Carp fishing

Carp is a common name for various species of freshwater fish from the family Cyprinidae that are native to Eurasia and sought after by some recreational fishermen.

New evidence has shown that common carp reduction may cause malnourishment in large mouth bass in heavily bow fished waters.

Tiger nuts are also commonly used as a hook or hair rig bait as well as Sweet Corn, Boiled Field, canned meat, worms, and peanuts (which have been banned in some European swims).

In South Africa the most popular form of carp fishing is using a "mielie bomb", it is a spring shaped frame with crushed corn and maize pressed onto it.

[4] However, in some countries, due to their habit of grubbing through bottom sediments for food and consequential alteration of their environment, they destroy, uproot and disturb submerged vegetation causing serious damage to native duck and fish populations.

In Australia there is anecdotal and mounting scientific evidence that introduced carp are the cause of permanent turbidity and loss of submerged vegetation in the Murray-Darling river system, with severe consequences for river ecosystems, water quality and native fish species.

Common carp are very hardy and can easily adapt to most conditions, though they prefer large bodies of slow or standing water and soft, vegetative sediments.

[11] American fly fishermen have begun to target carp, finding them similar to bonefish in their size and fight.

Kirk Deeter, an editor at Field & Stream, goes fly-fishing for carp on the South Platte River in downtown Denver, Colorado, which he says testifies to their ability to adapt to almost any habitat.

[12] In England, it is possible to fish for common carp with a fly rod by pre-baiting an area of a lake with dog biscuits, or 'mixers'.

They can grow to a length of 1.2 metres (3.9 ft) and the oldest recorded age of a wild fish is 38 years.

Although bighead carp reach large size, they are difficult to capture with a rod and reel because of their filter-feeding habits.

They may be captured by the "suspension method" used to catch silver carp, or, where legal, by snagging them by jerking a weighted treble hook through the water.

There have been various bids for a breakage of this record since, but they have been passed off as the specimens have not been said to have been "true" crucians, but hybrids between the carp and one of its relatives, such as the goldfish, which are not native to the British Isles.

[22] Grass carp are strong fighters on a rod and reel, but because of their vegetarian habits and their wariness, they can be difficult to catch.