Bow fishing carp

[winged1]

Well someone has some waking up to do.

I think it's very distasteful, however it's a simple fact that MANY of the international hunters that hunt on the prairies, end up with a VERY small portion of the kill in thier freezers at home. In MANY cases it's symbolic of thier hunt. An inconvience compared to the mounted specimen.

Carp are an invasive species. Americans are realizing way too late thier folly. Should it then be ok to let thier carcass bake in the sun, I think not. Dig then into the flower bed, or better yet, they make excellent bear bait.

Concervationists cull thousands of deer, poison entire bodies of water, and unfortunately transport wildlife in the name of conservation. A few bow shot carp are in fact great fun.

[Sundancefisher]

Originally Posted by jeprli

I don't hate people either, I'm a human too and I have poor judgment from time to time, it's just that this is ridiculous to me, kill and throw away something alive for you own amusement, I just don't see any satisfaction in it. To me it's a crime against nature, just like shooting an animal to get its antlers and letting corpse to rot while the hunter goes home to brag about his ability to shoot down a grazing animal. That is really weak to me, absolutely no excuse.

This will put a nail in my coffin...

What do you think of this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmzxyexiB1s

[jeprli]

I think it's too bad he didn't pierce his buddy with that arrow on his second shot

So by your logic guys we should bow hunt all non native species, hmmm I wonder if you could go and bow hunt for Brook trout, that's an invasive specie. Better yet target practice on Golden trout.

There is nothing invasive about carp, in European water there are many kinds of fish and carp doesn't seem to affect any of them. Only thing it affects is ignorant people who go along with the majority that thinks there is a present danger with carp around.

Look at some rivers in France, they grow giant carp, wells catfish and walleye(zander), walleye which grow up to 30lb!!!!(and not just france)

[winged1]

So by your logic guys we should bow hunt all non native species, hmmm I wonder if you could go and bow hunt for Brook trout, that's an invasive specie.

'should' is a presumption. 'Could', why yes, and of all native species as well, where regulations allow.

There is nothing invasive about carp, in European water there are many kinds of fish and carp doesn't seem to affect any of them.

Just do us all a favour and don't be transporting any live fish.

[jeprli]

Are you implying that I would illegally stock carp into Alberta waters???
For your info irrigation canals in Alberta are full of subspecies of carp and these little fishes can change sex at will, they also spawn all year long, so in one year you get 4-5 spawns and they are very successful in overwintering even in shallowest of lakes since they dig themselves into the mud.

Carp spawns only in May, btw.

[fish-man]

Originally Posted by Sundancefisher

What do you think of this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmzxyexiB1s

That video was pretty cool!

I dunno where you'd find carp to shoot in Alberta, but if you shot suckers they would probably make great pike bait! Just cut one in half if it's too big, I guess.

"Are you implying that I would illegally stock carp into Alberta waters???
For your info irrigation canals in Alberta are full of subspecies of carp and these little fishes can change sex at will, they also spawn all year long, so in one year you get 4-5 spawns and they are very successful in overwintering even in shallowest of lakes since they dig themselves into the mud.

Carp spawns only in May, btw."


You have no idea, at least do some research. The only carp that may be in the irrigation systems are sterile triploid grass carp sourced from Lethbridge College. No, they can't change sexes, and yes, they are tolerant of low oxygen but not by burrowing in the mud. Some even winterkill in Henderson Lake (Lethbridge) every 2 or 3 years, not bullet proof, they are no brook stickleback (a truly amazing survivor). If you mean goldfish, they can't change sexes or survive the winter by burying themselves either.

"There is nothing invasive about carp, in European water there are many kinds of fish and carp doesn't seem to affect any of them. Only thing it affects is ignorant people who go along with the majority that thinks there is a present danger with carp around."

Google Mississippi River Carp. I'm pretty sure you're just looking for an argument and i took your bait but there's a lot of new fisherman on this site that don't need to deal with MORE misinformation. Similar issues in BC and Ontario if that's too far away for you.

[jeprli]

I'm not baiting this thread, and i'm not misinforming anybody.

Just 30km northwest of Strathmore, most of irrigation ponds are full of these little buggers http://somborskipecaros.co.cc/wp-con...ka-475x251.jpg .

Next time I go there I'll take some pictures, just for you jrs!

Yes "carassius auratus gibelio" can bury itself into the mud to get through the winter, it survives kind of like a frog. Not everything is so black and white in this province, these guys were put in there by Alberta Wildlife but no one seems to notice. I've talked to an officer there and he says that late spring when water levels are somewhat higher there are millions and millions of these fishes swimming.

I know about phenomenon of Mississippi silver carp, but that is an altogether different specie. It's a Russian hybrid that was developed sometime during Stalins empire. It grows super fast and can reach over 50lb in weight, it was also main source of food in "gulag" concentration camps(kind of like Auschwitz).

common carp that is found in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and B.C. is nothing to be alarmed about, it is an invader but is no harm to any other specie.

Brown trout took over the Bow river since put in back in 1920's, you might get a rainbow after five browns. Now that is alarming.

In qu'appelle river there are still a bunch of walleye, pike, common carp, horsehead....common carp stay in shallow irrigation canals till the winter comes along, then (if they find a way) go back into the lake.

Perhaps you need to inform yourself a little better. Or does it bug you that I found something in your province that you had no idea existed?

You pretty much called me stupid so back it up big guy, go read a little, or better yet go explore new waters instead of hunting down "hot spots" on this message board.

P.S. I know there are a lot of new fisherman on this site, and they need to be informed properly. I don't employ "he said, she said" politics, I go out there and find out stuff on my own and am happy to share any new info I gather.

Yes I do look for arguments because I need you to react to it, that way I can find out what it is that you don't know about this supreme Ciprinide It's my favorite fish and I'll defend it's innocence, it didn't get to this continent on it's own, your government brought it in

[winged1]

Well now, I see your point. I'm convinced, you bow hunters should be ashamed to have one of those little guys wiggling away on the end of your arrow. I thought we where talking big fat carp, my mistake.

[jeprli]

Good for you wingman,at least you figured something out...

[Dan'ol]

I plan on shooting Lake Whitefish in Sylvan lake this summer. I grew up there and their is tons swimming in 3-5 feet of water.

[calgarychef]

I love bowfishing for common carp, if you don't like it then don't do it, until its illegal I'll continue to do so. We go down to Montana and get together with another bunch of guys and make a good time of it. If they were a proper game fish the Americans would treat them as such but according to their biologists they do indeed do great damage and thus control is necessary.

Here in England they revere the carp as their greatest sport fish and are aghast that we kill them by the hundreds. For some reason they don't overpopulate here like they do in the lakes of North America so in this case bowfishing isn't warranted and I can agree with that.

For the record I've eaten them and I thought there was nothing that I couldn't make tasty, well carp might be that thing. I'd ,eat them if I was starving but until then they make great fertiliser.
I sometimes feel sorry for the gophers I impale and I've got to be in a certain frame of mind to kill a cut little gopher but there's no problem with carp.

[aulrich]

I would do the fly carp thing in a minute, There is rules of thumb for killing things for me.

1. For my food
2. To stop from being their food
3. To protect food
4. Fur for clothing
5. If they don't meet that criteria I don't kill them

Carp are invasive and damaging to the water ecosystem so to me they fall under #2 even if I don't eat them. I'd imagine in Europe the reason they are so popular is that it's the biggest thing the common man has access too.

[Moefoe]

Iv'e seen guys Bow fish for them in Last Mountain Lake, they were hauling out 30 lbs Carp every 5 mins, not for me but looked like goodtimes!

[SimonB]

Originally Posted by jeprli

I don't hate people either, I'm a human too and I have poor judgment from time to time, it's just that this is ridiculous to me, kill and throw away something alive for you own amusement, I just don't see any satisfaction in it. To me it's a crime against nature, just like shooting an animal to get its antlers and letting corpse to rot while the hunter goes home to brag about his ability to shoot down a grazing animal. That is really weak to me, absolutely no excuse.

This will put a nail in my coffin...

What about the other 99.9% of hunters who work their ***** off to harvest an animal and dont waste an ounce of meat ? Those guys are never mentioned....

[jeprli]

I have notjing against people harvesting animals for food, i don't think you understood me correctly.

[Junglefisher]

I know it's a super old post and I should just ignore it but...... anyone who thinks that euro carp don't do any damage.... I invite you to come visit me some day back in Australia. I'll show you our creek that we get water from that used to be clear water and is now mud soup due to the introduction of carp. I'll show you rivers that used to be full of large Murray cod and are now full of large carp. Banks that are eroding due to carp sucking the mud. Whole river systems that are severely damaged due to some git thinking that carp were better than natives!!!
Carp from clear water are quite edible, but have a very poor return of bone free meat. Carp from muddy water (and once it has carp, it will be muddy) are only edible if you are really hungry.