Caribou Gear Tarp

Eating Carp...yay or nay?

WalkingBird

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Tempe, Arizona
What is everyone's take on catching and eating carp? or other "trash" fish for example? Me and a co worker were discussing cooking and eating wild meats (he grew up in the city and is fascinated with the concept hunting and eating game) and we got on the subject of fish and he brought up carp and asked if I've ever caught and eaten them. My only reply was that no, I've never used a rod and reel and chased carp, much less caught and eaten any as I was brought up being told they are a garbage fish and there are "better" fish to eat, like walleye and salmon (I grew up on Lake Ontario). But I mentioned how the sport was growing in the region, especially with tourists and some locals, but there was still this mental stigma that kept the majority of us from pursuing them, other than the odd foray into the marsh with bows in the summer.

So what is everyone's opinion? are carp "worthy" tablefare with a false reputation akin to snow geese (aka "Skycarp)?

-Jess
 
Being a product of my raise I can't say I've ever eaten it, nor do I have any desire to do so. However, I bet that if someone were to give me some and try to pass it off as cod or some other kind of fish besides trout I'd probably like it.
 
I grew up near Omaha. A couple fish markets cater to those that like carp. One place is called Joe Tess's and their specialty at the restaurant is carp. Very popular spot. I never gained an appreciation for the flavor and the bones. Smoked I can eat it but prefer others. I suppose it would be worth trying to pickle (think pickled herring style). Carp were once considered a delicacy but fell out of favor (likely because the rich of the time didn't want to eat what everyone else was eating) by the early 1900s

I subscribe to a Youtube channel called Catfish and Carp (https://www.youtube.com/user/catfishandcarp) He has his carp fishing dialed in and it's fun watching his boys reel in some good sized fish.

The local fly fisherman fish them in the shallows like a poorman's bonefish. They have a blast and say how fun and hard it is to catch them
 
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In MO we have a fall/winter gigging season for "non-game" fish. The target fish during this season are suckers, however you often end up with a lot of carp. Given a choice I'd only eat the suckers, that isn't to say the carp is bad. The flavor actually is on par with the suckers (mold white fish). The trouble is the bones. The approach often taken is to cut the fillets and score the ever living heck out of them. The idea is the bones will cook off. A lot do, but you can never get rid of them all. There are obviously better fish to eat, but overall carp aren't bad and I wouldn't shy away from a belly full.
 
Hell of a lot of fun to catch. They do grow big. Have never ate one. I think I would try them smoked if it was on a menu.

Question for the archery fisherman. Do you ever eat them? I have seen in El Vado dam some huge carp, many are golden. Does the size reduce the problem on too many bones?
 
I concur they are a hell of a lot of fun on fly rods several times a year. Stalking them like bonefish in early spring on the 'flats' and again this time of year when they're schooled up on the surface eating cottonwood seeds.

I only ate them once - when I was in college, we drove up from Madison and shot in a bowfishing tournament in NC Wisconsin on a lake that is totally overrun with them. Literal barrels of carp were donated to locals in need (which happened to be primarily southeast asian immigrant families). I can tell you that not a part of those thousands of pounds of fish went to waste.

We gave our fish to a guy that one of our team had met before and he made us up some Laotian fish soup. Was one of the better things I've eaten. I never repeated the meal, but there are certainly edible.
 
I have eaten them fried, smoked, and canned. Canned is my favorite. Carp are best out of clean cold water and we just don't have that in Indiana. I do love to catch them on ultra light tackle, fly rods, and shoot them with my bow. My favorite so called "trash fish" is gar. I eat them all the time and they are one of my favorites.
 
Carp are rather popular in the rest of the world. We don't eat them because of their stigma and most never bother to try them, therefore keeping the stigma going.
 
We don't eat them because of the taste (not stigma). Asians clearly have taste buds geared towards eating the nasty stuff. :eek:

I have and will try almost anything once. I have never tried canned/pickled carp but I could see that method giving carp at least a chance.
 
I've never eaten carp. Not to hijack this too much but what about gar? I had a "country boy" from Tenn laugh at me for eating gar once. He said "I'm pretty hillbilly, but I ain't never eaten no gar". I thought it tasted pretty good...of course that was probably due to me being hungry by the time I was finished chopping through its skin with kitchen shears.
 
When we ran hoop nets in the river we caught alot of rough fish like carp and buffalo. The carp and buffalo require scoring (making thin slices thru the bones being careful not to cut thru the skin. plenty of youtube vids on it). Since they are scored, the bones will fry up in the grease and the breading gets in between all the meat flaps. Its good when done this way. I prefer buffalo over carp. Of course neither beat the more commonly eaten fish like walleye or crappie.
 
Never have tried them for eating. They are fun to catch. I caught a nice carp on a 5' Ugly Stik with a number 0 Mepps. Bent the crap out of the hooks.
 
Provincial hearsay since a wee lad renders a hell nay from me.

...Long John Silver's probably serves worse.
 
Carp are not good to eat.....they can be eaten and you can survive on them as a strong protein but they are "not" good fish to eat........
I catch them some and absolutely love it (hence my avatar)---very difficult, you have to be able to cast, and the ocean is a long ways away for me I'm betting someone can make carp meat fine to eat----
Tons of cultures eat tons of carp.....They're not a "good" fish to eat though!
Probably the very bottom on the freshwater list---about where raccoon meat is on the mammal list.
 
I haven't had them for a while, but I remember smoking them and having them taste just like ham. Only a relatively small portion of the fish tasted this good though.
 
Use to arrow piles of them.. started giving them to some dude we met one day..told us to call him any time anywhere we went.. curiosity got to me and I asked what he did with them.. said he made "ribs".... one day at the lake he BBQ'ed some up that he had prepared.. to this day I have yet to eat a pork or beef rib that was even close to as good as those.. and I have a degree in culinary arts. Don't remember his name, couldn't pronounce it if I tried, have no idea how he seasoned them.. but 8-10 years ago you could find him on the shores of lake Elsinore.. about 5' tall with two 10' fishing rods..
 

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