Whats the point??
 

I,m not against you guys but my son wants to bowfish but here in Oregon we can only shoot carp. I like to fly fish for carp its a hoot, I relese them after the fight but you just can't do that bow fishing. So what do you do with them, Dont say eat them Ive tried them and they suck. Boney stinky fish. How do you use them ??? just wondering

RE: Whats the point??
 

Well.....if you tried them, and they suck, dont do it then! No animal should be wasted, or harvested if they are not intended to be utilized.......Except, in situations where the animal is a non-native invasive animal, like the bighead, silver, and yes..the common carp are also on that list, and the taking of them are incouraged by state biologists. States have a bounty on the fish, and many many scientific studies show them to be a detriment to the ecosystem. Just think...if the common carp were not so overpopulated, how much clearer would the water be without their feeding habits causing heavy siltation. Many more true native fish would flourish.
And smoked and pickled carp are very good to eat. NEVER, should native fish like buffalo and gar be harvested without being utilized.
Let your son bowfish, its a old way to use archery equiptment, and is great fun.
What bothers me, is why bowfishing, and the people who love the sport, has to be constantly attacked by other sporting groups. Not only do peta and the like attack this outdoor sport, but carp groups have tried to ban it in texas, N.Y., and have written anti bowfishing articles in In-Fishermen that would make a peta member proud. I would like to know why this is done. Do you know, these groups even suggest joining with peta to ban bowfishing? For what reason?? Is there a shortage of carp? With all our sports under attack, ALL sporting groups need to join togeather, and groups that would hurt us need to be shunned, and shown for the selfish radicals they are. Bowfishing is a great outdoor sport, just like deer, pheasant and squirrel hunting, bass and pike fishing, and should be supported by ALL outdoorsmen/women, the same as those sports are.
Its kind of funny, but i have heard the same question,"whats the point?", concerning the C&R fishing you enjoy, from non sporting people. It seems the catching of a fish purely for the sport of it, without eating it baffles some. Not me, Im for sportsmen, and support whatever they like to do. Heres a couple carp and invasive species studies that show the predation of these fish is not only good for the waters, but supported by DNRs.
www.nps.gov/miss/features/ruffish/history.htm

http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/gmu/l...x/exotics.html

P.S.....Rich, I saw you took a trophy sized mountain lion . Did you eat it?

RE: Whats the point??
 

they make excellent fertilizer... and actually when taken from clean water they are good eating if properly prepared... the thing to do is skin and filet them... then take all the red meat off the outside of the filet... from there they are good baked, poached, broiled, fried, boiled, in kabobs, stew, sauteed, no wait a minute that was in Forrest Gump about the shrimp... lol, once you get them cleaned up you can do them up about any way you'd like to do fish...

other than that what we're doing is ridding the water of an invasive species that has no redeeming factors about it... they are a scourge that needs kept under control by any means...

RE: Whats the point??
 

Mostly all I use them for is fertilizer. I've been thinking about throwing a smaller one on the smoker though.

RE: Whats the point??
 

What's the point?

The point is that it's fun.

Killing the common carp is good for the environment.... AND it's good for the remaining carp. Think of it as Quality Carp Management.

Releasing a carp is nice to that individual carp, but it doesn't do anything to improve carp fishing (either angling, or bowfishing). In good habitat carp quickly overpopulate and become stunted. (even a popular European carp fishing magazine called American carp overpopulated and stunted)

I do enjoy angling for carp when I'm not trying to impale them with fiberglass arrows. ;) Even when catching carp on hook and line, I still clock them on the head and use them for fertilizer. There are just too darn many of the things. Even a couple less carp is a step in the right direction as far as the river ecology is concerned.

I eat some carp, give some away to other fishermen, bury some, make 'coon bait with some and I do throw some of them away. Carp are tasty when caught out of cold water, brined and then smoked. (really!)

Bowfishing; cleaning up our waterways, one carp at a time. :D

RE: Whats the point??
 

I haven't ate on per say, but many people I know have and love them smoked from clean water. Me personally, I cut them into strips and use them as catfish bait, they love it! If your really up to "wasting nothing", use the entrails on a set line for turtles.

RE: Whats the point??
 

Hey Guys I'm not knockin ya in fact I might join ya. I was just taught to use what you harvest and I stick to that. I does look like a blast. Thanks rich

RE: Whats the point??
 

A friend had some Pheasants and chickens penned up and he would throw a carp in the pen with them for food. When the maggots started eating the carp then the pheasants would eat the maggots. The problem with this was it took forever for that carp to decompose and it stunk so bad you didn't dare go back by the pen.

RE: Whats the point??
 

No problem Rich....some of us are just a little tired of the anti bowfishing coming from other organized "sporting" groups interested in carp fishing. Glad you use what you harvest.....whats Mt. Lion taste like??

RE: Whats the point??
 

Ed, a lot of people do eat the mountain lions that they shoot. It is supposed to be very good meat. (better than bear, I've been told) Bobcats are supposed to be tasty too.

:D

RE: Whats the point??
 

Didnt know that.........I guess anythings edible, had coon before, tastes alot like lamb. Couldnt bring myself to eat a cat or yote though!

RE: Whats the point??
 

I have a hog farmer who loves to take them for his hog to eat. I also use them for fertilizer. If you can get a big female and get it smoked just right they taste really really good the closest thing I can compare it to would be smoked ham. They have just a little different texture but are very very good.

RE: Whats the point??
 

haven't ever bowfished.....yet. but the carp i catch on rod and reel i freeze and donate to the church for their fish fry.i have eaten many carp and just don't care for them anymore, but many people love them.

RE: Whats the point??
 

If your from Ill., and want to give it a try, pm me....we will get you out there!

RE: Whats the point??
 

where are you from ejd?

RE: Whats the point??
 

northern ill.

RE: Whats the point??
 

A lot like lean pork

RE: Whats the point??
 

Out of cold water and sandy bottom areas a smoked carp is excellent-we also used to pickle them and they were mightly tasty-but the fact of the matter is a dead carp is the only good carp no matter what you use it for

RE: Whats the point??
 

Filleted boneless with the red meat removed - very good fried. Then the red meat can be used for bait or fertilizer. I've eaten them out of Table Rock Lake near Branson (about as clean water as you can get) and out of the lower Missouri River. Good eating from both places. Bigheads are even better.

RE: Whats the point??
 

here in Alaska i bowfish for pike. one lake i just throw them away, polluted lake next to dump others if big enough are eaten. but even if they are not eaten for every one i kill will save numerous salmon, trout , and even baby ducks and baby muskrats. they were bootlegged into areas of Alaska where they are not native. fish and game wants as many as we can kill gone. they will stop stocking lakes when the pike arrive.
i got 19 this past year- biggest 27" smallest 5.5 "

RE: Whats the point??
 

I don't care for the taste of carp myself, but lots of people do like them. Some Oriental cultures and lots of Hispanic cultures really like them. When I was a teenager we used to give the ones we caught to a nice little old Mexican lady in our neighborhood. She loved getting them. Maybe you can find someone close to you that would eat them? That way you would be having the fun of bowfishing and still be able to avoid throwing away the animal.

RE: Whats the point??
 

whats the point?
THIS(look how proud my son looks)
his biggest gator gar 7ft 2in 190lbs

his new bow and his first gar

his crippled carp

just another proud moment with a carp

they are just ruff fish to us but to a kid they are a true trophy

RE: Whats the point??
 

THe point is that they are not indiginous to the united states and they need to be kept in check for the sake of other fish (who's eggs they eat) and their own sake. They can over populate very quickly.


Not to mention how fun it is

RE: Whats the point??
 

WOW, how long did it take to land that gator gar, and how many arrows

RE: Whats the point??
 

using them doesn't mean necessarily for human food... wild animals enjoy a stinky carp not only to eat but also to roll in{dogs do too if ya got neighbors who let them run loose}... turtles love them too... they make wonderful fertilizer... give'm to folks who do eat them... any thing other then burying them in the landfill is using them... wild critters gotta eat too...