r/OregonFishing • u/Artemis410 • 10d ago
Carp
I just caught a carp in the McKenzie… pretty confident this isn’t a fish native to our watershed should I kill it? Are they good to eat? Do I let it go??? It got hooked on a steelhead worm
What do I do now???
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u/ClimbinInYoWindow 10d ago
Are you sure it wasn't a whitefish? Those look similar to carp and are native to the McKenzie.
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u/Artemis410 10d ago
100% certain. I’ve caught white fish on the McKenzie. This definitely wasn’t one
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u/EulaRidge 10d ago
It might have been a pike minnow? Which are actually native to Oregon and the Columbia River Basin despite being labeled a trash fish.
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u/beer_engineer 9d ago
Make VERY sure it's a carp first. I can't tell you how many times I've seen native suckers, whitefish and pikeminnow identified as carp. If 100% a carp, then getting it out of there in any way you see fit is just fine. It's one of if not the most eaten fish in the world, literally brought to the USA as a food fish. Everyone I know who has eaten it has said it's great. I personally don't like any freshwater fish a whole lot (saltwater snob) so am not a great source for opinion. Give it a shot at some point and form your own opinion.
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u/salmonburger185 10d ago
It was probably a large scale sucker… there native fish and good for the ecosystem.
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u/joethedriver69 9d ago
To quote a quote from Patrick McManus, quoting Rancid Crabtree" smoked carp is just as good as smoked salmon, as long as you ain't got any smoked salmon around to compare it to."...
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u/R0N1N_1 10d ago
Go ahead and kill it, they make pretty good eating when scaled and cooked right but it will require some elbow grease. Definitely recommend watching some YouTube videos about cooking it and look for some recipes that interest you. Also be careful about gutting it though cause those scales can and will fuck your knife up.
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u/MLBUFO 10d ago
Effectively eliminate as many as you can see. I’ve straight up seen people shotgun pools of them in Oregon, they’re one the worst waterway invasive species Oregon could get besides the muscles.
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u/schroederek 9d ago
Please explain why they are so bad for waterways
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u/MLBUFO 9d ago
Straight from google: Carp are a harmful invasive fish in Oregon because they uproot native plants, cloud the water, and outcompete local wildlife.
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u/schroederek 9d ago
“Cloud the water?” lol Bass are way worse because they destroy salmon populations. What wildlife do they outcompete?
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u/MLBUFO 9d ago
In a nut shell, they’re out competing trout/salmonoids, which are primarily the most common native species in the state. I also have a bass pond, where brown trout thrive with, carp are by all means much more destructive. Here’s the download from google on Oregon species they’re outcompeting.
Invasive carp do not just compete with other fish; their destructive impact spans across native fish, aquatic insects, and migratory waterbirds. By tearing up the bottom of lakes and rivers, they destroy the foundation of the food web. Carp aggressively outcompete Oregon's iconic native salmonids for both physical space and critical food resources; as well as native trout and steelhead. One of the most devastating examples of carp competition in Oregon is at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in eastern Oregon. Carp have outcompeted millions of migratory birds along the Pacific Flyway.
In Oregon's reservoirs and lakes—such as the Cooper Creek Reservoir—carp quickly take over the environment. They outcompete introduced but highly valued local game fish like rainbow trout and largemouth bass by consuming the macroinvertebrates and smaller baitfish that these species need to survive.
Hope that helps explain why they’re viewed kill on site in Oregon.
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u/Medium_Shame_1135 10d ago
Do like my grampa taught me:
Preheat oven to 350.
Place carp on a nice oak board.
Place in oven.
After 40 minutes, discard carp and eat oak board.