Invasive Carp in Missouri

I write this blog entry from my hotel room in Columbia, Missouri. Yesterday I enjoyed one of the most unique and eye-opening fishing experiences of my life. Electro-fishing for carp on a tributary of the Missouri River.



Kids, don't try this one at home. Electro-fishing is illegal in most states unless you happen to be conducting an approved scientific study or if you happen to be a state biologist. I was fortunate enough to be invited out with biologist Vince Travnichek and writer Jim Low, print news coordinator for the Missouri Department of Conservation.



As it happened, we could have still gotten a whole pile of fish without the electro-fishing gear. Silver carp will literally jump straight into your boat. This happened at least a dozen times during roughly two hours on the water. On one occasion a five pound fish landed precisely in the live well. Jim captured that one on camera and I look forward to seeing his photos.



Meanwhile, here are some of my photos. My verdict on carp is that they are perfectly delicious to eat. The secret is that you need to keep them alive as long as possible until you are ready to fillet and refrigerate or freeze them. A dead, ungutted carp suffers fouling of flavor much more quickly than crappie, trout or other fish that American anglers are accustomed to eating.