Carpocalypse Now!

[Amphibious]

Carpocalypse Now! 2011 Carp spearfishing thread. all taken while Freediving (no scuba). any tips on lakes/rivers with carp would be appreciated, I love finding new places to blast them!

More Pics Post #19

May 5th - Kelowna (Oakanagan Lake)
http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/230814_10150570482465051_614545050_18451684_212820 4_n.jpg

May 6th - Kelowna (Oakanagan Lake)
http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/223309_10150571732660051_614545050_18463944_767362 1_n.jpg

May 10th - Oakanagan Center (Oakanagan Lake)
http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/226286_10150577334680051_614545050_18540653_514190 7_n.jpg

May 11th - Winfield (Wood Lake)
http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/224296_10150581852805051_614545050_18552358_532907 1_n.jpg


I'll add more as I get them :) all carp must die!

[scallywag]

nice work .... i am soo borrowing my buddys spear gun when i head back to penticton this summer to see the family how is the water right now how thick is your wet suit??

[Amphibious]

Right now i'm in a 7mm top and 5mm bottoms, water is still very cold and the carp are in small pockets, the hunting is just starting to get good. that's a freediving (open cell neoprene) suit - if you're using a standard wetsuit i'd be in nothing less then that full 7mm, maybe with a 3mm vest underneath.

[troutseeker]

So how do you prepare them for the table?

[Amphibious]

So how do you prepare them for the table?

I don't eat them. as they are a non-native invasive species, we just donate them to organic farms and a buddy with pigs.

[Sideofabarn]

I can't give you any new places to find them, as Wood Lake would have been my suggestion. Just be sure to nuke as many of those damn things as you can. When you're done, why not take a trip to Australia and help the folks out there! They would appreciate any extra help getting rid of that scourge.

[Johnnybear]

I thought they were edible. Have you tried eating them? (not a debate question at all). I find it interesting kind of like the introduced bass in alot of our local lakes. I agree with killing them off.

[Rectifier]

Is spearfishing considered fishing or hunting, regulations wise? Is it the same as bowfishing, only carp allowed?

Looks like fun. Always get interested every time I see pics, the wife is from Taiwan and they sure do know how to cook up a carp over there! I've talked to some guys about going out to Pitt Marsh to bowfish for carp, but not really a place for diving (it's a shallow marsh...).

[goatdancer]

Have you tried Duck Lake by Winfield? There are lots of them in there.

[d6dan]

Lots of big carp in Christina Lake. Off the south end where the creek flows out..

[mark]

How about the canal between okanagan and skaha....lots in there!
You could probably find some shades and empties too!

[goatdancer]

Lots of big carp in Christina Lake. Off the south end where the creek flows out..

Seen some monsters further up towards Texas Point too.

[500grhollowpoint]

It's been a few years but I used to go into mission creek by the pub on lakeshore there.... got hundreds of them out of there. The bottom of the creek is literally teeming with them. Even got a ling cod once. I have a hawiian sling. A lot quicker than a spear gun...no reloading. Geuss it's not an option for at least a month now....

[Chuck]

Who introduced these? They were always in the Columbia river since I can remember, but since the dams were put in and the water level is strictly regulated now, I've never seen another one. Primarily because of no flooding and warm water shallows for breeding I would assume. Ya I've seen tons in the canal between Okanagan & Skaha lake.

[lip_ripper00]

How about the canal between okanagan and skaha....lots in there!
You could probably find some shades and empties too!


Not to mention the lost Stanley cup ring!!! True story!

[Amphibious]

Mission creek, Christina Lake, and the Penticton Canal are on our hit list, been wanting to go to all of them for the last few summers but work always seems to get in the way. I have a couple pole spears/slings I could use, but I usually bring out one of the guns and treat the carp as target practice. I spearfish internationally and like to stay sharp. spearguns are like traditional bows - all instinctive shooting. Duck lake is way to dark to spearfish in, might take the bow out there this summer though. the viz in wood lake is about 1m or just under. can only hunt the carp by Aspetto, but that can be fun too.

Spearfishing falls under the fishing regulations. Coarse Fish only, and Burbot in some areas.

[wildcatter]

As far as I'm concerned they are good to eat, the smaller ones are not as fatty.
The real big ones may not be the best though.

[fester]

thats really cool.

[Amphibious]

Went out today, bright and sunny on the surface, but viz less then a meter under water. still managed to pull out 114lbs of stink!

http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/229321_10150591005815051_614545050_18661597_868707 _n.jpg

http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/226369_10150591054780051_614545050_18661980_370497 4_n.jpg

The king is dead - 27.5lbs, shot at less then 1ft, surprised him in the murk.

http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/230025_10150591055460051_614545050_18661988_450591 6_n.jpg

[steepNdeep]

Right on Colin - good haul! That big one is a hawg! 27.5 would be tough to beat...

Now that you're shootin' some big ones, how about a friendly contest to make it interesting shooting those ugly buggers? I'll probably only get out a couple of times. From now 'til Labour Day... a beer for the biggest?

Have you ever dug out the stones? Old fish like carp should have decent ones... you should get the otolyths from that big one. Otolith Article (scroll down to pics) (http://www.cabinetmagazine.org/issues/31/burnett.php)

Here's a cool lookin' one from a common carp:

http://www.boingboing.net/otolith.jpg

[Amphibious]

thanks D,could have shot way more, but my stringer was full, need to build a longer one! beer bet sounds good! you have a 40lber tied up somewhere or something? ;)

[Tripitaka]

Wow! Here is a view on a different culture...

Back in the UK, fishing for carp is MASSIVE. Guys go out and fish non-stop all weekend and pay over $200 for a week-end slot at a good lake (always private lakes) and the slots get booked up weeks in advance. The tackle market for carp fishing is proportionately huge with dedicated anglers sporting maybe $10000 of kit, and no, that doesn't include their vehicle. They also have to put them back alive.

Now here is the thing that will kill ya; that 27lb-er that you have there would sell to a private lake owner for maybe $12-15000! Even your smaller ones are worth over $1500 each - alive, obviously. The big boys, the Mirror Carp, are worth $25000+ for a 40lb+ as they are pretty rare. These guys name the fish from 20lb upwards. Who knows what regs govern the export/import of the fish but if you can figure it out, there is money to be made. Of course, you need to figure out how to get them out alive and keep them that way for the time it takes to deliver them. :mrgreen:

A guy I know - an aquaintance rather than a friend - spent over $3m setting up a carp & catfish fishery with 4 small lakes. He reckons that his ROI is under 10 years at current rates but including restocking. Not a bad retirement proposition. When the EU admitted some of the Eastern European countries, many of their residents came to live in the UK - especially Polish. Now, the Poles quite like to eat carp so off they would go to the fishery and catch the fish that the owner had paid $$$ for, taking them home and it resulted in many fisheries banning Eastern Europeans - which promptly landed them in court for discrimination. What to do? :confused:

The Japs eat a huge amount of carp and it used to be a staple diet of wealthier anglo-saxons through to about the 1700's. Landowners, monasteries and the like all used to have carp ponds that are still visible today. Some of the bigger ones that have been maintained are now the basis for some of the UK's best carp fisheries. The French have great carp fishing too.

Just an alternative take for y'all - and maybe an idea for a spot of money-making. Hell, catch 'em alive, stick 'em all in one lake that you own and sell carp-fishing holidays to the Brits and French!

[steepNdeep]

thanks D,could have shot way more, but my stringer was full, need to build a longer one! beer bet sounds good! you have a 40lber tied up somewhere or something? ;)

Haha... thought I had my elk tied up last year, but apparently they know their knots... I don't think that I've seen a 27 - the IUSA record is 30 (but I haven't looked very hard...) From now 'til Labour Day - a beer it is. Cheers.

[nolimits]

How long did it take you to get all 9 in the first pic? I am asking because picture like that make it seem soooooo easy. Very nice pics BTW.

[steepNdeep]

How long did it take you to get all 9 in the first pic? I am asking because picture like that make it seem soooooo easy. Very nice pics BTW.

i'd say spearfishing is about as difficult as flyfishing - if you're good at both.

Freediving (snorkelling) is actually a very dangerous sport though... MANY people have died in the last year... check out this video:

Shallow Water Blackout VIDEO (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBnEIMTrgFk)

I let the big one go:
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4102/4855221256_8f0c84f852_z.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4122/4854596141_7719ebfc1f_z.jpg

[steepNdeep]

Tripitaka - Interesting stuff! "One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter..." Here the biologists & Ducks Unlimited want the ugly invasive buggers exterminated, but that will never happen. We'll have fun tryin' & makin' fertilizer.

CARP PROBLEM IN N. AMERICA In 1870, the results of large harvests were declining stocks of lake and river fishes at a time when the US population was expanding. US President Ulysses S. Grant appointed the US Fish Commission in 1871 to consider what species to introduce to bolster the nations supply of food fishes. The Commission after long study issued a report that said no other species except the carp, promises so great a return in limited waters...

During the years 1879-1896 the US Fish Commission stocked 2.4 million LIVE carp, some of which were sent to Canada, Costa Rica, Ecuador and Mexico!

Now that it's too late.... modern bioligists want these invasive carp exterminated as they are destoying native ecosystems:
Ducks Unlimited (http://www.ducks.org/news-media/news/6914/ducks-unlimited-urges-partnership-in-carp-solution)

Asian Carp THREAT (http://asiancarp.org/background-threat/)

FYI - I did a blind taste test on my inlaws with cod, bass & carp. They had no idea & liked them all about the same, before I told them! :D

[The Dude]

Nice haul(s). Now is it legal ONLY to freedive when you spearfish, or is it possible to use SCUBA on invasive, non-native species? (seems like they'd want any selective method to rid the waters of these pests).
Also, if you know any Chinese, japanese, Koreans, Vietnamese, etc, I'm sure they'd LOVE to have some fresh carp. Might get a super-'discount' on food if they own a restaurant as well, as you would have to gift the fish to be legal.

[steepNdeep]

Yep - SCUBA is legal. You should try it out, it's a blast & we need all of the help that we can get!

Good call on the asians. I'm sure they gobble it up as carp are a prized fish over there. You might unknowingly be tastin' some sweet & sour carp in the future in restaurants... :D


Nice haul(s). Now is it legal ONLY to freedive when you spearfish, or is it possible to use SCUBA on invasive, non-native species?


Also, if you know any Chinese, japanese, Koreans, Vietnamese, etc, I'm sure they'd LOVE to have some fresh carp. Might get a super-'discount' on food if they own a restaurant as well, as you would have to gift the fish to be legal.