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Caught 5 commons to 31" and 11.25 lb and a mirror with my homemade corn meal bait in a lake in Central NJ yesterday evening.

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Do you eat them?

I tried carp once. It was awful.
The meat is dark like tuna, but tastes really fishy with a strange texture.
The fillets are full of long, needle-sharp pin bones that try to kill you when you eat the fillet.



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People from Eastern Europe like them.

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Did you give them to some Eastern European people?

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Yes, plus Asians and Africans. Whenever I catch a carp now, a Chinese guy comes over to my spot and I give him the fish. I ate a carp that an African cooked and is was ok, not very good. It was bony and oily. When people catch and release carp, they make them impossible to catch again. Every year when I hook carp that were released, they immediately swim into a snag and steal my hook in a few seconds.

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This is the dumbest statement I've ever read on a message board. Congrats on an amazing accomplishment. I'm curious to know how you positively identify that you had previously caught the fish before they run you into a snag. Or do they tell you their names so you know it's the same one? Killing fish that you admittedly don't eat to save yourself a few hooks based on idiotic logic sets a horrible example for younger generations and could not be more poor sportsmanship.

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When I fish a spot early in the year and I don't see other fishermen there, I don't lose many carp. After other fishermen see me catch carp. They fish in my spot. After they catch and release fish in my spot, I always hook a few fish that immediately run into a snag, then escape. This has happened every year for a long time. I gave away every carp that I caught and the people that I gave them to were all very happy to get them. Saturday a young "sportsman" saw me catching carp, then left his father and started fishing in my spot. I believe that is poor sportsmanship and a lack of respect for other anglers.

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Guy, that doesn't make any sense at all. If the other fishermen are practicing catch and release, no part of being successful with that involves the fish getting into a snag, so how could they learn it?

Hey, they are your fish to do with what you want, but at least give it a little more thought because your logic is missing a step or few. CPR does not teach fish to run into snags any more than any other angling.

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When I first started fishing Carnegie Lake, I only did ultralight jigging. After a few years, I saw carp and no carp fishermen so I tried carping there and was very successful. Over the years, when other people saw me catch carp, they would come over to my spot and ask me about carp fishing. I told everybody everything that I learned about carp fishing, then every year intruders arrived at my spot and caught and released big carp. Until that time, I never had an issue with carp swimming into snags. I think that people who catch and release carp in heavily fished public fishing areas loaded with snags use line that is more than 12 lb test. When I hook a big carp with 12 lb test line, I can't stop it. When you apply maximum pressure with 30 lb braid, you can stop most carp. I give them a sporting chance but each year lately, a few immediately swim into a snag a few second after I hook it. This only happens in my one spot where other fishermen took over and ruined my carping.

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All fish swim to cover. It's called instinct. You should team up with the guys who want to kill the cormorants. You could go around and shoot everything that steals your fish or your hooks all while setting a wonderful example for the future generations of fishermen and outdoorsmen.

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Heavier line maybe? :o Then they'll grow bigger and still be a good fight on heavier tackle......