Bow Fishing for Carp

[GeoFisher]

I watched Kentucky Afield this weekend...they were bow fishing for carp. They were definitely keeping the fish, which is fine...I just don't hear of very many folks keeping carp. Do you all reckon they were intending to eat the carp or what?

Actually, if you listen really close to the guys, the did NOT keep them.

KY Afield wanted you to think that, but they KILLED these carp, kept them on the boat, and then in the very end, you can hear the guy say it's time to go, and "throw these back".

I think they kept the catfish, but "trashed" the carp.

Later,

Geo

[DJD]

Man, I would rather catch one because these things fight hard! I still live by the motto of "eat what you kill" as well. There are always exceptions but they are very few IMO.

[RoadToad]

I agree, DJD, but to me, this is one of those exceptions. Carp are not native to North America; these are non-native, invasive species. IMHO, the best thing we can do for our fisheries is to eradicate them. I know, we'll never be able to get rid of them completely, at least not without killing off all the "good" fish, but the fewer of them present, the better for our native species. I haven't seen the show yet, so I don't know exactly what carp they were targeting, but this is escpecially true of the "silver jumping" carp.

[raporter]

I hope they kill them all. Just don't leave them where they will stink up the place. Nothing worse than going to a ramp or bank spot and getting gagged. Has anyone tried eating the bighead carp?

[LarryG]

Believe it or not, in europe the carp is sought after as a game fish, and is considered good table fare. I have eaten them smoked along the mississippi river in Minnesota, and they aren't that bad. The carp was brought here as a food fish, but like all good deeds it got out of hand. The grass carp was brought here to controll weeds, and they do, there are a few steril;e laskes because of them. That jumping carp, that is becoming dangerous to boaters on the Illinois river, is another idea gone sour, it was supposed to be another food fish, because its flesh is white and flacky, it is also a prolific breeder, and feeds mostly on very small plankton, and larve.Brown trout another alien fish, but brought here by guys who like to fish for them. King salmon, not native to m,idwest waters, coho also not native to midwest waters, and rock fish are planted and not native.Carp fight juist as well as any trout, and that one that is the best jumper of all fresh water fish, is a grass carp.

[LoweBow]

I'm an avid bowfisherman and don't tolerate fish being dumped in any lake as they will eventually cause problems with someone. Running rivers I will turn the other way, but all my fish will come home w/ me 99% of the time and end up in a pot hole on my farm for the critters to eat. We do have a few exceptions as it seems in some of the areas where bowfisherman are common the coons will follow us down the bank till you throw a carp up there for them to eat. Kind of funny to watch how viciously they will attack the wonded fish and quickly disapear into the woods with it.
I detest the dumping of fish especially at ramp areas. I've seen it from bowfishermen and I've seen it from catfishermen and snaggers. I'd hate to count the time I've backed my boat down the ramp to the Tenessee or Cumberland Rivers below KY and Barkley to back over a mess of decaying fish carcasses.
There was push a few years ago to make it illegal for bowfishermen to dump fish back into the waters.....It was pushed aside as most people that clean fish around a lake toss their foul back into the water (like at those ramps) and many marinas and fish camps have fish cleaning stations over the lake and all cast offs are put back into the lake.......The proposed reg changes would have made these acts illegal also.

In the end we "ALL" need to show respect to one another and not litter. No dumping of cleaned fish carcasses at ramps or public areas and no dumping of shot fish. The laws are in place for this and the dumping of fish/carcasses is in fact littering and can be cited as such.