Fishing For Perch and Carp near Calgary Tomorrow

[jacenbeers]

Anybody want to come and catch some perch and carp tomorrow?

[kostianych]

carp???? where??? I would like )

[FishingFrenzy]

Im assuming you mean perch and suckers?

[jacenbeers]

I mean perch and carp. It is stocked and there are lots of carp in the pond. There are apparently also pike, perch, cisco and suckers as well.

[HappySonny]

I'd like to, but where?

[FishingFrenzy]

Grass carp?? Good luck catching those...

[jeprli]

Carp pond is frozen over, and it is way too cold for little carp to bite, they are burrowed in mud by now, hibernating. Good luck with that!

[AK47]

Originally Posted by jeprli

Carp pond is frozen over, and it is way too cold for little carp to bite, they are burrowed in mud by now, hibernating. Good luck with that!

that looks like crucian carp... do we have them here?

[FishingForLife]

The only carp I know of being in Alberta is Grass Carp. They stock them in farmer dug outs to control the weeds.

http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$departm.../all/agdex3446

That should answer some questions.

[jeprli]

Ok lets clear things up a bit. This fish is definitely not a grass carp, or any large species carp for that matter. Carassius auratus gibelio is the latin name for it. These fish get up to maximum of 7-8lbs, that is if everything is absolutely perfect within the ecosystem. They are very common throughout Eastern Europe, and prefer still, or slow moving water in higher temperature ranges 12-25 Celsius. These fish can survive all kinds of extremes, most of them are born a female and depending on population are able to switch sexes before the spawn to even things out. A single female specimen of about 1lb live weight will have an average of 200 000 eggs each spawning season. To fertilize the eggs they don't necessarily need a male partner of same specie, they can use milt from any specie of the carp family. Wierd thing is that entire hatch will always turn into Carasius a. g. and have nothing in common with milt donor. This fish has displaced many, many other native species in my old country, as did bullhead catfish and largemouth bass, freshwater swordfish, grass carp(all non native to Danube drainage). If this fish got into the wrong hands and was introduced into a drainage it would cause a significant change in the ecosystem. It will easily overpopulate and destroy food source for lake whitefish, perch, and all the minnow species. At the same time they would provide a very rich diet for pike and walleye.

There, those are couple of things that i know for certain.

To catch them you can use live bait, small flies and tiny lures. They will eat anything but like most fish they prefer the easiest route, feeding with shrimp and other water insects.

Please don't ask for location, it's a small pond and it would collapse very quickly if it gets any more traffic.

I'll see if my dad has any pictures for posting.

[AK47]

yup, crucian carp it is... Used to catch them a lot back in Europe. Tasty buggers. My personal best was 4lbs. If I find I can try to find old pictures, scan and post them

[AK47]

ok, so there it is few old pictures from other continent and from about 10-15 years ago with some fish I would love to have here as well

Crucian carp 1.3 and 1.6 kg.



zander 2.2 kg



carp 8kg.



and the best tasting and most fun to catch from all carp family.... tench... yum, yum ... miss those the most.

[jeprli]

Exactly!

60% bone 40% meat, but if cooked right they are delicious. Pig lard is the best!

Those two in the picture are exactly the biggest my dad caught out of the pond.

Hmmmmmmmmm zander, gotta love the hunt for them, never an easy task. I've acquired a great arsenal just for that fish, sadly they do not exist in NA....but there is walleye.

Tench has been largely displaced by the crucian in my country. I remember going digging for thick green dew worms just to be able to fish them selecitvly , i miss that fish a lot.

AK47 did you have golden crucian as well??? They are a bit smaller than the one in pictures but are quite a rarity to catch now days, same problem, it has been displaced.

Is that a river carp you're holding in the picture??? It has a bit elongated body compared to the ones from lakes and ponds. We called river carp "locomotives"

Great pictures!!!

[AK47]

Yeah we did have golden crucians as well. Quite rare as you say. And that carp was from river, was trying to catch pike in late November ( hence snow on the ground) and somehow my jig ended up in his mouth... weird.

[jeprli]

Yeah it is weird, some of my friends who target zander during fall months and into the winter catch carp on twister tails and spoons. It is not common but it does happen from time to time.

You should definitely check out Last Mountain Lake in Saskatchewan if you want to catch a carp of a lifetime. Some big fish to be had in late spring, largest we caught was at 32lbs, and i know there are bigger fish to be had there.

I see in the picture with tench you were using Balzer reel. Used to be a good company...DAM, Balzer, Cormoran all are gone to cheap stuff. Bought a bunch of telescopic rods and one seatrout 2pc from Balzer three years ago. Seatrout snapped in half and telescopic rods have faulty reel holders. Top of their line...

[kostianych]

Last Mountain Lake - heard a lot of stories about it and fish , but never been yet ... looks like a great place to go ))

[AK47]

Originally Posted by jeprli

You should definitely check out Last Mountain Lake in Saskatchewan if you want to catch a carp of a lifetime. Some big fish to be had in late spring, largest we caught was at 32lbs, and i know there are bigger fish to be had there.

Yeah, that sounds interesting, how far is it from Calgary? Maybe we can coordinate a trip next summer? Does Saskatchewan fishing rules allow chumming?

[kostianych]

it`s like 7-8 hours from Calgary if you don`t mind, I`m in ))

[AK47]

Originally Posted by kostianych

it`s like 7-8 hours from Calgary if you don`t mind, I`m in ))

that sounds like a plan.. we should got there for full weekend or so.

[kostianych]

sure we can arrange the first long weekend ))

[portwein]

carp from Siberia
caught it about 6 years ago, 4 kg, fish has been cooked and eaten right away

[portwein]

carp from Siberia
caught it about 6 years ago, 4 kg, fish has been cooked and eaten right away

[Geezle]

Originally Posted by jeprli

Yeah it is weird, some of my friends who target zander during fall months and into the winter catch carp on twister tails and spoons. It is not common but it does happen from time to time.

You should definitely check out Last Mountain Lake in Saskatchewan if you want to catch a carp of a lifetime. Some big fish to be had in late spring, largest we caught was at 32lbs, and i know there are bigger fish to be had there.

I see in the picture with tench you were using Balzer reel. Used to be a good company...DAM, Balzer, Cormoran all are gone to cheap stuff. Bought a bunch of telescopic rods and one seatrout 2pc from Balzer three years ago. Seatrout snapped in half and telescopic rods have faulty reel holders. Top of their line...

I grew up fishing Last Mountain Lake...and yet, we never ever fished for carp. I managed to see them running along the shore a couple times in the spring just after ice off...crazy sight, the water would just be alive with them.

[WayneChristie]

Buffalo Pound has lots of big carp too. So, Jason how did you make out???

[jacenbeers]

Nothing bit. It was mostly frozen over and the only open spot was calm but barren.

[Sasa]

You want to catch carp at Last Mountain Lake?
Best time to go is May long. I went there many times with success. Beware of ticks at this time of the year.
I was there this past weekend and it was slow but we still caught a few.