another carp pic

[acabtp]

How long until the mulberries are ripe??

[Eskimo]

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Originally Posted by acabtp

How long until the mulberries are ripe??

Figure mid-June is the peak, but things are probably going to run late this year.




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[catfishonthelake]

Originally Posted by Delawareriver

Trust me with a single female carp being able to lay 125,000- 250,000 eggs in a single spawn there will always be carp around to catch/shoot. There is hundreds of thousands in nj alone.

Matt it's not so much of an invasive species issue as it is carp destroy ecosystems. Been scientifically proven in multiple studies the negative affects they have. I don't blame anyone for enjoying fishing for carp as they get larger and are easier to catch then any other species in new jersey. No other species you can catch multiple 20 lbers on any given trip plus good chances at 30 lbers and 40 lbers are caught every year. But i find it to easy. Have used the euro carping techniques and fly fished for them but pretty easy to figure out as long you don't spook them

I think the NJDEP does a wonderful job of managing our fisheries, so I tend to leave that to them. When they start advocating a carp kill like they've done with the true invasive species like flatheads, then maybe I'll think twice about releasing them. Killing hundreds if not thousands of fish under the guise of bettering our ecosystems is just a bunch of BS in my book. Killing fish just to give them to farmers and anyone else who will take them really isn't in the spirit of what I consider sportsmanship. Congrats on the big carp you shot. I've seen a dozen bigger carp caught in this state that were released, and half the people on this board know there are bigger carp that have been landed than your "record." To me that is much more of an accomplishment than having a piece of paper, your name in the compendium and a picture of a dead fish.

[Delawareriver]

Originally Posted by catfishonthelake

I think the NJDEP does a wonderful job of managing our fisheries, so I tend to leave that to them. When they start advocating a carp kill like they've done with the true invasive species like flatheads, then maybe I'll think twice about releasing them. Killing hundreds if not thousands of fish under the guise of bettering our ecosystems is just a bunch of BS in my book. Killing fish just to give them to farmers and anyone else who will take them really isn't in the spirit of what I consider sportsmanship. Congrats on the big carp you shot. I've seen a dozen bigger carp caught in this state that were released, and half the people on this board know there are bigger carp that have been landed than your "record." To me that is much more of an accomplishment than having a piece of paper, your name in the compendium and a picture of a dead fish.

I know there is larger also, I do let the njdep managing their fishery they advocate the sport of bowfishing and give us legal rights to be able to enjoy the sport. Yeah they have done a great job stopping the spread of Flatheads and snakeheads. As you mention they are definitely invasive but they both have their own anglers that cry about the harvest yet both species are becoming common occurrence throughout the Delaware river water shed. You can call it guise I just call it science, you should look up some of the research before you pass judgement. you do not have to agree with what we do but it is completely legal.

[Delawareriver]

http://www.njfishandwildlife.com/pdf...igfsh32-39.pdf

F&W promoting the sport

[catfishonthelake]

Originally Posted by Delawareriver

I know there is larger also, I do let the njdep managing their fishery they advocate the sport of bowfishing and give us legal rights to be able to enjoy the sport. Yeah they have done a great job stopping the spread of Flatheads and snakeheads. As you mention they are definitely invasive but they both have their own anglers that cry about the harvest yet both species are becoming common occurrence throughout the Delaware river water shed. You can call it guise I just call it science, you should look up some of the research before you pass judgement. you do not have to agree with what we do but it is completely legal.

I saw the picture the first time you posted it and I am aware that you have the legal right to bow hunt. That doesn't mean I have to agree with it. All my friends that hunt deer, turkey etc. practice some of the best sportsmanship I know. They eat and use every part of the animal they kill that they can. It just seems wasteful to me to kill thousands of fish that you have no personal use for, regardless of how much research you throw out that they're destructive. I'm a musky fisherman and release everything I catch. When I see someone with a big fish in their cooler it bothers me, but it is their legal right to take it as long as it not on one of "Catch and Release" lakes in April and May. Doesn't mean I have to agree with it.

[jrock]

Hey mark I have to agree with you killing fish and just leaving them there just seems unethical to me also. Now to each his or her own as long as its legal but sometimes we dont have to look into the law to make an ethical decision and I think this is one of those moments.For example I have become pretty good at getting the walleye out of greenwood lake along with my pops and my buddy. We can legally go out and take 9 walleye out of there everyday I go out along with guys like fast eddie and skunkcity who can also do the same. But what do we do?? we take one a piece sometimes and none most other times because we just dont need that much meat even though legally we would be doing nothing wrong. That being said for the most part most anglers I have met especially from this site seem to be spot on with their morals and ethics when it comes to fishing and respecting the environment. And remember no matter what anyone feels about what someone is doing out there if its 100 percent legal we must accept it. Oh and I come from macedonia where we have a huge lake with the cleanest fresh water I have ever seen in my life, you can see almost 100 feet down to the bottom and guess what species is abundant there??? thats right the carp. So there is examples of dirty waters with carp residing there and clean waters with carp residing in them also.....

[HK1490]

Originally Posted by catfishonthelake

Be persistent. Use lots of chum and bait. Once you start to figure them out, you'll catch them consistently.

Thanks!!!

[Delawareriver]

Originally Posted by catfishonthelake

I saw the picture the first time you posted it and I am aware that you have the legal right to bow hunt. That doesn't mean I have to agree with it. All my friends that hunt deer, turkey etc. practice some of the best sportsmanship I know. They eat and use every part of the animal they kill that they can. It just seems wasteful to me to kill thousands of fish that you have no personal use for, regardless of how much research you throw out that they're destructive. I'm a musky fisherman and release everything I catch. When I see someone with a big fish in their cooler it bothers me, but it is their legal right to take it as long as it not on one of "Catch and Release" lakes in April and May. Doesn't mean I have to agree with it.

So even tho I find a use for the carp just because I personally don't use them makes it unethical. Let me ask you do any of your hunting friends ever shoot coyotes, ground hogs, or crows? I know thousands of guys across this state that would shoot a coyote while hunting, what do you think happens to them? They get gutted and sliced up for dinner? Sometimes pests need to be controlled. I also musky fish and release every musky I catch and I agree I don't agree when I see a large one kept but I congratulate the guy. I don't pick a fight with him over it. That's his legal right.

Jrock- I'm glad you only keep so many walleyes, I applaud you and I would do the same thing. I release a lot of big stripers each year. Keep one or two 30"-34" fish and I know that's all I need. I also release all my bass muskies, pike, walleyes (outside of icefishing) But we are not talking about a game fish we are talking about carp. Yes there is many factors in each lake how bad the carp affect the lake. Deep clear lakes with little to no sediment on the bottom obviously can't be turned to a mud pit where shallow lakes with mud bottoms are a different story. Don't forget how clear the water is does not tell you how healthy the lake is.
Don't take my word for it tho, take a few minutes and read up on the common carp


http://fwcb.cfans.umn.edu/courses/nr...rp/damage.html
http://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/facts...px?speciesID=4
Two good ones to start. Hard to pick put the best ones when a Google search comes up with hundreds of page citing carp destructive nature

[jrock]

In no way am I implying that you have no regard for any animal life but you can find negative articles about carp and you can also find positive articles about how they effect the ecosystem also...... for example the fact that they have so many offspring provides forage for game fish, the natural cycle isn't always as simple as some books explain. Some people underestimate mother nature and its ability to adapt and figure out changes in the ecosystem....... Mother nature has been doing it for millions of years I can trust her to figure out how to handle a carp. It was once stated in a previous thread that we have many invasive species like the brown trout in this state, and picking and choosing which one to eliminate by highlighting their negatives just because of your personal preference is in my opinion not right. Again if some one legally takes or shots a fish and decides to take it home and dump it in their garbage can, it is not my place to change that persons mind, as my opinion and only an opinion I don't regard one fish species lesser than another because one is a game fish and the other is not. I treat them equally as far as respecting them as one of gods creatures that's all.