Carp-it-bagger
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Posts posted by Carp-it-bagger
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Nope. I spelled it correctly. I wasn't referring to the well known Latin phrase but rather my own loose interpretation of Latin for 'argument of the day'. Admittedly, I just wanted an eye catching title to gain interest. Sue me.
I digress.
Here in Pacific NW like other regions, there has been a growing number of
of fellow carp fisherman over the last decade, my self included. To wit, a claim supported by this seemingly obscure web forum, in contrast to the numerous other forums of those who pursue finned quarry.
I've fished in Oregon, Alaska, and Washington most of my life. Until of recent, I only ever had a vague awareness of carp(as game) aside from my brother's pragmatic objective. We used to operate a small commercial crayfish operation that started in Western Oregon and ultimately found our way to The Snake River in the eastern part of the state. It was there he began using a bow and arrow to harvest them as bait for our traps which we found to be superior to everything else we had experimented with. I am most curious why fishing for them has been so slow to gain interest with the general population here and began to suspect that finacial interests had influence, as it does in many conundrums. Here in the northwest, when one hears "fishing" it's salmon, steelhead, or trout that comes to mind. Unsurprisingly, our local fish and wildlife agencies invest a corresponding amount of their funds to support those interests. Are those decisions merely following public demand? I'm suspiciously wondering if more is at play.
Bass fishing here has been relatively slow to develop in contrast to the rest of the nation. This year our state agency made an unprecedented decision to plant a sizable number of smallmouth bass in the lakes of western washington and possibly elswhere in the state. I was surprised by this because I hadn't been aware of any deficiencies in the bass population and was curious why the agency spent millions on the project and promotion. They even went so far as tagging over a thousand of them. The tag of which may be redeemed for small prize from local sporting goods vendors.
Casual observation reveals the relatively new practice of private marketing found within many federal agency publications and state fish and wildlife regulation publications are no exception. Advertising more often comes with obvious and sometimes not so obvious bias and perhaps hidden agendas.
Am I reading to far to this? Perhaps, but even so a little research reveals some astonishing facts about the game fishing industry that may support my speculation.
Many are probably aware of these statistics but I'm certain there are at last a few that will share my surprise. I discovered some interesting figures with regard to the annual revenues earned from the sports and recreation industry. I'll summarize an article by James Hall published in the online publication of Bassmaster and reference he made to a study performed by Southwick Associates. Below are are some annual revenue figures quoted in that article:
NFL- $13 billion
MLB- $9.5 billion
NBA- $5.2 billion ... drum roll please...
BASS Fishing- $16 billion ?!!!
Mind you, that figure does not correspond to all game fishing, just Bass Fishing revenue most of which(77%) are from artificial lures purchased for fishing Bass! I myself spent at least $20 on lures for bass this year and I only made about 5 casts before hearing the commotion from rod behind me, my first carp. Staggering is it not? The figures that is, not the fact I was multitasking.
Here is the link to that article in addition to another that may be of pertinent interest:
https://www.bassmaster.com/james-hall/proudly-showing-our-age
https://www.bassmaster.com/news/anglers-spend-16-billion-year-fishing
Upon learning more about this, an observation plaguing thought entered my mind. Our state fish and wildlife agency, associated publications, and regulations revealed some interesting findings. The publication for fishing regulations has all but buried information related to carp fishing. The word "carp" appears only 3 times, which I estimate is less than one half of a percent in contrast to all other species combined. Of particular interest to me was the fact that Common Carp are THE only species that are completely unregulated in the state. That is, there is no limit to the amount an individual may catch, residents, and non-residents alike are NOT even required to obtain a fishing license for them. I take that back. There is but one regulation that I found in the publication- Common Carp retained, must be dead prior to leaving the riparian area. Why is this? They are not considered an invasive species by the agency and can be found in almost every lake and river in the nation. A little more digging(I mean digging) on the agency's website found "We encourage fishing for them." I hardly see an effort there. Why is their 'encouragement' so profoundly obscure? Several residents and sporting goods retailers were amazed at my findings. They questioned my claim regarding the unnecessary fishing license, catch limits, etc. A typical reaction from my reply to "What are you fishing for?" ranges between surprise and disgust, usually more in direction of the latter. This is typically followed by the common comments and misperceptions that I too once shared.
My questions for members are these:
- What are your own local regulations regarding the Common Carp in particular? As we probably know that species was purposely introduced as a food source to serve an ever growing population, circa 1877 I believe.
- What share of encouragement do your local agencies publicize regarding fishing for carp? And of pertinence, what amount if any do your local agencies publish advertising for private interests related to Bass fishing?
- What other incongruous observations have you made related to local wildlife agency regulations, spending, programs, promotions, and public awareness campaigns?
- What are local opinions regarding the Common Carp?
- Finally, what are your own findings, insights, and opinions regarding these issues.
Please pardon any errors, oversights, or transgressions made herein. I shall humbly make corrections and edit this post where necessary.
Disclaimer- I know this may appear to be the rantings of another conspiracy theorist. Still one cant deny the correlations are of interest or at least moderately perplexing. Besides its been said that paranoia is not always an irrational fear. Just saying... ?
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On 8/8/2018 at 5:52 AM, (TN) Cannonball said:
Welcome! Jim and Kelly Watt had a TV show, Fly Fishing Video several years ago. They were fly fishing for carp in the shallows like fishing for bonefish. The lake was somewhere in eastern Washington state but they didn't say where.
Thank you sir! I will look into the show. I'd love to see the show. Perhaps its available for viewing on the web. It was quite likely Spokane Lake but it is quite polluted in those waters and I prefer to eat my catch. I can't imagine what it would be like to hook one of these on a flyrod, even a sufficiently sized rod. I was really impressed how strong a 7 lb. carp could be. I can certainly see why carping has developed a following here. ...way behind east, south, and midwest as usual.
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I finally bagged my first carp(7 lbs) last weekend at a lake here in sw washington. Without hesitation I confess that it was truly the most impressive and exhilerating experience with a warm water fish. I'm a born again convert. No freshwater species pulls harder or has more endurance in my experience. I digress.
Near the location I caught my fish, I discovered some interesting seed pods on a raised clump of reed like plants near shore. I took them home to identify and believe them to be Iris pseudacorus. I believe its an invasive species here, a topic of its own but thats not what took my interest.
The seed pod or fruit of the iris is about 2-4 inches and contains thee rows of seeds The seed is round, flat, and about the same size and appearance of my corn. Im wondering if it may be of significant interest to the carp here and anxious to try some on my return.
Does anyone else have experience in this area? The only mention Ive heard for local flora carp feed on is cotton wood seed and mulberry. I'll report back if my trials are fruitful, pardon the pun.
In the meantime I fileted my catch and presently looking at recipes to prepare this evening's meal.
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Maybe everyone’s “Gone Fishing”.
Hello, Is there anybody in there?
Just nod if you can hear me.
Is there anybody home?
-Pink Floyd
sorry... couldn’t help it.
I’ve fished salmon and steelhead most of my life and I’m sort of tiring from it believe it or not. That may have something to do with commercial fishing for them most of my life. Hmm.., or the salmon gods decided I’ve filled my quota.
Anyway... I’m new to the Vancouver area and saw a couple fisherman from the Ukraine near a public boat ramp at Silver Lake with a 5-gallon bucket full of carp. The guy even hooked and landed a 10+ pounder as I was talking to him. He just barely caught the butt of his pole before the fish dragged it into the lake. Bait: Off the grocery shelf Canned Sweet Corn
In short... I’m hooked but haven’t hooked one yet. I’m all in. I’d love to meet up with some locals to carp and bag a few for dinner. I found a few recipes, deboning methods, and intend to eat at least part of what I catch.
Carping Washington State
in Beginning Carping
Posted
Hey Guys, I see their are no new posts since 2020, are you guys still carping. I'm looking to travel down from alberta to fish the moses lake area. Looking for tips on where to go.
Originally from UK and miss my carp fishing, stumbled across these posts and got me going again. Every thing else that I've read seams to be bow fishing, and they don't seem to like the carp! Judging by the pictures you have some monsters down their.
Any tips/advice would be greatly appreciated.
Mick
Hei mate,
I live on Vancouver, WA and chase carp here in SW Washington. They have been the only freshwater pursuit for the last 5 years. Prior to that I was dedicated to trout, steelhead, and salmon for 45 years. We’ve all but completely destroyed the salmon/steelhead fishery in Oregon, Washington, and even Alaska is soon to suffer the same fate. Nonetheless if we had the salmon/steelhead runs of 50 years ago Id still be chasing carp. Ever since landing my first fish I’ll swear to anyone that pound for pound they are THE best sport on rod and reel. If you don’t mind picking through the bones they are a damn good food fish too. I started in Silver Lake near Castle Rock but fished Lacamas mostly for the first two years with mixed results. There’s some big fish in both lakes but I’ve never cared for lake fishing much and have had better success in the Columbia Basin river mouths and upstream a few miles. My local haunt is Washougal River. They aren’t 50 lb. Domesticated Pigs like the ones you blokes force feed in private ponds they don’t rollover and lazily swim to your landing net when hooked either ?
I have never caught a carp in the Washougal that’s under 8 pounds which according to local fish/wildlife stooges is about the state average. Based on my catch I’d say they’ve put on a few pounds since they established that claim. My personal best is 15. I used boilies a lot at first but grew tired of watching the local Russian immigrants reel in fish after fish with a piece of canned corn. I finally gave in and until recently have been method baiting with a mix of oatmeal, strawberry jello mix, and a can of corn. I’m dying to find something else I can get them to take earlier in the summer. All my fish were caught in mid to late summer. There is a lot of surface activity currently including jumpers but I presume some of those are females shaking up their skeins to offload. I’m not much of a fly fisherman but starting to work that angle a bit with a clam or crayfish pattern. They graze on the freshwater clams and presumably juvenile crayfish too. All the rivers and many if not all the lakes are loaded with both carp and cray. In Washington you don’t need a license for either. No catch limit for carp here. Most fishermen think they are a nuisance species and blame them for crowding out their quarry of choice…. not unlike other immigration issues in current events. The great news for you and I is almost no competition and a healthy stock of wild carp. Expect to be heckled by the locals a bit if they find out your after carp. They are either stupefied or walk away laughing. Always makes me smile. Good luck