A primer on Carps

Friday, 13 April 2007

Okay. A lot of serious fishermen, especially bass fishermen from the United States, consider the carp as garbage, nothing more than overgrown goldfish. While the carp is indeed related to those pretty little gold-and-orange things that you will typically find swimming in someone’s kid’s aquarium, the carp has a lot of traits that are worthy of being praised. In fact, the carp is a popular game fish in many regions of the world, particularly in Europe. It is also a staple part of Asian menu and typically on offer in some really classy restaurants.

Here are the facts that you may want to know about the carp:

• The carp is native in Asia. In fact, there are many stories in Chinese literature dating from as early as two thousand years ago that feature the carp. The carp is considered a bringer of good fortune among the Chinese and the Japanese, so it is common to find a carp in an aquarium in a Chinese or Japanese home.

• The carp was introduced to the United States in the 1870s as part of a rehabilitation project of the US Fish Commission. Maryland was the first point of contact by the carp on United States territory and has since adopted into the country’s waters as if it is a native species there.

• The carp is quite tasty, especially when cultivated in good, clean waters. It is a common part of the Asian diet and a regular inclusion in the menu of a typical Chinese or Japanese restaurant. In Eastern European countries, such as Poland, Germany, Croatia and the Czech Republic, the carp is traditionally served during Christmas Eve. However, for the American palate, the carp is too fishy to be called edible.

• The success of the carp as a species can be attributed to the fact that they have very high tolerance for the cold and that they will survive despite the low oxygen content of the water they are living in.

• Although a lot of North American bass fishers think of the carp as nothing more than garbage fish, in Europe, the carp is considered as a trophy fish and can command thousands of dollars in price.

• Carps are similar to the bass in that they are voracious feeders and that they will eat almost anything that they come across. It is not hard to bait a carp.

The carp is not so bad. Why not try luring one the next time you go on a fishing trip?