I agree with you John, we have too many other species that either taste better, or are easier to catch, but I for one, will continue to fish for them and will still get heckled by the game wardens for even attempting to catch them on purpose.

John, not all carp are created equal. Grass carp do a good job of helping to control vegetation while gold fish and koi are pretty to look at. But the Asian Carp is a species that needs to be promoted and fished extremely heavy because they breed uncontrolled and fast. They do not have many natural predators to help control their population except mankind. I do not believe that even if we made them the number one sought after game fish, we would be able to control the over population that they are achieving, but it is worth a try. Just think of all the new products that could be brought out just for carp fishing such as how to, when to, and where to fishing videos or magazines. Instead of Bass boats, there would be CARP Boats. Carp reels and rods, carp lures and flies and stories about the one that got away would be the talk of the day.

Carp fishing with corn on a 1/0 bait hook is an absolute blast. When the conditions are right I can catch 10 pounders one right after another all afternoon. It's one of my favorite things to do and this is on a lake filled muskies, bass and walleyes. Pound for pound I'm catching way more than everyone else on the lake. By the way, I'm catch and release with my rod, but in the middle of summer I'm in the water with a mask, fins, snorkel and speargun- you should see a 34" carp jump out of the water when Lloyd Bridges shoots him with a speargun! I' m kinda glad carp aren't more popular- that many more for me to catch and shoot.

John, a lot of minds have been changed since 2006 on the relative merits of fly fishing for carp, but I don't believe anyone sees carp as the "next big thing." You should come on out to our 6th Annual Carp Slam on the Denver South Platte 8/18 and you'll see 36 very enthusiastic fly casters, some members of Fly Fishing TEAM USA matching wits with this species. Disgust never enters into it in our neck of the woods. We all grew up despising carp but the basis in fact was never there. Virtually everything we were taught to hate about them is wrong. (Check wikipedia). We hated them because they stirred up the silt, but why was the silt there ? They decimated other fish stock, but this has no basis in fact. They live where other fish can't; good for them and bad for us. They were brought to the US by the US Commission on Fisheries to provide a fresh fish source in rivers that had been trashed during our "Gilded Age." As others have pointed out, it's just our early prejudice that puts them in the trash class. We're the ones putting the trash in the rivers.

Fly fishing for carp can be appealing. you can often find them in shallow water and although they are not bonefish they are spooky and cautious. To be a good carp angler with fly rod and in these situations one must have descent a descent cast and presentation, being that they can be very wary. if you hook up with a carp they will give you a run and put your equiptment to the test. They are not destination fish for me by any means but heck, I will happily go fish for carp on the fly rather than sitting on the couch. Just my 2 cents! I might even bust ou a spinning rod and make a batch of dough balls if the occasion calls for it; Rather be fishing/hunting/exploring than anything

I've only caught one carp by accident. I was fishing before sunrise using a top-water bait of all things. The lure disappeared and then the fight ensued. I thought I had caught the largest bass of my life, except for one thing; it wasn't jumping. When I finally hauled it in, it was 18 inches long, fat and heavy (unfortunately I didn't weigh it). It was loads of fun landing that fish. I tried some carp catching techniques a few times after that, but I never tried flies.

How can carp not be the next thing,It's been the next thing for two or three years already. You should attend the Annual carp slam in Denver and see How big it gas gotten, go read the other fly blogs, we are all doing it. If you have never fly fished for carp you don't understand how difficult to actually sneak up on them, let alone swing a 9 foot rod, place a nice cast without spooking them, not to mention they are finicky eaters. But I'm not gonna push it on anybody, all those old elite1st
trout worshipers who are too set in their ways to change have a mindset that keeps us brownliners' fishing spots from getting to congested.

Like Mr. Merwin, I learned at an early age that carp are trash fish. It was hard to not learn the lesson after fishing in prime carp or walleye waters and watching the excitement turn to disgust on my dad or older brothers' faces when they realized that it was a carp on the line. There are places near home where artificial lures are necessary for bass because a worm/crawler doesn't stand a chance of getting past the carp.

I agree that smoked carp is edible, but anyone who makes it out to be a gourmet delight is exaggerating. For those of you who catch & release only, I suppose it's a lot of fun, but I still eat some of what I catch, and I like to catch & release the same species that I would otherwise eat. As mentioned above, they are good sport for bowfishing and spearing, but it's these experiences which make me wonder about those of you who say they're so incredibly difficult to approach. I used to bowfish for them by looking for tailing carp in a stream, approach stealthily from downstream and behind, and I often ended up shooting them from almost directly overhead at point-blank range. If the water was too deep to wade, I used a bow; otherwise, I could stalk and spear them, which was also fun. I quit doing it, though, because I didn't like the taste of the meat, and I don't like wasting fish. To each his own, I say....

I agree those who feel that carp are trash fish - they are not native and it was a serious error for our ancestors to introduce them to our rivers and lakes. However, they are here now and do provide some interesting fishing opportunities - I have tried spearing them, shooting them with arrows and lately I have tried fly fishing for them with some success, and watched a friend of mine catch about 5 in a row on a Rapala lure of about 5 or 6 inches long (yes, really!). If I could snap my fingers and make them all disappear from the N. American continent, I would do so. Since I can not, I will continue to occasionally fish for them (and give them away to some local families that eat them)...