why dont you keen carp anglers come to australia and help us get rid of our carp plague?

I feel your pain Tim.

Before biologists knew any better, they allowed POPULATIONS of Grass Carp into certain lakes in my home state of Florida- they predicted the "demise" of Hydrilla- a common freshwater plant that chokes lakes and streams in our region.

I had a good friend who had recently purchased a water front home on one of these "chosen" lakes.

Within 6-8 months the Carp had eaten all the roots of EVERY single plant in the lake.

What happens when a plant has no roots? It dies!

By the end of year 1 the once "swampy" yet beautiful lake was a cesspool of stinking, dieing, Hydrilla. Without the plants to sustain O2 levels the ecosystem fell apart and all the native fish, (like Bass, Crappie, Bluegill, Catfish) died- leaving the Carp only.

I watched as my friends once expensive, nice, lake home was de-valued to 1/2 of what he paid for it because the lake had been ruined by an "experimental stocking program" .

It took everyone living on the Lake many YEARS to bowfish, net, and fish the rest of the carp out of the lake. Ten years later the Hydrilla finally grew back and local residents were exceedingly happy about living in a "Swamp" again.

The grass is always greener- that is- until you get to the other side and there AIN'T NO GRASS! (lol)

This was one of the biggest blunders in Florida's history and I got to experience it first hand.

Needless to say, I'm not much of a Carp catcher/eater these days......

A suggestion: Maybe think about a bow-fishing program (at least in your area). Although, not high on my list of edible fish, Carp's "fishy/muddy" flavor CAN be tamed by a nice long soak in some BBQ sauce, (and then grilled in aluminum foil packets).

BBQ Carp is actually quite good.

Hope this helps? Tu's to Knight and others.

We in the States have invasive species as well. Carp has always been an invasive species but they've been here so long we treat them like just another fish in the water. Our news worthy problem has been the snakeheads thats been popping up across the country, in the beginning it was a small lake in Maryland then they had to kill the lake with all of the occupants in it, snakehead or not, with poison.

After many other lakes and ponds being infected there were reports that the inevitable happened, they got into our river systems, like the Potomac. Now, we can't poison a river, so the best way is to catch and NOT release. I'm optimistic that the snakeheads can some how have its place in the ecosystem, like the common carp, even if it was never invited in the first place. If I had an answer for that, I'd be working in the DEC. but I don't.

How about a carp derby (actually, a carp massacre in sugar coated way)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yslbUBaBOug&feature...

Bowfishing Australia

NOT TASTY? GOOD GRIEF!

As long as they're caught in clean water they're actually very tasty, but there's a secret to properly preparing them.

Fillet them as you would any other fish, then cut off the skin and scales.

Under the skin you'll find a layer of dark red, almost blood-colored, meat. Cut it all off and throw it away. After that you'll be left with very nice, thick, meaty, white fillets.

Breaded and deep-fried, they're as good as any catfish you've ever had.

@edit - sorry black knight, I've cooked it both ways. The red flesh cooks up gray and smells like manure, tastes muddy. Take my word for it folks, the red flesh needs to be thrown away.

Same problem in America with Asian Carp. Nobody wants to catch them because they don't taste particularly good and well they're an invasive species, not native to the area and may ruin native species and their habitats.

Pay for the tickets and ill be there tomorrow morning

never caught one but from what i hear we got our hands full here in the USA. just like the snakehead problem we got in South Fl

YES THEY ARE TASTY!

AND WHY THROW AWAY THE RED MEAT WHICH IS PERFECTLY OK TO EAT!

So if your paying the Air fare I will be flying out there ASAP!