Carp

Sometimes it is fun to catch rough fish such as carp because they grow so big and put up a big fight. On at least one occasion, it was not only fun to catch them, but it was also very profitable. Here’s the story.

Carp

 

In 1962, I entered a carp fishing contest at Lake Meridith at Sanford, Texas. My brother Craig and my Dad agreed to help me catch carp. They were giving away $1000 worth of fishing gear from a host of donating stores in Borger and Amarillo, Texas. We had played with the carp occasionally because they were fun to catch. We used Green Giant whole kernel corn for bait and the carp loved it. We would use a 3/8 ounce slip sinker with a hole in it such that the line would slip through it when the fish picked up the bait and the fish would feel no resistance. We used a medium sized eagle claw hook with  five kernels of corn slipped onto the hook.

 

The contest began on Saturday morning and lasted until 8 PM on Sunday. You cound bring your carp in any time during the two day period as many times as you wanted to. They cut the tails off the carp they had weighed in and made them available to anyone who wanted to come and get them to eat. Believe it or not, a lot of people came and got fish to take home and eat. I think this was someone’s idea to try to reduce the number of carp in Lake Meredith. Of course, what we caught was just the tip of the iceberg.

 

We fished off the bank in the Alibates area at the upper end of the lake. Using corn, we caught 120 pounds of carp on Saturday with the largest being about 7 pounds which I weighed in at Sanford on Saturday night. On Sunday, we caught 160 pounds of carp with the largest being about 10 pounds. We had a lot of fun catching all those carp even if they did stink. I weighed in Sunday with a total two day weight of 280 pounds and beat the closet competitor by 50 pounds.

 

It took me a couple of weeks to get around to all the stores and collect all the prizes. After I picked them all up, I had the best batch of fishing tackle I ever owned.

 

My granddad told me the best way to cook a carp to make it taste good. His instructions were to remove the guts and scales from the carp, salt and pepper it, and wrap it in a fresh cow patty. Place it on a cookie tray and cook it for 1 1/2 hours at 400 degrees F. Remove it from the oven and let it cool for 10 minutes. Remove the carp from the cow patty and
throw the carp away and eat the cow patty.

 

 

 

Getting an early start on the Carp at Lake Meredith.

 

The ugly, smelly, fun to catch Carp looking for my bait.

 

 

 

The part you throw away after cooking the Carp.

 

 

 

 

Thanks for reading Carp,
Hawg Jaw Bill