I can’t think of any creature that has been as widely despised here in the U.S. as the common carp. For more than a century most fishermen, biologists and land owners along streams and lakes have looked upon carp with disgust and even hatred.

Nicknames like garbage bass, weed fish, trenchmouth and mud bass are commonly hung on the carp.

This is not undeserved. Carp are extremely prolific and grow to immense size. They root around en masse in shallow water like pigs as they feed on vegetation, crustaceans and insects. They destroy fragile aquatic vegetation. The mud they continually stir up clouds the water, blocking sunlight which further destroys vegetation and aquatic creatures.

Studies have shown that in some areas their damage to the ecosystem even impacts waterfowl populations. They suck up the eggs of other fish like a herd of run-amok vacuum cleaners. When they take over a body of water nearly all other fish are doomed.
Carp are native to Asia where they have been a prized food source for several thousand years. Somewhere around the 11th century they were widely stocked in Europe where they were also welcomed. Accounts of just how and when they made it over here vary considerably but according to the U.S. Geological Survey the first known release of carp was in the Hudson River in 1831 by an individual from New York. Later, in 1872 an individual in California brought in a bunch and turned them loose out there.

Of course, those introductions were minimal. The real devastation began in 1877 when the U.S. Fish Commission decided carp were the answer to feeding our growing population. They began a massive, nationwide carp stocking campaign. This continued into the 1890s when they realized people weren’t harvesting them as expected. Worse yet, the carp’s habitat destruction was becoming evident. OOPS! Maybe we goofed here. They sure did but the cat was irreversibly out of the bag. Today carp flourish in all states but Alaska and our waterways have been forever changed.

But there’s another side to carp. Aside from food (which most of us are too prejudiced to even try carp), why do we fish? For the challenge and the reward of feeling that exhilarating pull on the end of the line. Carp are big, bullish strong and can out pull most anything that swims in our inland waters. Surprisingly, carp are also extremely intelligent, at least as fish go, and one of the wariest of fish that swim. Throughout Europe carp have always been considered a premier game fish. Only recently have Americans begun to adjust their attitudes and look at the sporting side of carp.  After all, if you can’t lick ’em you might as well join ’em.

Fly fishermen have long had the reputation (deserved or not) of being on the snobbish side but now the lowly carp is taking the fly fishing world by storm. At certain places and times carp come into the hard bottomed shallows. There a fisherman can stealthily sneak along, spot the fish, cast to it and, if he’s really lucky, be in for the slug fest of a lifetime. Every year I spend an insane amount of money and time in the Caribbean to do exactly the same thing for bonefish. So bonefish? Carp? What’s the difference other than carp outsize bonefish ten times over and are right here at home?

Last week I received word from a friend up north that the carp were in by the thousands so I headed up to give it a try. Some people seem to have magical fish ju-ju. I don’t. By the time I got there a storm system had settled in, the temperature dropped and the carp had bailed out. There were several days I didn’t even see any. The few I did come across just rudely giggled and laughed at me. They won’t be laughing for long, though. They are fast climbing up America’s Most Wanted list. Many fishing guides are adding carp trips to their repertoire and anglers are already coming from all around the world to sample America’s new found “golden bonefish.”
Carpe diem.

Larry Lyons writes a weekly outdoor column for Leader Publications.
He can be reached at larrylyons@verizon.net