I haven't done any bowfishing since I was a kid and that was mostly for frogs. I visited my daughter up in Virginia a couple of weeks back and there's a lake behind her apartment. We didn't bowfish butwe caught a bunch of carp in the 10-12 pound range. We caught them on 6lb trout fishing tackle and had a blast. We released all the fish we caught except for one that I gave to a guy doing some construction work who wanted one to feed his family. All of his co-worker were making fun of him and blamed his nationality for wanting to eat a carp, but I can't fault a guy who's working his butt off in the hot sun that wants to feed his kids. I sure got me thinking though, maybe carp do taste good. Where I live in Florida people used to turn their noses up at redfish until they started blackening them. Do you guys eat what you shoot, or just feed the rose bushes with them?

I use mine for turtle traps. Sometimes where I fish there will also be Mexican Americans, who will take the fish.

cut the tails off to bleed them out. and when you fillet, do NOT leave any red meat on them. There are some links around here somewhere on how to fillet asian carp which work for commons as well. don't listen to any bull**** about cooking them on a board and eating the board. Those jackasses don't know how to do them right. carp are actually good eating with minimal work.

Carp are good to eat. If you clean them right. I've had carp several times, some good, some well...not so good.
Of the carp species, commons like you're holding, are my least favorite.That and the fact that we shoot way more than we could eatis why I eat most of the carp I shoot only after they've been turned into tomatoes or sweet corn...
Kudos to those who actually eat most of the fish they take. (Like Fishhunter) For us it's just not possible.
Either way, just getting them out of the waterway is a benefit. We never release them on purpose.

When I was a kid in Kentucky, an 'didnt know better", we ate carp all the time. We caught themn in a creek near my house and that was my 'big game fishing'. I have a picture at the ripe young age of 11, holding up 2 carp that hung past my knees... we ate them.. to me it was fish...
I have not had carp in a LONG time, but heck its fish right ? I do not remember them being bad at all....so why not. My only concern is based on where they come from because in Florida we have heavy nitrogen runoffs....

I can't eat all that I shoot. I have a lot of requests every yearto do fish fries with carp. But even if you don't eat them, shoot as many as you can. Let's try to knock the population down a little.

Realeased them?? Thats against the law!! Haha no but it should be. To many fish shot in my boat to eat. Would want to eat them after sittin in the barrel all day/night long anyways. Ours get spread in our fields. Have a couple guys that request me to get them some buffs and an occasional carp for smoking but thats about it and those I keep for that don't getsmacked over the headand are kept in a seperate barrel with some water. Usually we only do this early when the water is cold. Better eating before the water warms up to much. Smoked carp and buff are awesome. If I give him some fish he usually gives me a smoke fillet or two. WCL

I shoot them. [8D]

I filet mine out, and then freeze them for a month or so, then take them out, soak them in a brown sugar brine for at least 24 hours and then smoke them with Hickory or Apple. I smoke them lightly for the first 1 hour and then take away the smoke and then just use heat until the fish reaches an internal temp of 160deg. Then apply more smoke with the heat until done. Dont listen to what most people say about eating them. They are a great eating fish if done properly.
You can also filet them out, cut the filets into 4-5 inch chunks, sear the meat, batter them in a good batter, such as uncle Bucks or Shore Lunch. And then deep fry them. Make sure your oil is very hot, perferabley at least 350 deg. The bones will either decintigrate or soften up, you wont know they are even there! Awesome fish deep fried!