Yeti GOBOX Collection

Eating Carp...yay or nay?

I grew up near a town, Kinkaid, Illinois, where "scored carp" was considered a delicacy. They would score a cross-hatch pattern into each side of a whole fish and drop it into the fryer. I am not sure if the result was that the bones cooked down, fell out, or the pattern just let you work around them, but the result was you could grab a forkful of high quality fish with no bones. I should look into that...

Looks like scoring the fish allows the bones to cook down and become edible. http://www.museum.state.il.us/RiverWeb/harvesting/harvest/fish/tools_techniques/recipe.html
 
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Mthuntr said:
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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I like that channel a lot too. Always entertaining and clean fun. Really opened my eyes to the value that people place on carp in other parts of the world. I'll probably just stick to shooting them with my bow though. It is a hoot...Seems like hoot is about the only appropriate way to describe that. Just redneck enough.
 
I have had them smoke before and thought they were good. Other than that, no, never eaten them. We used to shoot one with a bow, then cut it up and use it for catfish bait.
 
Never tried the larger carp, but grew up eating the redhorse sucker found in the peatwater rivers of Eastern NC. My Dad would set a trap in local streams in the early spring when the fish were moving upstream and at times the redhorse was the principal catch. They are delicious filleted, breaded in cornmeal and fried. The small forked bones are a nuisance for some but we learned how to deal with them at an early age.
 
WalkingBird said:
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
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It is not bad, but it is not good either.

I like to catch them for bait for ice fishing in the winter.
 
I have been told that the secret is the fillet them immediately after you catch them, and put the fillets on ice. You can't treat them like trout we you process that evening.
 
Growing up, my Dad had a rule about not eating any bottom feeders. hahahaha I eat others, but not carp.
 
Buddy has a pickled carp recipe. It's fantastic I couldn't believe it. I have tried it plain and I agree it sucked.
 
I was watching that "Bizarre Foods" show once, where he was somewhere in the midwest and they were eating carp. They smoked it like you'd do with a cut of pork and when it was done it looked great, and apparently tasted great as well. Sounds like smoking it got all the unpalatable flavor out of it, I don't know though, I haven't been tempted to keep one and try it myself...
 
One time i caught a 7-8 pound squawfish from the Sacramento river casting a rapala for stripers from shore. Soon after catching it i thought what the heck, filleted it as a bass would be and cooked it coated in flour and seasonings in hot canola oil on my cabover's stove. I had my hopes up and expected it to be decent but the first bite, super mushy and muddy tasting, inedible unless one was starving. The one time,.. never again. lol
 
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