THE CARP AND CARP FISHING 

 thousand, the common carp, which is called in Germany the " Noble or 

 Scale Carp," its body being entirely covered with large strong scales. 

 In Germany the common carp has been cultivated for hundreds of years, 

 and by a process of selection and breeding, two other kinds have been 

 produced from it, one called the '* Mirror carp " (Spiegel Karpfe)^ because 

 it has generally only a few scales here and there on the back and belly 

 and a row of extra large ones, like little mirrors, along the side Une; the 

 other called the *• Leather carp " (Lederkarpf), with a scaleless skin like 

 leather. Within the last half century or so these two kinds of the common 

 carp, the "Mirror" and "Leather" varieties, have been introduced into 

 waters in this country, and anglers who catch them have often written 

 to me to ask what fish they are. 



The carp is supposed to have been introduced into Southern Europe 

 from Central Asia and from the Caspian and Black Seas and their tribu- 

 taries by the Romans. Then, in the Middle Ages, the monks are credited 

 with having carried it with them to nearly all parts of Europe, including 

 England. Being a sturdy, vigorous fish, long-lived, and of great vitality, 

 there is very little difficulty in transporting it alive. During the last half 

 of last century it was successfully introduced from Europe to the United 

 States, and has increased so enormously, especially in the Middle and 

 Southern warmer States, as to have become a pest, crowding out more 

 valuable fish, and causing great lamentation among American trout 

 and black bass anglers. It is also now well established in many South 

 African rivers. 



The teeth of the carp family are not in the mouth, but at the back of the 

 tongue at the entrance to the throat. Max von dem Borne says that the 

 curiously forked teeth get worn smooth through grinding against its 

 firm horny plate, called the carp stone, in the roof of the throat over the 

 teeth. The carp's tongue, considered a tit-bit by some continental gour- 

 mands, is a very thick, swollen organ, full of nerves. The colour of the 

 carp varies very much in different waters. I have seen some from an 

 ancient muddy moat almost black, and tench also, but from clean lime- 

 stone mud or from clayey waters, even waters which are only clear in frosty 

 weather, the carp comes out a handsome fellow, his great scales shining 

 like reddish burnished gold, shading off in the back to dark olive or brown. 

 I know some delightful old carp ponds. The last I fished with an angling 

 friend who is a keen salmon and trout angler, and yet loves to put in a day 

 of absolute quiet content, on a shady, winding, broad pool shut in mostly 



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