Does anyone here fish for grass carp?

Marty1028
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Marty1028
Edited Date/Time 7/20/2018 7:37am
After I kept about 7 or 8 of these in my pond the final one died today and it got me wondering does anyone actually fish for them and eat them? I always kept them for brush control. (Keep in mind that's my pops foot in the top of the pic, this monster is older than me.)

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Johnny Lock 7/14/2018 8:07pm
7/14/2018 8:07pm
Nobody I know does they are seen as a trash fish that destroy habitat for tastier fish - there’s a well known recipe for carp: filet carp and season with salt and lemon juice, put on cedar plank and bake in the oven on 375 for 20 minutes. Take plank and filets out of oven and throw away the filets then eat the board.
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benstone
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benstone 7/15/2018 6:52am
7/15/2018 6:52am
I lived on the Mississippi river for several years and I saw a few people who bow hunted grass carp - especially when the water was up and they moved up into the back-waters. Seemed like that would be kind of fun. Lots of people smoked them and ate them that way. Smoked carp is really greasy but tasty.
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plowboy
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plowboy 7/15/2018 7:34am
7/15/2018 7:34am
Back in the late '80's I was stationed at Mtn. Home AFB, ID. A buddy from work was renting a little ranchette on the snake river. Had a nice big dock in the front yard. He used to bow fish for carp like the one in your photo. He didn't eat them. Here's where things get funny. Since he had the barns and sheds he wasn't using...a few of us poor GI's pooled our money and decided to raise some pigs at his place. It wasn't long before the feed bill was more than we expected. Not sure who's idea it was but since pigs will eat most anything...we tossed some carp in the pen. Oh yeah, we cut that feed bill by half. We got that first piggy back from the processor and every bite from the bacon to the chops tasted like fish. We took the rest of the oinkers off their fish diet a few weeks before butchering and finished them out on shorts/slop. They were delicious.

In the old days, folks used to pressure cook carp and gar for canning. Tasted like shit but poor folks got poor ways.
Nighttrain
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Nighttrain 7/15/2018 9:53am
7/15/2018 9:53am Edited Date/Time 7/15/2018 11:53am
We used to catch and release them when I was a kid just to hook a big fish while bank fishing. My mother told us never to bring them home to eat because she wasn’t raising white trash, Laughing . I think my dad said they had too many bones and they’d get stuck in our throats. Both parents were born during the Great Depression and raised when having food for a family was a challenge. If they wouldn’t eat carp then that was enough. SOS and cabbage was our supper when times were lean in our house.
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Rooster
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Rooster 7/15/2018 10:31am
7/15/2018 10:31am
They used to get caught in the shallow waters at our cabin when I was kid. You wouldn't have to fish for them, you could just walk out and grab them by the tail. Even being that easy to get, nobody touched them and certainly nobody ate them.
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Joemx
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Joemx 7/15/2018 1:33pm
7/15/2018 1:33pm
Carp are fun as hell to catch because you usually catch a pretty good sized one, 5 lbs or bigger. I have caught the most while fishing for other fish like catfish. I have never eaten carp before as they are considered a trash fish and supposedly taste terrible. The mexicans and brothas always take 'em if you offer it to them. In the UK they are the #2 game fish behind trout from what I hear.
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plowboy
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plowboy 7/15/2018 2:07pm
7/15/2018 2:07pm
Joemx wrote:
Carp are fun as hell to catch because you usually catch a pretty good sized one, 5 lbs or bigger. I have caught the most while...
Carp are fun as hell to catch because you usually catch a pretty good sized one, 5 lbs or bigger. I have caught the most while fishing for other fish like catfish. I have never eaten carp before as they are considered a trash fish and supposedly taste terrible. The mexicans and brothas always take 'em if you offer it to them. In the UK they are the #2 game fish behind trout from what I hear.
I don't think they taste any worse than most freshwater fish but just a pain in the ass to clean. Like a catfish...when they get big the meat gets rubbery and oily. If you can eat around the bones the 2 - 4 pounders taste just fine.
FLmxer
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FLmxer 7/15/2018 2:35pm
7/15/2018 2:35pm
plowboy wrote:
I don't think they taste any worse than most freshwater fish but just a pain in the ass to clean. Like a catfish...when they get big...
I don't think they taste any worse than most freshwater fish but just a pain in the ass to clean. Like a catfish...when they get big the meat gets rubbery and oily. If you can eat around the bones the 2 - 4 pounders taste just fine.
1/2 pounder or smaller breaded whole catfish is my favorite.
plowboy
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plowboy 7/15/2018 2:53pm
7/15/2018 2:53pm Edited Date/Time 7/15/2018 2:55pm
plowboy wrote:
I don't think they taste any worse than most freshwater fish but just a pain in the ass to clean. Like a catfish...when they get big...
I don't think they taste any worse than most freshwater fish but just a pain in the ass to clean. Like a catfish...when they get big the meat gets rubbery and oily. If you can eat around the bones the 2 - 4 pounders taste just fine.
FLmxer wrote:
1/2 pounder or smaller breaded whole catfish is my favorite.
Lol...there's a bucket of worms. I believe big old 2 pound slabber crappie are the best eating. Walleye are a close second. My next investment is a big ass propane stainless steel 3 basket deep fryer I spotted at the flea market yesterday. I wanna cook the whole meal, fish, fries, hushpuppies in one go.
BMSOBx2
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BMSOBx2 7/15/2018 3:45pm
7/15/2018 3:45pm
Carp and catfish are bottom Feeders. S*** fish. Wouldn't eat them on a bet.
Honda Man 66 7/16/2018 1:31pm
7/16/2018 1:31pm
My Nephew’s buddy caught this one in a small pond in Cumming, GA
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Brad460
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Brad460 7/16/2018 4:21pm
7/16/2018 4:21pm Edited Date/Time 7/16/2018 4:21pm
There are commercial fishing boats up on the Rock River in WI- they net the carp then release them into a “cleaning pond” to flush out the bottom feeder shit. Sold as “white fish”.

As a kid we fished for carp with garlic dough balls- Cast out on the hook and let it sit on the bottom. We had a whole stringer full of carp that got loose, later that day we caught one of the fish still on the stringer and hauled them all back in...fun times!
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el moto diablo 7/18/2018 5:29pm
7/18/2018 5:29pm
BMSOBx2 wrote:
Carp and catfish are bottom Feeders. S*** fish. Wouldn't eat them on a bet.
Actually there are several species of catfish including flat heads that only feed on other fish and don't feed off the bottom.
FLmxer
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FLmxer 7/20/2018 7:37am
7/20/2018 7:37am
BMSOBx2 wrote:
Carp and catfish are bottom Feeders. S*** fish. Wouldn't eat them on a bet.
el moto diablo wrote:
Actually there are several species of catfish including flat heads that only feed on other fish and don't feed off the bottom.
Lol I was a third generation fishing guide and can go get any fish I want to eat on demand. Fishing is so easy here. Snook, grouper, snapper, trout, redfish but I love small freshwater catfish and Norris's catfish house was where I spent my birthday dinners as a kid each year. Hell literally every 4th building is a catfish restaurant in Gatlinburg Tennessee's tourist area for miles and miles for a reason. Flakey mild meat. Yum. Snapper is also my favorite then snook. Good times.

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