Holee carp Batman!
 

Out walking the dog this week and spotted something large moving underwater in the lake. My first sighting of a grass carp. With no exaggeration, it was probably over 3 feet long. I did a lot of fish surveys in a former life so I have some experience in fish ID and size estimating I had no idea they got that big though. My first thought was “I really want to catch one of these”.

Can we fish for these in Alberta? If so how and with what bait/tackle? I just turned 65 and am hoping to get back into fishing with my free seniors license but a lot has changed in Alberta since I last went fishing.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts or suggestions.

Most of the time grass carp are put in lakes to clear up algae growth. Not sure if you are allowed to fish for them but why not, throw a lump of bread at it and hold on to your rod!

Chuck

If it’s a triploid grass carp intentionally stocked for vegetation control, I’d be inclined to leave it.

If it shouldn’t be there, I’d shoot it with a bow.

Google carp fishing. Imagine your most boring day ice fishing, but in mosquito season, combined with throwing bread for ducks like an old lady. And if you do catch one you can’t eat it, and least you won’t enjoy it any more than a mud sandwich.

Giver

I saw some giant ones in BC too ..... not sure what species of carp but I was blown away - they all had to be 20-25lbs just cruising under the docks. Gross looking fish for sure - but they must be eating good.

Only common carp in B.C. at least last I heard

I have caught the and shot them. I have only eaten 1 and it was meh but it’s not like I was experienced cooking them. When I was a teenager my buddy was knew an Asian family that would buy them from us. It was a good way to get beer money but of course we never drank underage lol

When living in southern B.C. I knew lots of Europeans and Asians that would eat them so they must be decent if you know how to cook them. They thought it was crazy that in Canada they were declared trash fish and all most no one targeted them

Caught and shot some that broke 30lbs but most were 5-15lbs

I caught one on the fly rod, likely from the lake you saw yours.

https://i.imgur.com/K1NSJt1.jpg

The world record grass carp was 87 lbs..

From what I remember long ago, lived in T. O. and made a trip to Kingston Ont. walking on the docks and looking into the water we saw some monster carp. At least that's what I figured they were. Had to be 30lbs +. It was on a part of the St. Lawrence River at one of the forts

Is there any near Calgary??There's a Twitch competition going on soon that is just for carp, Common, Grass and Mirror I think. The setup I have right now likely couldn't handle the bigger ones though.

Asian carp / big head carp eat algae so you won't be able to fish for them in a conventional way. I believe they feed similar to whales by filtering the water.

Common carp on the other hand you can catch them on night crawlers, corn, bread and another million carp bites made in Europe and Asia but I don't think they're in Alberta.

Just stick some grass on a hook under a bobber, then sit back and let the good times roll!!!

Here i thot stocking non natives was against our religion

Doubtful, especially with the bleeding hearts trying to blame anything and everything else besides the ones responsible...sounds like our Justice system..

Got a couple of them in the “family pond”. Both are around the forty inch length. They like to just lay right along the bank catching the sun rays in the summer. Huge things. They sure keep the pond clean.

Triploid grass carp for vegetation control. They were created in Lethbridge and can't reproduce.
Some of the residential lakes in Calgary have them to graze on the plants.

They are not the same as the carp in BC