Looking for large carp

Eccles wrote:
Brookiechaser wrote:

My largest carp (38") came out of the Juniata River.
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So 'cause I grew up weighing carp in pounds and ounces I don't have a grasp of how big 38" is. I mean, obviously BLOODY BIG, but weight wise I don't have a feel for it. Care to hazard a guess at how much it might have taken the spring balance down to?
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I would guess, and it's a wildass guess, about 30 lbs or so.
 
I would be very careful about posting your carp spots or discussing them on the internet. Bow fisherman can be found all over the internet stalking carp anglers Facebook pages and You Tube pages looking for places to bowfish. The result is lots and lots of big fish being killed. Sometimes very old fish. Nobody really eats carp and a lot of the bow guys come up with stories that they are using them for fertilizer, or chop them up for bait, or giving them to people who eat them. I don't buy it... I think a lot of them drag them and then dump them when nobody is looking. It is extremely disappointing to see people doing this on the waters where I like to fish for them. Can you imagine if there were people walking through your favorite trout, bass, musky, pike, steelhead, salmon spots with arrows or spears and trying to kill everything that moves?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1eLrz7i1-Q
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6W4-NAHoIYA
 
I liked the second video...piles of crap, palominos, and bowfishing for carp...deep in the Bush Outfitters sure knows how to have a good time :roll:

I've been aware of the bowfishing thing for a while now, but I can't say I've ever watched it...kinda sickening if it's really just target practice.
 
Jay those were both pretty local videos... I agree it is sickening. The guys who really do a lot of damage are the guys who go out with boats and use spotlights at night time. In Pennsylvania it is illegal to use spotlights to hunt or shoot wildlife but for carp it is okay... I just don't get it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqQd4F_3fbQ
 
I see guys doing the spotlight thing all summer long on the Juniata....and yes, they kill a lot of carp. I do hate seeing a carp killed and then thrown over the bank and I have witnessed that on several occasions.
 
Carp often eat fish eggs and fry. Kill a carp, save a trout.
 
Trout eat other trout's eggs too, so i think we should start killing those dirty invasive rainbows and browns by shooting them with bows.
 
Know thy enemy, right Nick?
Not much luck catching them on rod and reel for me, but thats hopefully a challenge for this year.
I don't have a problem with bow fishing in fact I've enjoyed the experiences I've had doing it but only as long as the resource is properly utilized after harvest. Eat it, give away the meat, turn it in to bait or fertilizer. Not matter to me, just don't throw it to the banks and waste it. Rotting fish found creekside doesn't do any fisher justice. I know that the WCO in my region is on the lookout for wanton waste from bow fishing.
I have a handful of holes ready to target with the fly this year, i'll save the bow for whitetails.
 
I'm a hunter myself, so I don't have an issue with killing animals for food. I just have a problem with killing anything for sport and wasting it. I also don't find driving up on something with a boat with a bunch of lights at night and shooting it as very sporting.

I find it a little arbitrary and ridiculous that it's legal to shoot carp, suckers and i believe catfish with a bow and not other species. Sure carp aren't a native species, but neither are smbs, browns, or bows and it's decidedly not ok to shoot them. Suckers are native to PA and serve a valuable role in most ecosystems and yet it's legal to shoot them. I just don't see any scientific rationale behind it. It seems entirely based on the perception that these species are inferior and not desirable to fish for therefore it's ok to shoot them.
 
I'd be HIGHLY surprised if most people who bowfish in PA are actually utilizing the resource...
 
Sandfly,

Those are some neat pics by the way.
 
I'd be HIGHLY surprised if most people who bowfish in PA are actually utilizing the resource...
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Omg that made me laugh!

Maybe they should allow bow fishing in DHALO areas too ;-)
 
NickR

Thanks for that perspective and apologies - never occurred to me that this might be an issue.

Eccles
 
Yeah i would keep your spots to pms, Ive seen bow fishing ruin spots. Most bow fishers ive run into enjoy shooting carp and throwing them on the bank ( such a sport) yay force feed them. No try something that actually takes skill and feed them a fly at 30-40 feet away.
 
No need to apologize...just keep in mind that there are people who have absolutely no respect for these fish and will kill as many of them as possible and not think twice about it.

Check out this video below... wish PFBC would make bowfishing under spotlights at night illegal. The bait guys who spend more time on the water than anybody aren't allowed to set up shelters to protect them from the sun or rain but the bow guys can go out at night under spotlights and fling arrows at anything that moves... makes perfect sense right?

If you are one of those folks that doesn't think that someone can and will destroy a fishery check out the video below...might change your mind.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaj598d0IqI&feature=youtu.be
 
JackM,

Last time I checked there are carp in some of the best trout waters in the state. I have seen plenty of carp in the Letort and the trout are fine. I have seen carp in the Little J and the trout are fine. I have seen carp in Penn's Creek and the trout are fine. I have seen carp in the Delaware and the trout are fine. The list goes on and on and on. What really damages trout populations is harvest and stocking but you seem to be A-OKAY with all of that from the looks of many of your posts. Cheers!
 
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