More scenes from snagging camp '05

[J White]

Didn't know the folks with the big carp, but they said it weighed 73 pounds
on the deer scales down at the store - no, I have no idea what they were
gonna do with it, but thought it worth a picture! The other two are of the
campsite, we try to get this one every year if we can - under three big ole
cypress trees. Man, I love Sardis and the campground there!

[crappieseeker]

The picture doesnt really look like a carp, but its hard to tell

[J White]

I'm not real up on carp but I think it was one of those "grass carp"
people used to buy and put in their ponds to eat moss. I first thought
it was a "big-headed carp", I've seen those up over 60 pounds come
out of there, but the color and the mouth were wrong for that...

[Mrs. Crappie Stalker]

Looks like ya'll had a great time Jeff! I'm ready for it to cool off and have some quality camping and fishing time.

[J White]

Looks like ya'll had a great time Jeff! I'm ready for it to cool off and have some quality camping and fishing time.

Me too! It was real nice at first Friday night, in the high 40's, went to
bed, and woke up it was hot - weird weather! We went ahead and had a
big roaring fire Sat. night anyhow :D just had to sit way back from it.
I hope we have a long, gradual cool-down, it seems like there is hardly any
Spring or Fall anymore, goes from one extreme to the other like flipping a
switch. Or maybe it's just me, living too fast to notice it

[ShilohRed]

Looks like a nice camp ground. Started to load up and head to Pickwick today. Wife is out of town. but backed out.
Would have been nice to be camping on the lake and leave the boat in the water.
Pete

[GlenC]

The picture doesnt really look like a carp, but its hard to tell

Im not an expert on identifying fish. But to me that looks like a Catfish not a carp. At least the body does. The head looks a little blury so its hard to tell.

[blufloyd]

Its a bighead. They are bowfishing them out below Barkley and Kentucky up to 90lbs I hear. Eat better than commons I hear.

[J White]

Its a bighead. They are bowfishing them out below Barkley and Kentucky up to 90lbs I hear. Eat better than commons I hear.

Blufloyd, I told those folks it was a big-head when they asked me... but after
thinking about it for awhile, and looking back, is it maybe a grass carp?
We caught a big-head back years ago, 49.5 lbs, and it was dark gray and
had a smaller, sucker like mouth with with big white lips... This monster was
copper with shades of black, and had a mouth big 'nuff to swallow a softball
easy - I dunno

[Fishin_Magician]

Well I don't think it's an Amur carp (grass carp) because its scales are not big enough. Amur look like giant shiners and are from the cyprinidae family. (minnow family) I know what they look like because we have some in our farm ponds and I catch them from time to time. They are a bit fatter down the body, but their head is very similar to the one in the picture. One reason I think their heads look so similar is the bighead is also from the cyprinidae family. So they are both just giant minners!

I would have to agree that this is a bighead or Asian carp. The kind that are known for jumping out of the water and hitting boaters. I am pretty sure the fish I "caught" down in Venice this year out of the Mississippi was the same general type. He might not be exact subspecies but he has the big mouth and small scails like the one Jwhite got the picture of. They also have a more slender less "carp" shaped body. Here are a couple pictures of him...



and



As you can see he had recently been attacked by a shark. We were sittin' on the bank watching our bottom rigs when we saw the water explode 20 yards away with two writhing fish. It was clear one was eating the other and when the chaos had ended there was 2/3rd a carp floating-swimming around on the surface. We snagged him and pulled him in. The fish was still alive and the meat looked nice and white so we cut out a clean portion and cooked it with dinner. lol we shared dinner with a shark, and I have to say it was mighty tasty. Was nice and clean with a little lemon flavor like some sea fishes have.

~Fishin' Magician~