Lucannus wrote:I would like to see Carp removed forever from the Rideau. Bad Bad Fish!
oh Lucannus.. I better not get you started on the carp from that statement alone i can see you don't like them one bit.
I also better not tell you that i fished for carp exclusivly in England and a few times in France for about 12+ years. The carp fishing industry over there is very very big and the number of anglers to number of lakes is crazy. On some lakes if you get there late you have to come home as there is no room left.
When i moved to canada i shipped all my gear over (cost a few $$ geezz) without realising how good the fishing was in this area. For my first few years here i again would fish for carp on the St. Lawrence down towards ingleside and long sault. My best fish last year was 34lb, the year before 32lb.. but i'm still looking to catch a 40lber !
Here is the 34lber:
Over the last two years i have gotten back into pike fishing in the early spring as i used to do this in england in the winter (our winters being a lot milder than here
) .. Now with my movement back into pike i have now realised how good the muskie fishing is and i'm starting to get the urge to target them for summer and fall as the carp scatter into deeper water come summer making them harder to locate...(perhaps not in other lakes or rivers but they do that in the St. Lawrence)
I do however realise that they have an influence on other species but after fishing for them now for 15+ years i find it hard not to protect them. They are a fantastic fighting fish although not great to eat but due to their successfull reproduction and lack of predators their numbers are probably so large that they bump more desireable species out.
Having said that any sort of fish control can backfire and although removing carp, catfish etc.. can improve things removing too many can have a negative effect. From the sounds of things though i suspect the limit of 6-12 is crazy when you consider some perch limits are 100-150 !!
