carp
 

does anyone eat carp. i like to gig them and bowfish and i kill a lot. i am not real sure how to cook them tho. my friend says to pickle them. does anyone else know what to do to make carp fit to eat

RE: carp
 

I kill a lot of them bowfishing too, but I usually just give them to the catfish fishermen on the way out. If you want to cook them, those guys tell me they fry them up like crappie or any other white-fleshed fish. I had one guy tell me that he rolls the meat up into balls, batters the balls, and then fries them. Sounded horrible to me, but he swore by it. The meat can be hard to get off of them because they have huge ribs so you'll have to skin them first. Good luck with this, and let us know how they turn out if you actually cook some.

RE: carp
 

I used to catch them and throw them up on the bank to die. I wouldn't consider eating one!

RE: carp
 

I ate some, fried, when I was in the Boy Scouts in VA, a long time ago. They were so bad, I still remember the meal...[:'(] Fatty, intramuscular bones and a very muddy taste.

However, I've heard that if they come from clean water they'll smoke reall nice.

RE: carp
 

Great smoked.
Mom used to bake smaller ones stuffed with sourkaut

RE: carp
 

thats what i do when we bowfish them, but my grandpa says you gotta smoke um, never tried it and dont really plan on it. i would just use um for fertilzer if i was you

RE: carp
 

I've had some smaller grass carp. Lots of free-floating bones. If you get it fresh and cook it that night its not too terrible. It sure ain't striped bass, and I don't think I can name a saltwater fish that is worse tasting..... but I'd give it a go and if you don't like it... they help make the flowers bloom in the garden!

RE: carp
 

Ah good ol carp! Here's the absolute best way to cook these things. I'll put a fillet onto an Oak or Cedar plank and put it in the oven for about an hour. I'll baste it with some olive oil and lemon juice while doing this so it doesn't dry out and to give it a really good taste once it's done. After it's done I'll let it "rest" for a few minutes outside of the oven. Once it's cooled down it's ready! To enjoy this fine dish you simply throw away the carp and eat the plank that it was cooked on! Hell of a lot better than the carp!:D

RE: carp
 

Makes excellent fertilizer for the garden...just drop the small ones in whole and cut up the bigger ones. Did this for years when I llived in South Dakota and had a place to have a big garden.

Here in AZ the only think I can grow is sand and things that stick you...

RE: carp
 

I've had it deep fried with a corn meal batter, wasn't that great. The best way in my opinion is to smoke it, pick off the small pieces from the bones, and a little tabasco sauce on a cracker.

RE: carp
 

Carp is a bottom feeder fish, which means that they eat off the bottom of the stream, lake, pond, river.

Their diet is crap.

Most people will not even consider eating them because of their natural diet.

If you stop and think about it, with all the pollution in the water these days.

Everytime you eat one, you are eating other peoples crap, unwanted minerals - zinc, iron, lead, mercury and other toxins that gathers at the bottom of the water.

They do make good ferterlizer for the garden. As long as their pollution does not affect your crop. If they were to transfer their pollutants to your soil, you wouldn't be able to safely eat your produce.

RE: carp
 

one question, if you smoke it, how do you keep it lit???? just kidding, to me it is only good smoked if you catch them in the spring of the year when the water is the cleanest, and the meat isnt so mushy
brian mikkelson

RE: carp
 

a buddy of mine did some he cleaned the fish cut out all the dark meat an large bones salt an pepper canned it in a pressure cooker
Now i will tell you i am not one to put carp in my mouth but i did an was shocked !it was just like tuna i don't see me going to that much work for what you get in the end but if you get the chance try it

RE: carp
 

I have never tried it but I have heard this before, that canned carp was good. I was also told that they sometimes add a few dropps of liquid smoke to the jars.

RE: carp
 

If you realy eat some carp, catch it hook and line. then keep it alive, like in a farmers water tank with fresh water all the time. after a couple weeks they will make much better table fair. It just cleans the mud out of them, and firms the meat, but still boney. thats why they are best smoked.