Canada Carp

[Newt]

Hi Peter C and welcome.

 

There is a wealth of carp knowledge and information here and the members (absolutely including the ones who objected to the original photos) are good about sharing it.

[Dick Dastardly]

Welcome to AN Peter C.

 

Still in its infancy here but fly fishing for carp is certainly good sport.Im sure we will be just as interested in your posts as you hope fully will be with ours.Anything we can do to help you understand "our" way to fish for carp then please just ask.

[carpstar]

Nice Carp but how the fish are handled is not good for them,you should never hold them by it's mouth as it's bad for the fish, because it's internal organs tend to get piled on top of each other & can get damaged.

Think fish welfare even if you consider them to be a nuisance fish,please don't give the anti angling brigade any more ammo. Just my opinion!!!

[Peter C]

Welcome to AN Peter C.

 

Still in its infancy here but fly fishing for carp is certainly good sport.Im sure we will be just as interested in your posts as you hope fully will be with ours.Anything we can do to help you understand "our" way to fish for carp then please just ask.

 

 

Thanks for the welcome.

 

Since the fly neither tastes nor smells good to the carp, fly fishing for them is mostly a sight game, both on the part of the angler and the fish. We look for feeding carp, then plop the fly in front of their noses, let it sink, then one or two pulls -- and with luck the carp grabs the fly, thinking it's a prey item it has flushed out. In creeks, I've also caught them using trout nymphing technique.

 

We've had accidental catches on them as well, from everything from little P & Os, to steelhead flies, Black Ghosts, and honkin' huge saltwater streamer patterns (in the Niagara River Whirlpool). In the latter case, the carp exist by vacuuming up the dead and dying minnows produced by the massive hydraulics in the place. I got to watch one carp rise steadily in a back end, picking off these minnows like a trout rising for duns. At first I thought it was a big, lake-run brown but those lips were a dead giveaway. Speaking of duns, I've also seen them sipping hex duns (our largest mayfly) from the surface one evening while I was out fishing for mooneyes.

 

I've fished for them occasionally for the past seven or eight years but I'm still on the bottom of the learning curve.

 

Peter

[Mark Quinney]

Peter,

 

Keep at it mate, you will get hooked I am sure, they are fantastic fish and pound for pound I dont think anything else fights as well, especially those long lean Canadian Commons.. I have been lucky enough to have my arm almost pulled out of its sockets by them and the power always amazes me....

 

All the best,

Mark

[cidermonkey]

Welcome Blake and Peter C - the global nature of this forum is something I feel allows us all to widen our understanding of the many facets of our sport.

 

I think I must - at least to a degree - count myself among the "Carp Police" that Newt mentions. I would never handle fish in the way that has been shown in the two photos that have drawn comment in this post. I have actively prevented similar behaviour on lakes that I fish and have attempted to educate anglers (where they haven't just told me to F off!) in "Correct" handling techniques. I feel that

any handling issues that can potentially cause the least tiny bit of damage need to be avoided has made the UK coarse anglers pretty fanatical about fish handling. For UK waters, the attitude makes sense.

is a fair assessment of my position on this.

 

HOWEVER - I think it is important for us UK Carp anglers to realise that we do not have the monopoly on being right. Angling practices differ all over the world and I for one don't feel I have the right to criticise someone for doing something that is within the law, common practice and socially and culturally acceptable in their own country.

 

A difference of opinion doesn't necessarily mean either party is wrong. Agreeing to differ is often the best solution and allows everyone to stay friends and concentrate on what we all love doing on this forum - fishing, and sharing our experiences and expertise at whatever level that may be. As I have said before, different camps have different views about how others fish - some anglers degrade us carp anglers as "...sitting by your rods for three days waiting for a fish to hook itself..." because they don't understand what we get out of our fishing and the thought and preparation that goes into a session. Horses for courses. There are good and bad anglers in all camps and the best that we can do is fish to the best of our ability in a way that we are happy with. A colleague at work can understand fishing where the fish are eaten as a result but thinks its cruel to catch a fish and put it back.

 

I think what I'm getting at is that, at least for me, the important thing is that we're out fishing and not smoking crack, bashing people up or robbing peoples houses and that - in at least some degree - makes us good people.

 

Group Hug !

[Mark Quinney]

Well said cidermonkey......At least they are not fishing for Carp with crossbows, which I have had the unfortunate experience of witnessing. But as you said it is "Socially Acceptable" so none of my business....

[cidermonkey]

What a lump in your avatar! Is it from the UK?

[Peter C]

I agree about the business of educating people on proper handling, however one things should be kept in mind about this side of the pond. Carp are a non-native species and in most waterways are considered a nuisance so they have no protection uner the law nor is their any angling tradtion here that will afford them any. Bow fishing for carp is quite legal and accepted. To make matters worse, the TV fishing personalities here have the worst fishing handling habits iimaginable. It is routine for them to break all of the small bones in bass's lower jaw while they mug for the camera.

 

This was the first time using a Bogagrip and I think it's a good tool for toothy species as it lets the angler get the hook out with a minimum of fuss. At the time I felt a bit bad about hoisting the fish in that fashion to get the weight but consoled myself with the knowledge that our Ministry of Natural Resources would be quite happy to have them eliminated. Had that been a chinook or steelhead, it would've been treated much more niceless. I promise to be nicer to them in the future.

[carpstar]

I agree about the business of educating people on proper handling, however one things should be kept in mind about this side of the pond. Carp are a non-native species and in most waterways are considered a nuisance so they have no protection uner the law nor is their any angling tradtion here that will afford them any. Bow fishing for carp is quite legal and accepted. To make matters worse, the TV fishing personalities here have the worst fishing handling habits iimaginable. It is routine for them to break all of the small bones in bass's lower jaw while they mug for the camera.

 

This was the first time using a Bogagrip and I think it's a good tool for toothy species as it lets the angler get the hook out with a minimum of fuss. At the time I felt a bit bad about hoisting the fish in that fashion to get the weight but consoled myself with the knowledge that our Ministry of Natural Resources would be quite happy to have them eliminated. Had that been a chinook or steelhead, it would've been treated much more niceless. I promise to be nicer to them in the future.

 

I see what your saying Peter but just because they are not native species doesn't mean they shouldn't be treated with the respect due of any living creature,maybe it's time someone championed their cause on your side if the pond.