FAMOUS LAST WORDS (Trophy Carp Regs)

[bwingy]

On 11/9/2017 at 5:57 PM, SpoonDog said:

Of course it bears mentioning most folks in the UK don't have the opportunity to fish for trout, salmon, pike, bass, etc.  If they had the options available in the states, they may make a different decision.  That makes a direct comparison between the economic benefit there and the economic benefit here is kinda meaningless.

 

Carry on...

Mocarp invited me to come on the forum and talk some carp fishing. I figured I would elaborate on what I do later in the post. I saw you mention the above and I see this a lot. They think anglers fish for carp due to other species not being readily available to fish for. This is 100% false. They have all of the species listed above and then some. They choose carp mainly for the sport of things. In the US everyone is fascinated about what they can eat even though a majority of anglers are catch and release. I will say overseas has better management practices. If you look at their pike and especially their perch they are massive compared to what we see here. Carp worldwide are the number one sportfish and that is fact. They are not here in the US but globally number wise they are the most fished for freshwater specie. 

Economic wise I think unless you really get into carp fishing can you full understand the economic impact. I fish for all species but carp I fish for 90% of the time now. If you start to break down the amount of money spent on carp fishing per angler you will be quite surprised. I will say a bass boat will cost you 60k plus for a good one so that is one thing we are not in need of. I have two boats I use and buying a third next year. My 3rd one will be maybe 20k and that is more than effective for myself and my carp fishing needs. I have three carp setups I use and all of my gear I use not counting boats may be in the 30-40k range?  I know in the past bass pro attempted to sell carp stuff but in my opinion they went about it all wrong marketing wise. You could tell someone who rarely fished for carp picked some items and hoped for the best in sales. No strategy and understanding of items regularly used for carp fishing. If they had done some better research they would  have been selling 6 figures to start off easily. 

[bwingy]

On 11/9/2017 at 9:16 PM, Al Agnew said:

I admire a guy with passion for his sport.  And I know carp are very strong fighters (though they almost never jump).  And I know they can be challenging.  But they are just plain ugly.  And not native.  And I know trout aren't native to most of the places where they are caught, too, but at least they're pretty and they live in mostly beautiful places.

So while I think we should cut MoCarp some slack, don't expect me to be a champion of carp. 

 I think with any style of fishing each specie offers something that appeals to different anglers. For most carp anglers it is the fight that is exciting and the raw power behind them. I know that is what attracted myself to the sport. My dad always enjoyed it and after he passed I decided to see what the fuss was all about. 11 years later and 90% of my fishing involves carp. You are correct. They rarely jump at all. When I go for bass or pike they are all over the place and jumping if you let them. Again a different type of fight between species. I guess it all depends how you look at it. I think of the of things about people calling them ugly is half the species out there can be called ugly if you are not used to them. Because we grow up fishing for trout or bass we are used to them and accept them for how they look. I am fascinated by the scaling on carp and on certain ones the design if you zoom in with a camera. It is like looking at the rings of a tree and seeing the story that most do not see. 

The native thing is always interesting. It is often used against carp but after doing considerable research most 75% of the fish are non native especially forms of bass and trout. The difference is they generate more money here so they becomes accepted because of the almighty dollar. If carp made 10 million a year we would not be having this non native conversation. Carp live in the most beautiful places as well. Most just do not realize they are there. Carp can survive pretty much anything so a lot of times people associate them with harsh environments. I catch carp in some of the most pristine waters you will ever see and just like when I walk a stream for trout carp is the same in enjoying the beauty around you while waiting for a bite. 

Carp is not for everyone. I started teaching anglers how to fish for them years ago. Again everyone has a specie they enjoy most and I think at the end of the day when Mocarp comes on maybe he wants simply more respect for the specie he enjoys to catch.

[bwingy]

On 11/10/2017 at 11:56 AM, SpoonDog said:

I have.  And you can't swing a sack of dead kittens out west without hitting a Brit, a German, a Dane, a Frenchman, or someone else from The Continent fishing for wild trout- doing something they can't do at home.  There's carp in Colorado, in Wyoming, in Montana- and European tourists aren't knocking down doors to get at them.  Perhaps that tells us something.

But maybe you're right.  Maybe tomorrow or next week or next year every single Texas resident will not only take up fishing, but will buy the rods,the reels, the hooks, the High Nutrient Boilies, the little slingshot deal, the rod holders, the bite alarms, the net, the sling, and the mini trampoline job to go fish for carp, thereby swamping expenditures for all other sportfish species.  It sounds like magical thinking to me, but maybe you're right.

 

Best of luck.

Honestly I probably would do the same. If I fished for carp every single say and I traveled to another country I would probably fish for something I could not catch at home just to have the experience. Though when I take vacations they usually do not involve fishing either. I do have some friends that guide for carp in Canada and he is booked into 2019 and 2020 I believe because of the demand. You have to realize how much larger in size the US is compared to overseas countries. Most think of the ST lawrence river when they think of carp fishing here because that is the only place really advertised as a destination point. Now my friend has lodging and family activities as well so it is a vacation and a fishing trip all in one. If you were to drop a nice chunk of money to come here and fish for carp number one you would really need places to go that you knew would be productive. Also the other obstacle is gear. We use a lot of gear for carp fishing and shipping it over and then back would be a nightmare. Most guides for carp will have setups for the angler to use. My friend right now is guiding and Italian angler who flew here to strictly come and fish for carp. He is staying two weeks and will fly back. A lot goes on behind the scenes that no one is aware of trust me. 

I am in a position to know sales and also growth of carp fishing. In the past year  it has doubled if not tripled in the amount of anglers easily. . Also a lot of the gear can be multi purposed for other species as well. 

[Jerry Rapp]

ah, 3 posts, come on man, you have been called out several times.  But you keep pushing it.  I guess I am a cull or your troll.  Carry on.

[Chief Grey Bear]

6 hours ago, fishinwrench said:

If you'll give me a few examples of "incoherent drivel" that I posted I'll try to correct it and do better going forward. 

Appreciate the criticism, honestly.

Anything to do with the MDC should keep you busy for a while. There's a decades worth there. 

I will give you some credit too. You are a very good mechanic. And you said something there quite a while back that solidified that. To make it short and sweet it was about checking upstream of the problem. 

You also are a very accomplished fly tyer. You do some fascinating work there. Very inspiring! And you are a superb fly fisherman! 

So there are a few things that I will never try to take away from you. 

 

[bwingy]

On 11/10/2017 at 8:58 PM, Quillback said:

I've caught a few carp in my lifetime, and feel absolutely no desire to fish for them.  Just not into bait fishing, and when I do fish bait, I'd rather chase bluegills, crappie, or cats. 

It is not for everyone. Do you fly fish at all? If you do I would highly suggest giving carp a shot on the fly. They are extremely cautious but once you have one on your arm will feel like its going to fall off. 

[bwingy]

On 11/11/2017 at 6:09 AM, Quillback said:

I didn't say I hated them, I really don't care if they are in a lake or not.  I just don't care.

And I'll just say this, and others have said this also, you're not helping your carp cause by antagonizing people and making up BS.

The best thing you could do is get out and fish for them, show us what you caught, how you caught them etc., ( and catching them locally, not in some Brit carp pond).  I bet if you posted some reports, or had some of the other legions of LOCAL carp fishermen that you say are out there post reports on LOCAL lakes you might generate some interest.

There's a Carp forum on OA, get your buddies that you claim are out there fishing these lakes to post some reports, tell us how it is done, show us those 30 lb. carp.

Very true, The internet can be a true pain on how to interpret what a person writes. Mocarp invited me here to maybe answer a few questions. I fish for all species but really enjoy carp fishing. I have been teaching anglers for a few years now how to catch them. It is very similar to bass fishing in the approach. They have very familiar habits and repetition just like how bass are. I usually stick to youtube and a few carp forums but I do travel down your way once in a while so thought I would post up a few things. I am always here for questions for anyone who may want to learn or have a question on carp fishing. Here are a few fish for you to see since you requested. 

[bwingy]

14 minutes ago, Jerry Rapp said:

ah, 3 posts, come on man, you have been called out several times.  But you keep pushing it.  I guess I am a cull or your troll.  Carry on.

I can assure you I am not trying to troll you or anyone else. Mocarp asked if I would come in here and answer any questions and things like that. I like to promote carp fishing and that is it. I do not have the time to troll people. Even if I had the time that is simply a waste of time that does nothing but piss people off and helps nowhere. 

[Quillback]

23 minutes ago, bwingy said:

It is not for everyone. Do you fly fish at all? If you do I would highly suggest giving carp a shot on the fly. They are extremely cautious but once you have one on your arm will feel like its going to fall off. 

I'm an experienced fisherman and have caught many species of all sizes.  Carp fishing does not interest me, it never will.  Quite frankly, you're just adding additional spam to the spam MoCarp has generated on this.

I hope you're better than that.

[MOPanfisher]

31 minutes ago, Quillback said:

I'm an experienced fisherman and have caught many species of all sizes.  Carp fishing does not interest me, it never will.  Quite frankly, you're just adding additional spam to the spam MoCarp has generated on this.

I hope you're better than that.

I am gonna disagree with you Quillback, bwingy has been very polite, not posting a bunch of unsubstantiated drivel, or cut/paste photo from the internet.  He is polite, and I would say genuinely loves carp fishing, cool. 

I have caught carp on a flyrod, when I was a kid that was about the pinnacle of excitement to stalk a carp in the pond, softly drop a small fresh grasshopper in front and if he sucked it in, brother hold on, lots of good memories from carp fishing and even trotlining for carp.  To me bwingy seems more than willing to assist.  Personally carp fishing is what I will fall back on when I can no longer launch my boat, wade a creek, stand on a dock, or on a rocky bank at night in the rain to catch a walleye.  Who knows that may be sooner than later.  As for a vacation to go carp fishing, not for me, but then neither is Disney World.