What a p*sser

[Rooster89 0]

Oh man, all this talk has me itchin for some fishin. I'm with you Rickity, I mostly fish for small and largemouth bass, lake trout, and northern pike. I got skunked with pike and lake trout last year but I managed to catch some pretty good sized bass, for around here anyway. Here's my best catch of last summer.

 

 

 

Bigfish: That really is a big fish! I dont know how big carp usually get but that thing is monsterous!

 

-Rooster

[Rickitycrate 10]

Fishing the river I never know what might be on the line, small mouth, large mouth, carp, sheepshead, redhorse, sturgeon, rock bass, sauger, walleye, Jumbo catfish, Northern pike, dogfish, sunfish, crappie, you just never know. I love to go to Maui Hawaii. When I had a job we would go every year. I love to saltwater fish there over the side drifting the reefs. First catch for me was a Papio or young Jack Trevally. I've caught many types there, brought some back to the condo and had a wonderful meal. Such memories.

[Rooster89 0]

WOW! Theres alot of fish in that river!

 

-Rooster

[Rickitycrate 10]

Heck yeah, left some out too. There are musky and musky/pike hybrids.

[Bullethead 12]

Speaking of big fish, does anybody watch that show "River Monsters" on Animal Planet? In the States, it's on Sunday nights at 2100 central. Anyway, this guy is going after friggin' HUGE fish in fresh water, most of which can and occasionally do eat people. Most of these are in far, far away places. However, I believe this coming show is on the alligator gar, a common fish in these parts. I've caught quite a few of them up to about 3' long, all by accident because they ain't good eatin', and you have to kill them to get the hook out safely due to their horrific teeth. And I hate to do that, because they're an ancient species that AFAIK never bothers people. The only use I've ever heard for them is that their scales are naturally shaped like arrowheads, which the Indians here took advantage of due to there being no stone for at least 100 miles around

 

Garfish around here top out about 6 feet long, and ones that big are pretty common. A few here get up to about 8 feet, but there are photos from about 100 years ago of specimens twice that long. I seriously doubt there are any left that big, though, because big gar spend a lot of time sunbathing on the surface where they're easy to see. As a result, most folks who purposely fish for gar do so with a bow and arrow. Where's the sport in that?

 

I've swum with 6-8 foot gar many times and they've never bothered me or anybody else. They're like the vast majority of predatory fish, only interested in things considerably smaller than themselves. If you swim in bayous around here, you're way more worried about alligators, water moccasins, giant snapping turtles, amoebic dysentery, flesh-eating bacteria, leeches. and quicksand than you are poor old garfish :yes:

Edited April 18, 2009 by Bullethead

[Rooster89 0]

Thanks Bullethead, I'll have to check that show out. 6 foot fish! Geez, my poor little old 6 pound bass seems inadequate now

 

-Rooster

[UK_Widowmaker 571]

Just for you Rooster!

 

This is my best friend Paul with a Belgian Carp

[Bullethead 12]

@Rooster: I thought you yankees had pike and muskies that ran to 6-8 feet, too? There's a pic here of a 10' gar from 1910, but they just don't get that big anymore. Too many bowhunters in boats.

 

Widowmaker--that's a HUGE carp! Around here, I've never seen them get more than about 1/2 that size, and ours are gray and ugly, too. We've got another type of fish, though, called a buffalo, which gets about the size of your Belgian carp. It looks very much like a carp, except its mouth is on the bottom of its head and somewhat back from the end of the nose. The mouth is very large but doesn't have much in the way of bone in it, just a huge mass of fleshy lips with a couple of feelers sticking out--it's a total bottomfeeder. It looks a lot like a cow's mouth, in fact, which I think is how they got their name. They're OK to eat if prepared correctly, but there are tricks to that which few can master. Hooking one is mostly like snagging a 4WD vehicle that's in low gear, but occasionally they jump a couple of feet out of the water and make a huge splash :)

[UK_Widowmaker 571]

@Rooster: I thought you yankees had pike and muskies that ran to 6-8 feet, too? There's a pic here of a 10' gar from 1910, but they just don't get that big anymore. Too many bowhunters in boats.

 

Widowmaker--that's a HUGE carp! Around here, I've never seen them get more than about 1/2 that size, and ours are gray and ugly, too. We've got another type of fish, though, called a buffalo, which gets about the size of your Belgian carp. It looks very much like a carp, except its mouth is on the bottom of its head and somewhat back from the end of the nose. The mouth is very large but doesn't have much in the way of bone in it, just a huge mass of fleshy lips with a couple of feelers sticking out--it's a total bottomfeeder. It looks a lot like a cow's mouth, in fact, which I think is how they got their name. They're OK to eat if prepared correctly, but there are tricks to that which few can master. Hooking one is mostly like snagging a 4WD vehicle that's in low gear, but occasionally they jump a couple of feet out of the water and make a huge splash :)

 

Bullethead... You really must stop this...I am desperate to hook something (apart from me!)...and those Buffalo's sound great!!.....

 

Just found this on Google, described as a Buffalo..if that's it, it could almost be described as an American Carp...very similar!!

 

(Thankfully, Bow-Hunting for fish is strictly banned in the UK.... I can't see why anyone would find that a sport personally...All our Big Carp in the UK are known by name!..and are looked after by the Anglers like they were made of gold...anyone trying to hunt one with a bow, would probably get beaten to death by enraged Bivvy Dwellers!!)

Edited April 18, 2009 by UK_Widowmaker

[Bullethead 12]

Bullethead... You really must stop this...I am desperate to hook something (apart from me!)...and those Buffalo's sound great!!.....

 

Very few folks deliberately go after them because they're not good eatin' unless you do it right, and that's a bother. Besides, even though they're big and impressive, most times the fight is more of a long, straight tug-of-war than anything else, and then getting your hook out is a real pain because that huge mouth sucks it way back inside them. You often have to basically gut the fish to retrieve your hook. Thus, most folks consider catching one a complete waste of the limited time they have available for catching the bass and catfish they're really after.

 

Fortunately, if you're bass-fishing, you hardly ever catch one because they're not much attracted to bass lures. But they go for the same stuff as catfish, so that's when you usually get them, and also on trot lines. Big buffalo travel in schools up 5 - 20 fish, so sometimes your whole trot line is covered with them.

 

Just found this on Google, described as a Buffalo..if that's it, it could almost be described as an American Carp...very similar!!

 

It's very confusing. The experts say there are several types of both carp and buffalo and most of them look very, very similar. So that might well be a type of buffalo ;). The fleshy mouth is very much like that. But to me, the distinguishing feature of the buffalo is that the mouth is on the bottom of the head, not the front like in your photo. Like it's upper lip would be about where the chin is in your photo. If the mouth is on the front, then I call it a carp. But that's just me--I'm sure an expert would say otherwise. However, it's the traditional right and privelege of fishermen to call their prey whatever they want, to create many confusing local name variations for the same fish across the country, so I don't feel bad about it

 

(Thankfully, Bow-Hunting for fish is strictly banned in the UK.... I can't see why anyone would find that a sport personally...All our Big Carp in the UK are known by name!..and are looked after by the Anglers like they were made of gold...anyone trying to hunt one with a bow, would probably get beaten to death by enraged Bivvy Dwellers!!)

 

Don't you all have fisheries that crank out millions of sport fish per year to stock all the lakes and creeks? That's a big thing over here, which is why we have so many fish.

[Test Pilot 0]

The first thing I look for when telling a carp from a buffalo is for barbels. Buffalo look a heck of a lot like carp, but carp have barbels while buffalo don't. Curiously, despite their near mirror image, they arent considered too closely related as buffalo are members of the sucker family (with obviously suckers, redhorse, quilback etc) while carp are in the minnow family along with chubs. Just caught a huge horneyhead chub last night and will be going out for more today! Ive actually taken to rough fish more so than "sport" fish of late (except pike of course!). And of course always catch and release, barbless

Edited April 18, 2009 by Test Pilot

[UK_Widowmaker 571]

Don't you all have fisheries that crank out millions of sport fish per year to stock all the lakes and creeks? That's a big thing over here, which is why we have so many fish.

 

Well, sort of.

 

We have an authority called the Environment Agency, who charge us anglers £26 each a year to look after our waterways, and then Clubs / Syndicates who stock their own waters with Fish.

 

The EA are very cautious about disease etc, so it can be a headache to stock fish.... the Rivers are generally left to their own devices as per Fish Stocks, but the River Tyne (my local river) was, 15 yrs ago, a danger to swim in because of filthy pollution...and now it is probably the Best Salmon River in England...So, they are doing a good job.

 

Carp Fishing up in the North East is a bit scant, as this is mainly a Trout / Salmon area...but I am a member of a good club, so the future looks bright.

 

But, I have got to come over to the States, and experience some of the Fishing you have!

[UK_Widowmaker 571]

The first thing I look for when telling a carp from a buffalo is for barbels. Buffalo look a heck of a lot like carp, but carp have barbels while buffalo don't. Curiously, despite their near mirror image, they arent considered too closely related as buffalo are members of the sucker family (with obviously suckers, redhorse, quilback etc) while carp are in the minnow family along with chubs. Just caught a huge horneyhead chub last night and will be going out for more today! Ive actually taken to rough fish more so than "sport" fish of late (except pike of course!). And of course always catch and release, barbless

 

What on Earth is a 'HorneyHead Chub Testpilot?

[Tonyo - legion 2]

Widowmaker, Your hand injury does sound painful - Ouch!

 

 

- only been fishing once in my life - it was on the solent on this small fishing boat & we went for mackrel, the sea was so rough everybody was hanging on to the sides of the boat, puking their insides up - not a pretty sight. I think it was fair to say that the fish ate better then we did that day - I decided that the sea wasnt for me, & would stay a landlubber & skylubber (if thats such a word).

 

Get well soon, & be wary of any infection - you may need a course of antibiotics.

[Test Pilot 0]

What on Earth is a 'HorneyHead Chub Testpilot?

 

 

Here is some info: http://pond.dnr.cornell.edu/nyfish/Cyprini...yhead_chub.html

[UK_Widowmaker 571]

Thanks Tonyo, yes keeping a close watch on it!

 

Solent eh?... Know it quite well, was Born in Gosport.

 

Test Pilot..thanks for that link..looks similar to our native Chub (but with a 'horneyhead')

[Bullethead 12]

The first thing I look for when telling a carp from a buffalo is for barbels. Buffalo look a heck of a lot like carp, but carp have barbels while buffalo don't.

 

Yeah, that's what the experts say, but I say they both have barbels. In what I call a buffalo, with the mouth on the bottom rather than anywhere near the front, the whole opening is C-shaped with the curve towards the front. At the rear/outer corners of the mouth, those big, fleshy lips come together well below the plane of the fish's belly. At that corner, the lips usually taper off into barbel-looking things about 2-3" long cocked outboard and aft. Maybe an expert would say those are just extra lip tissue in the furled position, that makes the whole mouth wider to suck up more gunk from the bottom per inhale, and not true barbels. But they look the same to my ignorant eye ;).

 

Curiously, despite their near mirror image, they arent considered too closely related as buffalo are members of the sucker family (with obviously suckers, redhorse, quilback etc) while carp are in the minnow family along with chubs.

 

It's not that curious at all. The world is full of things that look just like human females, but whose behavior and outlooks on life show quite obviously that they came from an entirely different planet and are not at all related to us or true human females. There's no clearer example of convergent evolution that I know of. Unfortunately, this invasive, alien species has pretty much driven the real article to the brink of extinction :(

[Rooster89 0]

@Rooster: I thought you yankees had pike and muskies that ran to 6-8 feet, too? There's a pic here of a 10' gar from 1910, but they just don't get that big anymore. Too many bowhunters in boats.

 

 

Im sure we do Bullethead, but I've never seen one that big in person. The biggest Northern Pike I've ever caught was 37 inches. But the record for New York is 46 pounds (I dont know how long though).

 

Thanks Widowmaker. I'm never showing pictures of fish I catch again.

 

-Rooster

Edited April 18, 2009 by Rooster89

[Bigfish2 0]

Well what can I say except what other flight sim can boast a forum with a 3 PAGE discussion on carp fishing?! And even extend my angling knowledge, since never in my wildest and scariest dreams did I imagine a 10 foot alligator gar!! Widowmaker, the most northerly carp angler I ever knew was the lugubrious JJ Pooler, who I recall fished a lake in Bury with possibly one carp in it; most days apparently you couldn't see the opposite bank for the factory smoke. So you get major points just for being a carp angler as far north as you are! BTW the fish in my little picture was caught this year in February, and I've lost count of how many winter days and nights I've been carp fishing now; the weather now is practically tropical.

 

Now I can link this up with OFF (in case anyone suggests we might be slightly OT here!); I had a thought that I could take off on a "free flight" in my Camel from Sutton Farm England (appears to be nearest to London) and check out some of those famous carp lakes near Heathrow like Savay; as I followed the Thames over London with the sun rising behind me, I suddenly realised that they haven't been dug yet!! Lovely views though, and what beautiful work from our development team!

[UK_Widowmaker 571]

Is it possible to fly up to Sunderland?...lol

 

I would love to open fire on a Mackam!

[Bullethead 12]

Im sure we do Bullethead, but I've never seen one that big in person. The biggest Northern Pike I've ever caught was 37 inches. But the record for New York is 46 pounds (I dont know how long though).

 

I imagine it was pretty long, the pike being all torpodo-shaped and all. A largemouth bass or buffalo weighing 40-odd pounds is like 3' long and very fat, so if you pounded one of those through a doweling die the diameter of a pike, you'd probably end up with 5 or 6 feet of fish at least :). A gar of that weight would be somewhat shorter, due to thicker bones, mondo teeth, and armor-like, overlapping scales.

 

BTW, here's a joke illustrating the difference between northern and Southern US fishing. It's at the expense of my own ethnicity, so please, nobody should call it offensive. I'm the only Cajun I know of here, and I find this joke funny as Hell

 

Those 2 archetypical Cajuns, Boudreaux and Simoneaux, were in their seasonal blues because nothing much was biting in the Louisiana winter. Then Boudreaux mentioned to Simoneaux that he'd heard that 'dem maudites yankees cochins' were ice-fishing at that very moment, and that it was a big deal to them. Plenty of fish to be had. So they decided to go up north and give that a try.

 

They go up to yankeeland to some lake they'd Googled as being good for ice-fishing, then cruised around to the local bait shop. Boudreaux, the only one who half-way spoke English, went in and told the proprietor, "Me an' my par'ner Simoneaux, we jus' simple Cajuns from down on the bayou. We don' know not'n 'bout dis yankee ice-fishing, hien? So you tell us what gear an' bait we need, hien?"

 

So the guy at the bait shop sold Boudreaux the necessary tackle, bait, and a couple of icepicks. Boudreaux thanked him and went away, but came back in about 20 minutes. "We needs a couple mo' dem icepicks, hien?" So he got them and was gone again for another 20 minutes, when he came back asking for more of the same.

 

At this point, the bait shop proprietor thought something was amiss. So he asked Boudreaux if things were going OK. And Boudreux said, "Sho'nuf! We jus' about got de boat in de water!"

[UK_Widowmaker 571]

hahahahahahaha

[Typhoon 5]

Sounds like the two Newfies who went ice fishing and got run over by a Zamboni!!

Tony

 

My aplologies to the great people of Newfoundland, but that was the way I heard it.