Sports
Carping for Fun...or How to Catch a Giant Goldfish
By Kevin J. Crandall
Hook: Just like in the movies, where boats drop depth charges to subdue the mighty sea creature, carp fishermen employ radio-controlled model boats to deliver sticky bait-bombs to the precise location where carp are to be attracted. These anglers are as serious as soldiers at war: they fire additional ordnance from the shore in support of the tiny ships, in the form of sticky goo-balls called boilies. The shore-launchers take over while the boats are reloaded, all efforts military in precision.
Before you can catch a giant carp, you have to seduce one. Efforts to attract the giant carp to a baited hook help keep the lengthy fishing tournaments surreal and interesting -- more than a day can pass in-between bites, with each angler working multiple poles which in turn have multiple baited hooks. It becomes seriously silly from the observer's perspective -- grown men chuck balls of sweet, chunky compressed bait into the water to attract carp, using whatever works to deliver the attractant. Remote controlled model boats are just one way to deliver the bait bombs; large slingshots made of surgical tubing are employed to launch bait out over the water (and occasionally into competing camps when things get too boring). The balls of bait are compressed by hand on the shore to stay together in the air before exploding into lumps of sugary shrapnel in the water. Bait recipes are highly prized secrets. Common ingredients include corn, black pepper and sweet syrup.
Line: What to do in-between bites distinguishes the average angler from the expert, and this is certainly true for those in pursuit of giant carp. Napping, drinking, smoking and talking are common pastimes, but it can be many hours between bites -- electronic sensors are employed to emit an alarm based on the strength of the bite. American carp (larger then their European relatives) are so highly prized because of their size and strength; when they are on the hook, a 50 lb. carp puts up a strong, long and invigorating fight unlike any other fish.
Tournament rules are typical, and the winner catches the most carp by weight over time. Rarely is a fish kept -- the giant carp are usually released to be caught another day. It's common for a single fish to be caught more than once in a single tournament or outing.
And Sinker: Carp have long been on man's list of things to eat. Like lobsters, carp are either reviled for being trash-eaters or they are gourmet fare -- it depends on who you talk to and when you're talking. During the mid-1800s immigrants found it hard to believe that carp were not readily available in the USA. Carp has been a cultivated source of protein in Asia for over 4,000 years and for 2,500 years in Europe. In 1872 a California carp enthusiast started a viable carp farm from a stock of five original fish. The US Commission of Fish and Fisheries began to introduce carp into American fresh water and by 1883; the versatile and virile carp began to expand their population into unmanaged waters.
In a typical turn of affairs, the US Government and citizens thoroughly tired of carp within a few years, and they were viewed as garbage fish (hungry immigrants took advantage of this and continued to eat carp every day). The rapid spread of carp was thought to endanger indigenous species of freshwater fish by overcrowding around the turn of the century, but in retrospect, the lack of environmental regulation and the Industrial Revolution, and subsequent dumping of garbage and waste into rivers and streams did more to harm native fish than any carp. Indeed, schools of carp swarmed in lakes and ponds only because they were so resilient and able to survive in the presence of toxic waste. Carp are noted for being able to thrive in polluted waters.
These days, carp enthusiasts are enjoying the way carp fight on the line, and not necessarily the way they taste. This versatile fish is once again in the limelight, and millions of dollars are spent yearly on carp-specific equipment designed to help you catch more carp. There's no need to carp any more about carp fishing - it has come of age, once again.