Conference wahoo::fishing-v2

    Without meaning to ignite any flames here, I'd like to ask anybody who
    intentionally fishes for carp whether they release the creature or toss
    it on shore after it's been weighed....?
    
    John H-C (who favors the shore-fertilization program for caught carp)

 I watched a kid catch a monstrous carp in the Merrimack river a few years ago.
It is wicked easy. I told a guy about this and he caught 8 fish behind Sanders
in Hudson, the largest of which was around 25 lbs if I remember correctly.

 The way to catch carp is like this. Take a #2 hook and string a bunch of
corn kernels onto it (use the cheap stuff, so long as the kernels are whole.)
Use a 14-17 lb leader, and a slip sinker rig or splitshot. Set it on the bottom
and wait. Chumming with the rest of the can is said to be _extremely_ effective.
Dunno if you can get away with that in the tourney though. That's how the
real cahp fishermen do it, anyway.

 The Doctah

    	Re:-1
    
    	I used to do the same thing in Haverhill in back of the Electric
    Co. from shore. You can also catch them on worms but you tend to get 
    more eels and hornpout than carp.
    
    	The biggest I can remember getting was 42 1/2" long. Not sure what
    it weighed. Best fighting carp I ever caught was 36" and missing its
    lower lip. It took so much line off my Mitchell 300 that I could see
    the inside of my spool. We're talking about 275+ yards of 6 lb. test.
    After getting it all the way back, my brother tried to grab it (and 
    missed) and it peeled off about another 150 yards before I finally 
    turned it around and got it back to shore. Lots of fun.
    
    	RAYJ

I'm mostly a read-only noter in this file, but I felt that I should
break my silence and share my recipe with you.  Hope you don't mind.

First, you make a marinade of equal parts soy sauce and worcestershire
sauce and about half that much burgundy wine (some people prefer
a white wine).  How much you make depends on how big the fish is.
Typically, though, I go for about a quart, a quart and a pint.
To that, add about a tablespoon each of paprika and garlic powder.
A pinch of chile powder and the hint of tobasco sauce and you're done.

Now, soak the fish (you should, of course, scale, gut it, and remove
the head.  Also, it's very important to NOT skin it.) for at least
8 hours in this marinade.  12 hours is better.

Heat your oven to 300 degrees.  When it's sufficently warm, remove
the carp from the marinade and place it on a clean pine board and
pop it in the oven.  Every 15 to 30 minutes, baste it with the
marinade.

Cook it like this for 15 minutes for every pound of fish you have.
Then, throw away the fish and eat the board.

Jerry

    re: .1 & .4
    
    If You haven't tried it don't knock it. I can remember growing up in
    the mid-west (Nebraska and Iowa) we used to go to Yankton S.D. to
    Gavin's Point Dam on the weekends. We had a homemade pontoon boat, that
    my father built, with a cabin on it that slept 4. Anyway, we would fish
    mostly below the dam, on the river and would come home with two
    sometimes three burlap bags full of fish. Usually around 100# or more
    of various kinds of fish. Mostly Channel Cats and Carp. The carp would
    average around 5-8 lb. Once in a while we would get them over 15 lb.
    The larger ones we would throw back, too much fat on them. 
    
    My mother would usually fillet the carp and freeze it. What we didn't
    want we gave away to the neighbors. I haven't caught any carp out here,
    in fact I didn't know of anyplace to fish for them. But, if memory
    serves me right they were pretty good eating. You just had to watch out
    for small bones, and sometimes if cooked the right way they would
    disolve too.
    
    So like I told my wife when I offered her some of the squirrel meat
    from last falls hunt, If you don't try it you'll never know if you like
    it.
    
    Cowboy

    re: .5
    My comment about tossing carp on shore was based on the damage carp do
    to the water they live in.
    They muddy the water by stirring up the silt bottom, thereby making it
    impossible for fish with a need for clear water to live. With carp in
    the water, you will not get a healthy trout population, ever.
    
    What carp do --- and suckers as well --- is "inhale" clumps of silt out
    of the bottom. They filter out the inedible stuff, and it floats
    downstream or is suspended in still water.
    
    (A bottom frequented by carp and suckers is pockmarked with holes about
    6 inches in diameter and about 2 to 3 inches deep.)
    
    These are not native fish, and they have no serious competitors. They
    serve no purpose, as far as the aquatic ecoweb is concerned, and they
    _do_ exclude other species.
    
    Their edibility is not an issue, from my perspective. If they weren't
    around in such large numbers, we wouldn't have to spend so much money
    unsuccessfully trying to re-establish stable "native" populations.
    
    
    John H-C

    
    Well you'd never catch me eating carp... the things look prehistoric,
    but they're a blast to catch!  I fish the Merrimack for them ALL the
    time.  I fish from Duck Island in Lowell all the way up to the Queen
    City bridge in Machester... both sides of the river.
    
    Your best bet is to fish a spot just downstream of a tributary.  They
    tend to hang out in the slower water near the bank where the currents
    meet.  I've heard/seen people using oatmeal, but I've never had any
    luck with it.  I use a #6 hook with a small split_shot holding back a
    3/4 oz. bell weight about 2 feet from your snapswivel.  You *have* to
    use Green Giant whole kernel corn...  nothing else works. 8) 
    I use an L-Cheap-O rod and reel combo with 8lb test...  I recommend this
    if you're in the habit of setting your rod down.  That way you're not
    heartbroken when you see your rod cartwheeling through the air and into
    the river after not keeping an eye on it while reaching for a beer.  
    
    In the spring when they're spawning they're plentiful... you may catch
    8 or 10 in an evening, but during the warmer summer months, 3 in any
    evening is a great night.  I've found the hour/hour and a half before
    sunset to be the most productive. Likewise with the first few hours of
    daylight, but you can fish for them all day.
    
    I'd be happy to go out some night this week and wet a line with ya!
    
    Have fun!
    
    Tim 

    Carp recipe:
    
    Nail a carp to a board, season with garlic.  Bake at 425 for 20
    minutes.  Throw the carp away and eat the board.
    
    ;-)
    
    (sorry, I couldn't resist...You've all heard this already, no doubt)
    

                    <<< Note 38.6 by GEMVAX::HICKSCOURANT >>>
                                   -< $0.02 >-
    
    << These are not native fish, and they have no serious competitors. 
    << They serve no purpose, as far as the aquatic ecoweb is concerned, 
    << and they_do_ exclude other species.
    
    
    They do have one use.......they feed on aquatic vegetation, which comes
    in handy if your fishing hole turns into a salad bowl.  Unfortunately,
    when they are introduced for this purpose, they are usually
    overstocked, causing the pond to be nearly stripped.
    
    I agree, however, that they are largely useless, and do hurt the
    fishing for other species.

    re: .9
    I think you're referring to "Grass Carp." 
    
    I don't know where you live, but if you have that kind of carp where
    you fish I'll assume you live in the South, southern Midwest, or the
    Southwest.
    
    Grass carp have been successfully introduced into those areas in the
    effort to control exotic plants. They are sterilized before
    introduction to prevent their reproducing. (How do you tell if a carp
    is sterile? You don't. You zap `em with the prescribed amount of
    radiation and hope for the best. Seems to work, most of the time....)
    
    Anyway, in New England, the grass carp is a dreaded cure for excess
    vegetation. They muddy the waters just like any other carp. As one
    state limnologist explained to me when I asked why nobody introduced
    grass carp to deal with milfoil infestations in New England: "They've
    got a different notion down South about what a lake should look like."
    
    The two main problems with grass carp are that it's pretty iffy whether
    they're actually sterile and that people tend to get impatient. (Drop
    10 into the pond one year, and nothing much happens. So they go out and
    get 20 more. Not only do these fish eat _all_ the vegetation in a
    lake/pond, the number of non-sterile fish in the batch increases as the
    number introduced increases.) Grass carp can grow to exceed 100 pounds,
    or so I've been told, within a fantastically short period of time.
    
    So, from the perspective of people who like their lakes crystal clear
    but prefer it that way without the help of acid rain, the carp that
    devour vegetation not only muddy the water, they also consume all of
    the beneficial vegetation as well.
    
    Perhaps this reply belonged in the rathole?
    
    
    John H-C

    Was out fishing this week and my partner caught a monster carp on 8
    lb. test,  We took it to the bait shop thinking it might be a record,
    we had no idea what the record was, anyways the fish weighed in at 21
    pounds, record is 48 lbs.  He filled out the paper work for a state
    pin.  BIG FISH what a fighter!!
    
    BTW we were Bass fishing in the CT. River he caught it on a rubber
    worm.  
    
    Les

    RE .1
    
    	Don,
    		There you go, just use what you would for Bass.  Bring out 
    	that Ultralight with the little 4" winee worm, set the hook and
    	hold on.
    
    						Madd Matt
    

    I tried carp fishing for about 20 mins during the tournament, with an
    oatmeal ball, then a bread ball.  Then I got bored and started bass
    fishing again.  Caught lots of bass but no hawgs.  My largest was only
    1lbs 14oz.   Wound up finishing in the last payoff slot in the bass 
    division, 10th place.  Lunker bass was only a 3lb smallie.
    
    I'll try carp fishing again sometime. There were LOTS of folks carp 
    fishing off shore down there.  Lunker Carp was around 17lb of I recall.
    
    -donmac
    

    Carp useless, bullpuckeys!  When the better half starts complaining
    about the garden needing fertilizer, throw a couple of carp in it and
    watch in amazement the results.  Carp make some of the best fertilizer
    on the market!
    
    Robert

      Well.....now that I've read 12 totally un-informed replies and one
    from someone who has some intelligence(.5....the basenote don't count.)
    Lemme put in my take on the fish...
    
      Carp in lakes are like rats in the pantry...they'll take over and
    destroy most gamefishing because they'll eat the eggs and fry of the
    gamefish, and since they grub in the mud for food, they will eventually
    make the lake muddy and weedy.. NOT the place for Carp!!
    
      In large rivers though, there is no problem, and they are both FINE
    eating if you know what the h*** you are doing, and will cause no
    environmental problems...in fact, they actually HELP a river by
    stirring up the bottom. (By the way...that "goldfish" you have in that
    little aquarium is nothing but a little Golden Carp..)
    
      Carp taken form COLD, CLEAN water--like the Mississippi back in the
    '50's when it was un-polluted--are fine eating. THe flesh is firm, very
    white, tasty, and on a 5-8 pounder, the bones aren't hard to deal with.
    They are also great if smoked slowly over a slow fire of apple wood.
    
      As for the "primitive" aspect of Carp...they aren't HALF as primitive
    as that 'living fossil', the Catfish (Horned-pout to you New
    Englanders), or Bullhead, which happens to be one of the best eating
    fish that ever lived. ALL fish are 'primitive', and a Carp is nothing
    but one of a number of "suckers"--fish that have those toothless,
    'sucker' mouths. 
    
      I remember when I was a kid in Southern Minnesota...we lived about 3
    miles from the Mississippi, and in the spring when the river used to
    flood some of the bottomlands near it, my Dad and brother and I would
    go Spearing... Carp, Buffalofish and Sheepshead were the three
    "rough-fish" species that used to come out of the river onto the
    shallow floodwaters and spawn in flooded fields. A pair of hip boots, a
    trident spear with a 10-foot handle, tied to your arm, and walking
    along those flooded fields would sometimed bring home three burlap
    sacks so full of fish that they had to be dragged rather than carried.
    Then the old smokehouse would be cranked-up and the fish would be
    smoked.... MMMMMM...good stuff!!
    
      SO...as Cowboy sez.....Try it first....I can BET you won't be
    knocking it..
    
      In lake waters though, it usually gets too warm, and Carp will turn
    soft and mushy in warm water. When we used to spear, the water
    temperature was around 33 degrees...with pieces of ice floating in it
    sometimes. I'd imagine that river in S.D. was a cold one as well, but
    in the summer even the Mississippi would warm too much to take Carp and
    use them...
    
    John Mc

    RE: .15
    
    Funny you should mention the "little goldfish" aspect of carp. When I
    was a kid, I used to fish the local lake for expressly for carp. Never
    ate one, but the two primary reasons for doing so were 1) the big 'un's
    were lots o' fun to catch, and 2) I would occasionally catch a 1-2
    pounder that was colored like a goldfish. When this occured, I put it
    in a bucket and zipped over to the local pet shop; They paid $5.00 to
    $10.00 depending on size. The bigger ones were harder to keep alive
    (needed a *big* bucket), but most of the colored one's were around 11"
    or so. Pocket money was allways welcome to a youngster. Sometimes I
    would catch one that was gold, white, and black; Looked like Koi, which
    is highly prized by garden-pond owners.
    
    John D.

      Re .15
      My neighbor across the street has a pond that's about an acre...in
    the center it's about 15-20 feet deep, so it doesn't freeze out in the
    winter. 
      About 10 years ago he threw a dozen goldfish about 3 inches long into
    the pond...and today there have to be about 5,000 of them in
    there....but the REAL astounding thing is that about 6 to 8 of them
    will now go WELL over 5 pounds each!! A couple are white and gold, one
    is white and black... The smaller ones vary in color also.. Two years
    ago he threw some of the goldfish with the big "angel" fins in and
    they've also multiplied and grown, but they aren't over 5-6 inches yet.
    
      What I've been told is these fish will get as big as their food
    supply will allow, given that they have space enough. Since half the
    neighborhood feeds these fish, they don't have any issue with chow, and
    the pond is definitely not overcrowded. It's spring-fed and has a
    run-off that is screened, so they can't escape..
    
      O.K....MOST people think I'm daft...until I take'em over and show
    them...these crazy fish are TAME from feeding.. (I keep threatening to
    take my spinning rod......)
    
    JM

There's a large school of golden colored "carp" in the PKO pond.  I wonder
who's aquarium got dumped there??

      Re .18
      I think they were deliberately put in there...but this is a good
    example of how they will grow if the food supply is there...
    
    JM

    Of all the exotics, the ugliest, the most destructive, the least 
    desirable, and the most ubiquitous is the carp. It is certainly safe 
    to say that few freshwater fishes are as widely known as the carp. 
    This is a fish that has been cultured in Eurasia for more than four 
    thousand years. Ornamental carp in Japan and China, or even Hawaii, 
    are kept as pets and are highly prized and unusually expensive. A 
    single fish, for example, may cost more than five thousand dollars.
    
    The carp in Massachusetts dates from 1870. Although we see it as 
    something of an unwelcome guest, its introduction was a serious and 
    honest attempt by the Federal Fisheries Commission --- an antecedent 
    to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service --- to generate a new source of 
    protein. Fish were imported from Germany, and stocks were located in 
    all forty-eight states. And for thirty years, things were just fine.
    
    But when new stocking efforts began to take place, that is to say 
    stocking of different and more highly valued fish species than were 
    present at the start of European colonization of Massachusetts, 
    investigators discovered that carp had devastated river habitat in 
    every state and were so firmly entrenched in the river systems that it 
    was truly impossible to eliminate them.
    
    Carp are known to live long lives. In captivity, some have lived as 
    long as forty-seven years, the American Fisheries Society says. In 
    France, there are unsubstantiated reports of carp living as long as 
    one hundred years. The American Fisheries Society, which has a 
    particular interest in this fish, believes, "Much of the ecological 
    survival of the common carp has been attributed to its well-developed 
    senses of hearing, smell, and taste. The aquatic environment 
    apparently poses no obstacles to development of a sense of high acuity 
    and discrimination."
    
    Although these fish prefer shallow, weedy habitats with sufficient 
    protection and cover, they may be found in a wide variety of water 
    bodies --- reservoirs, ponds, swamps, bogs --- and they thrive in 
    places such as the Cambridge water basin, where they grow to enormous 
    size. In Massachusetts, carp may grow to thirty pounds or more. But 
    there are reports of much larger fish; the world record is an 
    eighty-two pounder from Pretoria, South Africa. In the U.S., a carp 
    caught in Mississippi in 1963 weighed seventy-four pounds.
    
    It is variously estimated that within the lower lengths of the 
    Charles, carp amount to about one hundred pounds of fish per acre, 
    with some acres more densely populated than others. It is the most 
    dominant species in the river.
    
    It must be said, however, that in purely sporting terms, the carp is 
    an admirable quarry, a fierce fighter, whose weight and disposition 
    make it a delight on rod and reel. Many an angler has had the fight of 
    a lifetime after hooking one. It must be said, too, that no less an 
    authority than Isaac Walton had great admiration for the carp, not 
    only as quarry, but also as table fare. Proof once again that there 
    is, after all, no accounting for taste.
    
    And yet, if the so-called common carp --- described as having the 
    manners of a pig as it roots about in the mud of a river bottom --- is 
    a persistent problem, then the grass carp --- a newer exotic to the 
    list --- will likely be put in the same category as Terminator II.
    
    The grass carp --- known also as the white amur --- is ugly, 
    rubber-lipped, and toothless, a highly adaptable trasher of aquatic 
    vegetation, a notorious muddier of the waters, and a habitat 
    destroyer. It had its origins in China and Russia and was introduced 
    to control out-of-control aquatic vegetation --- algae and the like. 
    But it thrived beyond expectations and now poses a serious threat to 
    certain locations. Large grass carp have the capability of rooting 
    some five inches into silty bottoms in search of food, an activity 
    that uproots all manner of aquatic vegetation.
    
    
    
    Excerpted from 
    
    "A Fish-Stocked State"
    
    by Spence Conley, a fisheries and wildlife management consultant 
    
    in the September/October 1991 issue of 
    
    "Sanctuary, The Journal of the Massachusetts Audobon Society"
    
    pages 10-11
    
    Reproduced without permission.
    

Back in the '50s I used to hitch-hike from home to Watuppa Pond, which
borders Westport and Fall River, Massachusetts. I'd carry my Bristol
telescoping steel rod with the Ocean City level-wind reel and braided
nylon line, and all my tackle (which fit in my jeans pocket). I either
fished from the railroad trestle which divided the "big pond" from the
"small pond" where the marinas were, or I'd rent a rowboat and go 'way
out there where the big ones are.

One day when I was laying on the riprap along the RR trestle drowning
worms, two kids about 12 came up, walking along the tracks. They were
walking side-by-side between the rails, with a stick between them; the
stick was passsed through the gill and mouth of a goldfish that was so
long its tail was dragging on the crossties, and the kids were struggling
with the weight. I was dumbstruck. Caught it on a gob of nightcrawlers
and a handline was all they'd tell me.

It's one of the many fishing experiences that have a special place in my
memories.

Art

    There's a place in PA not far from Erie (Pymatuning, pronunciation, not
    spelling) where the carp are a tourist attraction.  People throw bread
    into the water and watch them eat.  The carp are so thick in this area
    that ducks actually ride on them.  You can't believe the commotion
    of fish and ducks when a big hunk of bread hits.  Its posted no
    fishing.  Geesum.
    

    
    I picked up a 21lber last night just north of the Queen City bridge
    in Manchester.  It was 32" long... now I wish I'd measured it's 
    girth.   My point is that there are big ones in the Merrimack and
    garbage fish or not, they're a BLAST to catch on light tackle.
                                               
    Tim

    Lake Mead in Nevada has some VERY large carp.  The tourists feed them
    popcorn, bread, and whatever won't eat them first, along with the
    ducks.  Sometimes the fish are so thick, that if you fell in, you
    wouldn't get wet.
    
    Nancy
    

    
    I'm a Carp angler and in the UK we don't eat these
    beautiful fish.
    
    They are excellent sport and we take great care with
    them such as using barbless hooks and special padded
    unhooking mats with cushioned sides.
    
    The main bait we use in the UK are called boilies which
    are similar to your oatmeal baits. Boilies are extremely
    complicated affairs using a mix of dry ingredients, egg,
    sweetener and flavourings. The amount of different additives
    is almost limitless.
    
    The rigs we (I) use, and there are many, vary depending on
    your preference. Some are complicated and others are simple.
    Quite simply I use a chevron 12 foot rod with a 2 or 3 lb
    test curve. 12lb (Maxima) main line to 12 inch 12lb Silkworm
    hooklength. Size 4 barbless hook with a hair rig attached. Its
    to this hair rig you attach the boilie, the idea being that the 
    Carp sucks in the bait; realises something came in with it and 
    then trys to eject it causing the hook to enter a point in the 
    mouth or lip etc. The Carp, being a clever fish, will try to
    move away and as he is taking line the lead will stop against
    a AAA size shot. When this happens the Carp will usually bolt 
    and then the run is on. We also use electronic bit indicators
    to alert us to shy fish.
    
    The british record is about 47 lb.
    
    If anyone wishes to know more then I will be glad to put in
    more info.
    
    Jeff.

    
    
    I am entering this note on behalf of a friend who is a keen carp
    fisherman here in the UK, here is what he has to say.
    The record carp in the UK was caught from Redmire lake near Wales by
    Chris Yates and weighed 52lbs.The best fish i have caught to date was a
    mirror carp of 31lbs from an essex still water.
    
    Richard (young) on behalf of Barry

re:-1
	Nice CARP.
	What did he do with it?
-< Tuna Tail >-

    
    
    He threw it back of course Carp fishermen in the UK are very careful
    with their fish, they use mats on the bank for unhooking, photograph
    them weigh them, then straight back they go! Hopefully that way they
    come out again at a later date possibly bigger!
    
    Richard

re:-1
	Richard,

	Nice to know they are well taken care of.

	I try my best to take pictures/weigh/measure them all but depending
	on the the fish I may just release them quickly if they can't fit
	within my wide angle lens, weigh more then my 100# scale or are longer
	then my 10' tape 8-)

	-< Tuna Tail >-

    You slit their bellies before putting them back in the water, right?

    Can someone give me a recipe for carp.  We have plenty here in GA but
    usually just catch them for fun.  
    
    Earl

    Having browsed through this topic for the first time reminded me of a
    good fish story, but its true!
    
    Many years ago my younger brother and I walked down to the river to go
    carp fishing. I was 12 and he just turned 8 and was carrying his "new"
    Zepco rod and reel that he just received for his birthday.
    
    Once we got to the river we baited our hooks with not a oatmeal ball as
    discussed in this topic, but rather a cornmeal ball made with Karo
    syrup.  The edge of the bank was rocky, and we set our rods butt end
    between the rocks to act as a rod holder.  Then we left to walk up the
    river about 50 feet to where a small stream entered to catch frogs.
    
    We hadn't taken but maybe ten steps when much to the dismay of my
    younger brother, he saw his new rod and reel diving into the river for
    a swim.  The loss of his prize possession reduced him to tears.  His
    older brother had to do something.
    
    So I reeled in my line, cut off the hook and tied on a large treble
    hook.  After reeling in on the first cast across the river, the treble
    hook had retrieved a piece of monofiliment.  Could it be??!!!  My
    brother grabbed it and sure enough felt a live pull on one side.  He
    began pulling the other side and there it was, his rod and reel.  He
    then began to reel in the line, and that darn carp was still on.  I
    guesstimate today that it was probably only about 5-6 pounds, but at
    that point in our lives it was a monster!!!
    
    We brought the trophy home to show our parents.  To this day they don't
    believe the story.  But I swear its the truth.
    
    By the way, the carp became garden fertilizer, not a meal.

    Enjoy catching it, dispatch it, and recycle it.

1) drink a beer
2) wrap carp filet portion in tinfoil and season
3) drink a beer
4) place carp on charcoal grille (pre-heated to 400)
5) drink 2 beers
6) remove blakend mess from grille and toss in garbage
7) continue drinking... You'll be much better off.

 - Woody

    eating carp!  Boy Earl, we know where your taste is.  If you need some
    trout, call me, I'll catch you some.
    
    
    bob
    What about the venison in the freezer?  You need to come get some,
    don't you?
    

    I watched a carp get pulled out of the Merrimack last evening. When
    they picked it up off the dock, I couldn't help myself. I yelled,
    "Throw it up on shore and let the trees benefit! Don't throw it back in
    the water!" 
    
    Well, needless to say, they threw it back in the water.
    
    A guy standing next to me said, "Why do you want it out of the water?
    Carp clean the river! They eat all the junk on the bottom. They've done
    more to clean up this river than that Merrimack River Watershed group
    has!"
    
    I could hardly believe my ears.
    
    Was this guy a uniquely naive person? Or is this a widely held belief?
    
    Thanks.
    
    John H-C

    
          WIDELY HELD....
                                             KIV

    
     I'll plead ignorance... What do Carp do to rivers ? Do they have any
    redeeming social value ? 
    
     Bob

    Has any of you southern gentlefolk ever caught a White Amur (aka Grass
    Carp)?
    
    A concern was expressed on the lakes-l list today that canals in South
    Africa where they plan to insert Grass Carp might be fished out before
    the Grass Carp got the job done. It's never even occurred to me that a
    Grass Carp would pursue a lure or any traditional carp bait.
    
    Any input?
    
    Thanks.
    
    John H-C

    	Re:-1
    
    	Perhaps they'll use nets ? Then bait wouldn't matter.
    
    	Ray

      I know I'm going to get flak from a few people but I really
    have no idea how to fish for carp but would like to give it a
    shot. It's been awhile since anybody wrote in here so I figured
    I would ask again. The reason is a pond nearby that is fed by
    the Sudbury River named Heards Pond in Wayland Ma. Holds what
    looks like monsters. Thought it would be interesting to try.
    
    
                                                          Lil Ed

        Oh, I forgot to mention that all these carp I see are
    in thick lilypads. Will that affect fishing style as to
    open water?
    
                                            Thanx,
    
    

    I'll help you if you promise to toss the carp into the woods for the
    crows and raccoons after you catch them.
    
    John H-C

    re:44
    
    	Years ago I used to fish the Merrimack river for carp, just for
    haha's. They were huge, with the biggest one I ever caught being 44".
    We started out using worms, but more often than not we caught eels. We
    switched over to corn and that pretty much isolated the catch to carp.
    It was fished on the bottom with a small weight.
    
    	Good luck...Ray

    Ray's suggestion of using corn is a good one. Also bread balls and I've
    even heard of people getting them with power bait. Small sinker on the
    bottom. If there in the pads you may want to invest in some heavy line 
    or spring for spider wire.
    
     Regards
    
     Don B,

      Thanks Don B. 
    
                          Lil Ed

    For some details of how we catch carp over here in the U.K, one of the
    largest tackle dealers now has a web page.
    For details on baits, have a look at :
    http://www.dmatters.co.uk/Bennetts/page21.htm
    A food science degree would give you a real edge here!
    
    		Simon