Carp question

[Northern]

Last time I was in the Seeps, carp were starting to take up shoreline positions for whatever reason carp do that. Hundreds of gigantic fish just subsurface, making big splashes when startled by the kayak.
And it occurred to me that I've never seen a small carp in the wild - like less than 16" or so.

Has anyone else?
Do they hide somewhere?

 

[Jim F.]

I have fished for Carp since the '70's & have yet to see a small one, or at least recognize a small/immature one.

 

[Evan B]

I think the small ones stay deep, actually. Otherwise they'd all get snatched up by birds.

 

[SculpinSwinger]

I caught a carp of about 14”. Soft inside edge of a main river channel. I really let it hang post swing, ate on a pre retrieve twitch.

 

[Smalma]

According to some of the literature the young carp after brief period of shallow residency (those schools of tiny fry you may see after the spawn) they move offshore suspending over deep water feeding on mostly zooplankton, thus out of reach (both in location and diet) to most anglers. The larger fish feed on a more diverse diet including the larger forms of zooplankton. In most waters carp grow relatively quickly reaching maturity in 2or 3 years (males maturing earlier than the females). In many waters they reach say 20 inches in 3 to 5 years. They can typically live into their teen years those in captivity they have lived well into their 40s.

Like many exotics carp can develop a "stunted" population. Prior to the first Sprague lake rehab the carp were clearly stunted and aging of those fish showed it took 5 years to reach 12 inches and a decade to reach 20 inches.

Have not fished carp in more than 50 years; I need to get off my butt and see what the chasing carp with a fly game is all about.

Curt

 

[Northern]

According to some of the literature the young carp after brief period of shallow residency (those schools of tiny fry you may see after the spawn) they move offshore suspending over deep water feeding on mostly zooplankton, thus out of reach (both in location and diet) to most anglers. The larger fish feed on a more diverse diet including the larger forms of zooplankton. In most waters carp grow relatively quickly reaching maturity in 2or 3 years (males maturing earlier than the females). In many waters they reach say 20 inches in 3 to 5 years. They can typically live into their teen years those in captivity they have lived well into their 40s.

Like many exotics carp can develop a "stunted" population. Prior to the first Sprague lake rehab the carp were clearly stunted and aging of those fish showed it took 5 years to reach 12 inches and a decade to reach 20 inches.

Have not fished carp in more than 50 years; I need to get off my butt and see what the chasing carp with a fly game is all about.

Curt

Thanks, Curt!
That makes sense. I wonder if anyone here has ever gotten a surprise juvenile carp on a daphnia blob, then.

I have seen big, very tight schools of black, polywog-looking things a couple inches long that I assumed were carp fry. Couldn't get close enough to see individuals for detail, but the schools looked like The Blob swimming around out there.
Or were those actually tadpoles? If so, I need to tie more frog patterns for that lake!

 

[Bugmeister]

Carp are just an illusion, and we only see big carp because our minds figure “hey if I’m going to hallucinate i might as well go big.” I know because my eyes tell me i am seeing massive carp cruising around all summer….but can never get them interested in anything i throw.

I know I’m really trippin’ ballz when i see the 40lb+ beasts. Just big ole carp deep fakes created by my noggin.

 

[Buzzy]

Thanks, Curt!
That makes sense. I wonder if anyone here has ever gotten a surprise juvenile carp on a daphnia blob, then.

I have seen big, very tight schools of black, polywog-looking things a couple inches long that I assumed were carp fry. Couldn't get close enough to see individuals for detail, but the schools looked like The Blob swimming around out there.
Or were those actually tadpoles? If so, I need to tie more frog patterns for that lake!

I agree, thanks Curt @Smalma, very interesting.

Leigh -
I haven't been tossing carp flies as long as @Jim F. but after 25 years, I've seen only a few "small" carp and I've never caught one. One thing I have seen plenty of on the Columbia are white pelicans stalking the carp flats*. I don't know if a pelican can pick up and swallow a 20" carp but it sure seems like the flats we used to do so well on seem far less populated with carp (maybe this is an old guy thinking about the "good old days"?).

* The carp flats also host other species of fish so it seems likely they'd be eating any fish that they saw - if they could, that is.

 

[Jim F.]

I believe this has been posted here before. If a Heron could do it, I imagine a Pelican can also.

| EarthSky

You may have seen a snake swallow a big animal, but have you ever seen a bird do it?

earthsky.org

 

[Buzzy]

I believe this has been posted here before. If a Heron could do it, I imagine a Pelican can also.

| EarthSky

You may have seen a snake swallow a big animal, but have you ever seen a bird do it?

earthsky.org

I guess what we don't know from this clip from EarthSky is if the heron could fly afterwards. My goodness! Thanks, Jim.

 

[Jim F.]

That HAD to have been uncomfortable. The last shot looked like the Heron was thinking "Next time, I think I'll just order the Eel . . . "

 

[Smalma]

Have told this story before; once while walking a Snoqualmie tirb. in the fall encountered a blue heron standing hunched up on a log jam. As we got within 30 or so feet it began retching and regurgitated a 5/6# whole coho before flying away. So I'm guessing that the heron in the video could not fly after that "meal". Remember the typical adult blue heron (before a large meal) weighs less than 8#.

Curt

 

[O clarkii lewisi]

That was an amazing series of pics. Amazing but a bit hard to watch - like a hot dog eating contest!

 

[mcswny]

He looked so pleased with himself in the last photo.

 

[JS]

One of my biggest fly fishing accomplishments was targeting and catching a 20ish” mirror on a Big C flat close to town. I’ll see if I can find the pic, but that was the smallest carp I’ve ever seen.

I don’t carp as much as I used to, but I’m going to get out here for my first effort of the year here soon. I’d much rather catch these pigs….

 

[Buzzy]

One of my biggest fly fishing accomplishments was targeting and catching a 20ish” mirror on a Big C flat close to town. I’ll see if I can find the pic, but that was the smallest carp I’ve ever seen.

I don’t carp as much as I used to, but I’m going to get out here for my first effort of the year here soon. I’d much rather catch these pigs….View attachment 65526View attachment 65527View attachment 65528

That last picture, the joy and her smile!

 

[BriGuy]

Juvenile carp only inhabit people's aquariums.

 

[troutpocket]

When I was living in Wyoming I was doing stream surveys with a backpack electrofishing unit (old school….gas generator, not the clean and quiet battery powered units everyone uses today) and collected a juvenile common carp about 4-5” long. Took it back to the lab and kept it in a tank with some chubs and crayfish for a couple of years. It grew up to 10” or so in that time. I did a lot of surveys and that was the only one I saw.

As a side note, the high desert reservoirs in eastern Wyoming are loaded with carp, and in my experience, they are much easier to catch on the fly than the Columbia River varieties.

 

[_WW_]

I think it's about time to see some carp flies!

 

[Buzzy]

I think it's about time to see some carp

Trouser worm -----^ (darn thing works sometimes).




The worm ----^