping that you never throw them back.


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## SeanStone

My fishing partners and I practice catch and release on all fish. No matter what. Native or non native. There's an argument to be made about all fish species and whether or not they benifit a given ecosytem. Flathead catfish have and still are being treated as trash fish in some waters due to their predatory nature. Its all a matter of perspective. Bass anglers would want to manage for bass, catfish anglers for catfish, etc. I'm not sure of your stance and the purpose of your post. Personally I am a multi species angler and I enjoy catching all types of fish. It just so happens that carp grow to large sizes and are easily accessible to most anglers, and that makes them a game fish to me.


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## SeanStone

If you do a little research on carp fishing you'll quickly see that most people take a lot of precautions to protect their fish. They use fine mesh nets for landing, soft pads to rest the fish on, slings to weigh the fish in, etc. You dont see them hauling them around in livewells all day. Carp anglers are in my opinion, second only to trout fisherman in fish safety.


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## samfishdyt

I would never kill anything I did not intend to use, unless I was protecting myself from immediate danger.That being said I have killed small carp for cut bait, and I use them for fertilizer. I am a sportsman and I like to catch fish. I know there will be some folks who will chime in with a few reasons why they feel carp do not harm fishing, and there will be some who will chime in with some reasons that they feel carp do. In my opinion if I do not intend to utilize a RESOURCE I do not harevest it. If I did not use carp for bait or fertilizer I would exclusivley release them, the same way that I do not utilize bass so I release them. If you take a fish by legal means it is your choice to do what you want with it, and I would never critique someone choices even though I may not feel the same way.


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## Lewzer

I throw the carp back in the water. I plan on coming back in a day or two to catch them again.
Now white perch...bang them off the bow of the boat and let the gulls eat them.
Different strokes for different folks and that goes for fish too.

Just saw your tagline so you probably don't want to know that I will occasionally fillet and deep fry some largemouth too. I understand where you are coming from with the carp now.


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## JSykes3

I always release the carp I catch.


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## On the Fly

I love to catch carp. I get tired of catching fish that don't take the drag out of my line. Most of the time I use them for fertilizer, and when I can't get home right away, I throw them back. I just can't kill something for the heck of it. I don't like chemcal fertilizers and it is remarkable how effective fish are when used in the garden. The Indians really knew what they were doing.


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## JShort

I can understand why you would release them, in Europe fishermen love them. I can't say I feel the same way, but if you want to release them go right ahead . I would rather see them dead, but that's the way the Japanese government sees my beloved bass over there. And don't worry about keeping a few bass now and then, I think in many places we are overdoing catch and release.


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## brodg

Interested in the fertilizer concept. Whats the process? Just bury the fish in the garden? Cut it up 1st? Dry it out?

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## RiverDoc

After my Dad cleaned all of his perch, my Grandma took all of the scraps and buried it in the garden - different spots each time. Very good fertilizer - especially the nutrients that leach out from the bones; i.e., calcium and phosphorus.


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## sherman51

yep, i always throw them back. i hate sheephead when walleye fishing but i throw them back to. i,ve taught my sons not to kill anything you dont intend to use. so i have to practice what i preach.

but i do make one exception. thats them darn yotes. i,ll kill every one of them i get a shot at. so i dont put anyone down for killing carp. but i just dont do it.
sherman


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## fallen513

Boneheads kill things for no reason.


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## JShort

I'm not telling you that you have to kill them. I agree that you should not kill for no reason. However, killing carp is not killing for no reason. It will help other fish out if you kill them. Besides if you toss them up on or close to the bank a ****, turtle, buzzard, etc. will eat it.


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## Andrew S

JShort said:


> I'm not telling you that you have to kill them. I agree that you should not kill for no reason. However, killing carp is not killing for no reason. It will help other fish out if you kill them. Besides if you toss them up on or close to the bank a ****, turtle, buzzard, etc. will eat it.


This is true for every fish that swims.


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## JShort

Andrew S said:


> This is true for every fish that swims.


In a way, sure. But I mean more than just eating other fish or something like that. Carp tear up vegetation, muddy the water with their feeding, and destroy gamefish spawning beds. Muddy water makes it difficult for sportfish to feed. Carp can eat up to 40% of their body weight in plankton each day. Plankton is needed at the bottom of the food chain, for baby gamefish. There are reasons people are trying to eradicate them guys.


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## Andrew S

JShort said:


> In a way, sure. But I mean more than just eating other fish or something like that. Carp tear up vegetation, muddy the water with their feeding, and destroy *gamefish* spawning beds. Muddy water makes it difficult for *sportfish* to feed. Carp can eat up to 40% of their body weight in plankton each day. Plankton is needed at the bottom of the food chain, for baby *gamefish*. There are reasons people are trying to eradicate them guys.


Except that they (carp) are also gamefish by any reasonable definition. It all comes down to what fish you want in your waters. Personally, I'd take a carp over a saugeye any day. Hell, I can barely bring myself to write the word "saugeye".


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## JShort

Andrew S said:


> Except that they (carp) are also gamefish by any reasonable definition. It all comes down to what fish you want in your waters. Personally, I'd take a carp over a saugeye any day. Hell, I can barely bring myself to write the word "saugeye".


I for one consider carp a rough fish, and know that many other people do to. I can see why you would fish for carp, because they get huge right?, but most people still want to get rid of them.


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## JSykes3

I've heard of people who are REALLY into carp fishing going out and catching big bass and killing THEM, because they supposedly eat the baby carp. I'm both a bass fisherman and a carp fisherman, sometimes, but I will never kill either.


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## Andrew S

JShort said:


> I for one consider carp a rough fish, and know that many other people do to. I can see why you would fish for carp, because they get huge right?, but most people still want to get rid of them.


Both carp and bass make good garden fertilizer, but speaking from experience, it takes a hell of a lot more bass, just because they're usually smaller. Since I catch a lot of them, though, my garden is top notch.


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## crappielooker

I don't know where you get the info about how he Japanese government kills the bass from??? What I do know is there are several great monthly japanese bass magazines that I do occasionally go and browse through at our local bookstore.. 
And yes, I catch and release whatever I catch, except the ones I want to eat.. 


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## tedward

Personally I throw them back and hope to catch them again only bigger. I like to catch 25# fish. Sometimes in the same spot as guys getting 5# trout. But, if you want to kill them at least take them home and use them for the good of your garden. Which by the way you just bury them and let nature...


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## Shortdrift

I killed many many carp with a bow and arrow as a teenager. I would sell them when possible and use them for fertilizer in my aunts flower and vegetable garden. This continued while I was in college and stopprd when I got married (along with other things).
I cannot recall ever killing a carp after that and found fishing for them a good challenge. 
About the only fish I currently kill and throw back are gobies.


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## TimJC

JShort said:


> In a way, sure. But I mean more than just eating other fish or something like that. Carp tear up vegetation, muddy the water with their feeding, and destroy gamefish spawning beds. Muddy water makes it difficult for sportfish to feed. Carp can eat up to 40% of their body weight in plankton each day. Plankton is needed at the bottom of the food chain, for baby gamefish. There are reasons people are trying to eradicate them guys.


I am admittedly biased here, but I feel that the common carp is just scapegoat for issues with American waterways. Carp, just like other 'natural' fish are going to have negative effects on a given body of water. That doesn't mean these effects are catastrophic to the ecosystem.

Blaming carp for muddying water is a bit naive. Sure, they do root around on the bottom, foraging for food, but Boat traffic, and wind based wave action are much larger contributors to turbid water, not to mention bank erosion. Couple that with the carp's ability to tolerate turbid water and suddenly carp are the cause, because they are the dominant species. Then there issues with siltation, adding muck to the bottom that can be stirred up, which is largely a human issue.

As far as the eating "40% of their body weight in plankton each day," comment, I believe you are confusing common carp, with invasive carp species (bighead, black, etc) which are filter feeders. Common carp have down-turned mouths, which are not conducive to consuming plankton at the top of the water column. However, they are the only natural predator of zebra mussels, so you can't totally knock there feeding habits. Otherwise, their diet consists largely of insect larvae they dig up on the bottom, crayfish, other crustaceans, and any fish they can fish they manage to catch.

There has also been research done suggesting that common carp eat the eggs of more desirable species, but that can be said about those desirable species themselves.

The reason common carp can be problem, in some waters, is due to a lack natural predators, and there undesirable table fare status. I'm all for taking fish to eat/use, especially if it culls out the smaller carp, but killing them just because they exist is short sighted and wasteful.

It's also worth noting that the common carp was intentionally stocked in waters across the country by the U.S. Fish Commission in the late 1800s, for of all things, a food source for the nations ballooning population. From what I have heard, I can't cite any sources, it wasn't until WWII that the started to be viewed in a negative light.


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## RiverDoc

In Europe and Asia, carp are raised in pens and considered a delicacy. I tried to tell a European friend about this before he ate some US carp several years ago. It didn't work out for him.

My paternal grandfather smoked carp during the depression along with mooneye. My maternal grandmother ate smoked carp that she bought from the butcher. Both lived in Lorain County. There was probably more pollution in the waterways then there is now.

I can assure you that anytime someone wants to fund a study or continue funding studies, they invoke worn-out cliches in an attempt to suppress the truth. 

This website has too much banging on c & r and which species are sacred. I would like to see more discussion about the factors affecting fish populations and the watershed. (1) unconstrained development (2) mountain bikes exacerbating erosion (3) people dumping anything and everything down sewers & (4) littering. 

I'm not giving anyone a hard time - just something to think about. Time to tie up some leaders. Happy New Year!


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## JShort

To each his own, but you sure as hell won't ever catch me releasing a carp


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## catfishingham

I Release most of the fish I catch except maybe water dogs (salamanders) gobies and a few others. I don't like to see rotting fish littering the bank!
I am in Elyria and can walk to the Black River, Carp are the only fish of size,
and are good sport, especialy on light tackle.

catfishingham


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## nitsud

RiverDoc said:


> (1) unconstrained development (2) mountain bikes exacerbating erosion (3) people dumping anything and everything down sewers & (4) littering.


Mountain bikes? Really? Not siltation from farming, or excessive fertilizer use? I'm not trying to rag on farmers, cause I like food, but lets be realistic here.


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## RiverDoc

nitsud said:


> Mountain bikes? Really?


Yes, really.


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## COmmodore 64

TimJC said:


> However, they are the only natural predator of zebra mussels, so you can't totally knock there feeding habits.


I have observed zebra mussels in the bellies of yellow perch and sheephead, too.


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## SeanStone

COmmodore 64 said:


> I have observed zebra mussels in the bellies of yellow perch and sheephead, too.


I think Redear sunfish eat them as well, thus the nickname shell-cracker. Atleast they have been known to eat mussels eslewhere.


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## Andrew S

JShort said:


> To each his own, but you sure as hell won't ever catch me releasing a carp


"Ever" is a long time when you're a kid.


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## TheCream

JShort said:


> To each his own, but you sure as hell won't ever catch me releasing a carp


Since you don't even apparently know their diets, I am betting on not having to worry about you catching too many of them.


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## samfishdyt

TheCream said:


> Since you don't even apparently know their diets, I am betting on not having to worry about you catching too many of them.


+100
Lol I'm going to say thats the funniest comment of the year so far


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## fontinalis

catfishingham said:


> I Release most of the fish I catch except maybe water dogs (salamanders) gobies and a few others. I don't like to see rotting fish littering the bank!
> I am in Elyria and can walk to the Black River, Carp are the only fish of size,
> and are good sport, especialy on light tackle.
> 
> catfishingham


Why kill salamanders? Is it because they are slimy and scare you?


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## nforkoutfitters

If every angler in Ohio kills every carp they catch it won't even make a dent so why kill them? Let the division of wildlife handle it, they seem to have things under control. Lol


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