534 
FOREST AND STREAM 
September, 1918 
THE MALIGNED AND UNAPPRECIATED CARP 
ALL HONOR TO THE CARP WHICH IS NEVER OUT OF SEASON. ALWAYS TO BE 
DEPENDED ON, AND DEMOCRATIC IN TASTE, NUMBERS AND ACCESSIBILITY 
( ( ARP” is not a word to conjure with 
among the angling fraternity. In 
fact, it is anathema to the brethren 
—despised indeed, and, when possible, ne¬ 
glected. Many and gross are the sins and 
offenses laid to its charge. 
“He is a bottom feeder,” cries one. True 
enough; and so are trout and bass on occa¬ 
sion ; e. g., when hunting for earth—cad¬ 
dis—and other worms. But the carp, like 
trout and bass, will take the natural fly 
and presumably the imitation of it. “This 
detestable monster” will feed on the spawn 
of other fishes. It is not alone in this 
crime. Are not salmon eggs, in some parts 
of the United States, a bait, “the best ever” 
for trout? There is hardly a fish known 
to science that, as a species, dislikes the roe 
of its own or other kind. Human beings 
have this failing for fish-roe, in common 
with their relatives of a lower order. 
And other fish retort in kind. In June, 
the spawning season near New York, when 
a great surging and splashing in the shal¬ 
lows proclaim the season of the loves of 
the finny kind, when you may see magnifi¬ 
cent fish, up to four feet in length, in the 
process of propagation, the white perch, the 
yellow perch, the pearl roach, the sunfish, 
and other “coarse,” with perhaps some 
“fine” fish, will be found in the shallows. 
Catch them—you may very readily, they 
bite so eagerly—open them, and see what 
they have been feeding upon. You will 
then see the two sides to the question. 
The charge of worthlessness as a food 
is likewise urged upon the carp. Very 
likely the carp is not as dainty a tidbit as 
the trout. But what are you going to do 
about it? You can’t always get trout. 
The carp is certainly not bonier than the 
basses, black and rock, the sunfish, or the 
white or yellow perch. In flavor it does 
not equal all fish in the above list, but does 
not rank below the worst. Under proper 
treatment, which I shall describe later, the 
flesh of the carp is firm and tasty, and not 
at all to be despised—especially when the 
fish is taken from spring water. . As in 
other cases, conditions of environment have 
their effect. In muddy, dirty water, the 
carp acquires a similar taste. So does any 
other fish; but in clear, sparkling, spring- 
fed ponds the flavor has a like quality. 
It is also laid to the charge of this fish 
that it is not a good biter. My experience 
flatly contradicts this. It is much more re¬ 
liable in this respect than the black bass, 
for example. Especially is this true in the 
spring, before the spawning season has ar¬ 
rived. Then it takes hold well and with 
a will. To be sure, a given area of water 
will not support as many fish as large as 
the carp as it would smaller ones, such as 
sunfish or perch. But, generally speaking, 
when you get a carp you get a fish, often in 
itself capable of supplying its proper share 
of the cuisine. 
Nor is the carp the animated water-log 
claimed by some brethren of the angle 
By EDWIN T. WHIFFEN 
The bait is taken deliberately, it is true. 
The conformation of the carp’s mouth is 
such as to require a sucking process when 
seizing food. But there is no unnecessary 
time wasted in the process. I have occa¬ 
sionally seen a carp in the act of taking my 
Sluggish waters invite the lurking carp 
baited hook. Often the lure disappeared at 
a gulp, and the fish was off with a jerk, 
hooking itself so securely as to render 
striking unnecessary. The' fish is quick 
enough in its actions, when spurred by hun¬ 
ger or fright, and has weight and “bottom” 
enough to make its capture no despicable 
sport. I have caught bass of good size, 
which made a rush of perhaps thirty feet, 
and then gave up and were reeled in with¬ 
out further opposition. And I have caught 
carp, of from three to eight pounds weight, 
which fought at least twenty minutes, and 
were game to the last. I have never struck 
one that was a quitter. 
In its efforts to escape, the carp does 
not make the sensational leap of the bass, 
or the frantic rushes of the trout; but it 
does bore in steadily, like the blade of a 
propellor, never slacking its strain on the 
line, forging madly away at the sight of the 
angler, and shouldering so weightedlv on, as 
to render capture with light tackle an ex¬ 
perience in which the angler by no means 
experiences a sensation of certainty in 
bringing his fish to shore. 
T HE carp is not a senseless, sightless 
creature, taken by any device, and 
going to its destruction in disregard 
of all warnings. It is as shy in its way 
as bass or trout, although less swift and 
graceful in action, as it goes splashing away 
into deeper water. “Fine and far off” must 
be the motto of his captor. When very 
hungry, the carp will take the lure in the 
angler’s sight. I have seen trout and bass 
do the same. I remember, when fishing 
with the fly, years ago, that a large bass 
came slowly out from beside the log, where 
he was hidden, and seized the sunken fly. 
Every movement was as slow and deliber¬ 
ate as that of a turtle-fed alderman. I was 
so interested in watching, that I delayed to 
strike, while the fish chewed the fly several 
times, blew it out of its mouth, and as 
slowly and deliberately returned to its lurk¬ 
ing-place. At other times, I have seen the 
fly taken, and no lively motions made, until 
the strike and the consequent sting of the 
hook induced the bass to “step lively.” 
Last summer, I caught several trout in 
a small pool, with little current. Though 
not large, these fish rose to the fly with all 
possible deliberation, and .were hooked and 
out of the water before they were really 
waked up. The carp I have seen take the 
bait showed similar deliberateness of action, 
until the hook had the effect of the subway 
guard’s oft-repeated admonition. 
Other qualities of the carp have their 
appeal. It is democratic in taste, numbers, 
and accessibility. Its appetite is omnivor¬ 
ous and hearty, not finicky as that of the 
bass, changing in one day many times, to 
the angler’s despair. Rather it is gross 
in appetite, like your true democrat, and 
feeds largely, such as suits with its ample 
proportions. 
Moreover, in any respectable water, it in¬ 
creases and multiplies apace, so that the 
angler need not worry about “luck.” It 
does not insist upon the rapid current of 
the mountain brook, or haunt the lonely 
shoal off shore. It may be found “most 
anywhere” and “most any time.” Its de- 
pendabiliitv is one of its lovable traits. 
Last but not least, there is no law on the 
carp. It may be taken in the spring, when 
bass and pickerel will bite, but are taboo 
in the eye of the law. It may lawfully be 
caught in the fall when the capture of the 
trout is a thing forbid. All honor to the 
carp, then, brothers of the angle, and let 
us not despise it, because sometimes mis¬ 
takenly called “German.” 
F 
I 
I N the matter of tackle, tastes differ. The 
carp, like other fish, can be taken with a 
shark-hook and derrick. But, again like 
other fish, it yields better sport when a 
more artistic outfit is employed. A light 
rod—-bamboo is best—four ounces is heavy 
enough, seven or eight feet long; a rather 
fine silk or linen line, with or without a gut 
leader, as you prefer, and a number of 
four or six Sproat or Limerick hook make 
about the right equipment. I find two 
hooks better than one, the first attached to 
the end of the line, and the second a foot 
or eighteen inches above. A light sinker 
may be used, if the angler wishes, a few 
inches above the first hook. 
Of course, such a rig presupposes some 
sportsmanship on the part of the user. The 
