Carp , combines and the wheat harvest

    :)



    When you live where I do and wish to shoot fish beneath the surface ( most of the fish I shoot are also eligible to be shot by bow...but it's 95 degrees out, I got into diving to get away from the damn heat), you learn to get creative and think outside the box. Between the almost always poor vis and unpredictable weather, you have to think on your feet .


    Couple that with the fact that I need tons of carp.....I use them as trapline bait , dog food and fertilizer . However, in order to maximize the number I take and be the most efficient I need to wait for a special time that begins tomorrow. Or at least tomorrow where I need it to start.



    THE WINTER WHEAT HARVEST !!! Cause of Oklahoma's climate , we grow winter wheat. Planted in the Fall, grows thru the winter , harvested in early summer .


    What possible connection can this have to spearfishing , you ask ?


    It concentrates the fish better than any chum I have ever used . As the cutting crews work over a field , all that vegetable matter and disturbed insects are carried by our constant gusting winds . Many times they end up in water. It so happens that last year , maybe the year before, I gained access to some watershed lakes due to removing some aquatic mammals for the owner . And tomorrow they cut the fields surrounding their lakes. Once all of this edible-for-fish debris hits the water , it's game on .


    A little secret tip on how to effectively plan a freshwater dive day.:toast:

    Quote from Dan

    Interesting info. If you'll take pics I'd like to see them.


    That's the plan....it's kind of hard to visualize I suppose. Right now it's question of weather . They are predicting some rough storms to come in tonight; in which case the custom cutting crews won't be harvesting the fields I need them to coupled with they'll be releasing water in the dams which makes for some interesting dive conditions. Not always all bad, mind you, but tough . So am hoping the predictions hold off .



    Towards the end of the week may be better...but I am ready to get out. Sooner than later ....:cool2:



    http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?CityName=El+Reno&state=OK&site=OUN&lat=35.5445&lon=-97.9651

    sounds pretty cool..looking forward to the report... it is a little like mahi on a weedline...they feast on the micro ecosystem in the plants and this sounds the same.



    You ever try making gefilte fish Aaron?

    i like to spear fish

    oh it's been many years since I had gefilte fish :) Nostalgic but not the best thing to do with fish by far. Maybe better for freshwater fish? For those who don't know think meatball and make it fishball. In my family they'd make it more flat than round, and packed into what looked like a rueda (English?) having the fish skin on the outside edge.

    Quote from Dan

    fun vid. The fried fish looks good, I wonder how it tastes.


    Given where they live & what they eat... I'd guess they taste like a chewy fart. :)


    I do recall trying it before, but nothing memorable about it, good or bad. If I lived in a more remote landlocked area, I'd probably try different prep. methods... but with an abundance of saltwater fish/crustaceans/mollusks readily available... no desire to now. ;)

    Nah..they are not that great to eat. The are really oily/greasy and have a ton of bones. They might be okay pickled or something, but I wouldn't eat them unless I had too. IMO the best tasting freshwater fish you can eat is Walleye. Pure white fillet and easy to remove the bones. I hope to have some pics up for you guys soon...I have only been out once so far this season and it was more of a scouting trip.

    When it rains here some grassy areas are submerged and the carp swarm on it to eat. I think they eat 1/3 their weight in vegetation a day. They are used here for vegetation control here and are can't be taken by any method.


    Kind of the opposite from everywhere else I have seen.

    Davie Peguero

    A good friend of mine shot a big carp while bow hunting last season. He was on the edge of a creek looking for wild pig when he saw it swimmig in shallow water. He shot it with a broad head hunting arrow, then jumped in and grabbed it. He cooked it and said that it was ok. When I was a boy, my father and I would catch "Buffalo Carp" in hoop nets while fishing for catfish. We ate them, it was a long time ago but I dont remember it being bad. (but there were a lot of kids in my family and we were hungry)


    KC

    So probably is a urban legend. They should be good. Just a matter of how to prepare them.


    There are many fish that people don't eat in the USA that I've tried and are VERY good: Spotted eagle ray, Tarpon, barracuda, sting ray and others. With tarpon, they beat the hell off them and then make a cut in the tail area to "roll" the meat off the bones. You get very nice white fish ground meat!

    Marco Melis

    A bad day fishing is ALWAYS better than a good day at work.

    Quote from Marco

    With tarpon, they beat the hell off them and then make a cut in the tail area to "roll" the meat off the bones. You get very nice white fish ground meat!


    We do the same with bonefish. Sometimes freezing them to help soften the meat & make the squeezing process easier. Coke bottles with that hourglass shape are the perfect "rolling" implement - it's like squeezing out a tube of toothpaste. The fish meat is then either made into lomi oio, fishcakes, fishballs, or patties. :)

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member to leave a comment.

Register a new account
Sign in now