# Carp in Cache Valley?



## Pecorino (Jun 22, 2013)

Hey guys!

Glad to be here. I'm doing a research paper for my class on the historical disdain of carp in the country. Part of this involves catching some, preparing it, and EATING it. Yes, I am going to eat carp. I plan on doing a blind taste test with some friends to see if they can detect a difference between carp and more commonly consumed fish. Anyway, I need to know where to catch them! I will be spearfishing for them.

I was told that I could find them in the Logan River, and that THIS PLACE would be a good place to find them. So I hopped in and of course it was freezing. After a minute I spotted some fish and unfortunately I mistook a sucker for carp, so there was one unintended casualty from this experience... I need to improve on identifying fish. Anyway, it seems like the Logan River is not a good place for my needs.

Since I will be spearfishing, I need underwater visibility - it seems like further downstream would not be an ideal place since it tends to get quite murky based on the little I've seen and heard about Cutler. I suppose I could also spear the fish from above if the water was shallow enough, but I don't have a boat. If anyone can point out some good, clear water places with carp - I'd really appreciate the help!

UPDATE - July 15 2013: Carp caught, and eaten. See post.


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## Mavis13 (Oct 29, 2007)

There's no carp in the Logan that I know of. Cutler all other Bear River waterways/marshes have them. You'll have much better luck with a worm on a hook than spear fishing but I'd love to hear how you do.


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## outdoorser (Jan 14, 2013)

Yeah I've never seen any carp in in the Logan river...well actually I have heard of some right by where you went, by the golf course. Just hearsay tho. I agree with mavis, get a cheap rod (if you don't have fishing equipment already) and get a hook and worms and it'll be easier than _underwater _spearfishing. However, _above_ the water, you should be able to get some with your spearfishing equip. Try the marshes out on SR-30, they're murky, but just wade in the water by some reeds and hold really still and you'll probably get some. Just make sure they're definitely carp;-) -good luck and happy taste testing


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## Greenhead_Slayer (Oct 16, 2007)

Benson Marina is thick with them. Unless you have access to some of the shallows with a flat bottom boat your best bet would be fishing with bait. A lot of the guys in the waterfowl forum are big on the carp shooting and would probably be willing to help you out. Try posting over there and offer to pay for gas money and lunch and I bet someone will take you on their boat.


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## fishnate (Sep 11, 2007)

There are lots of carp in the Logan River. You just have to know where you are at. The Lower Logan, well below the golf course, has plenty of carp down where it dumps into the Cutler Marsh, along the Valley View Hwy, and it often is fairly clear in there as well. You need to be careful of private land there but there is also some public access areas too. As mentioned, a worm works wonders, but when I lived there I targeted the lower Little Bear River on the state ground off the Mendon Rd.


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## Pecorino (Jun 22, 2013)

Thanks for the suggestions guys! That's quite helpful for me. I actually don't have normal fishing equipment, but have friends that do so that's something I may have to look into if I don't have any luck finding them in clear water.

What about Hyrum Dam or Porcupine? I haven't been able to find much information on whether or not they have carp. The same coworker who told me my Logan river spot had carp also told me Hyrum did, but he might be mistaking suckers for carp! 

Fishnate - Thanks for the pointers on the lower sections. Do you know of any areas specifically that might be good to access? At first I was thinking I'd just walk/swim along the river bed until I found a good spot but with the private property that wouldn't work...

There's always Bear Lake of course, which is gorgeous underwater. If any of you are curious, here's some great footage of spearfishing in Bear Lake. Something a bit closer would be ideal though.


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## outdoorser (Jan 14, 2013)

Pecorino, Hyrum probably has some but I doubt porcupine has any.


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## Mavis13 (Oct 29, 2007)

I've never seen any carp at Hyrum or Porcupine.
Bear Lake has a ton of them on the east side around second point all the way to Idaho


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## Kevin D (Sep 15, 2007)

Mavis13 said:


> I've never seen any carp at Hyrum or Porcupine.


I too have never seen a carp in Hyrum......they are in the river below but the dam and spillway act as a natural barrier. Utah suckers have always been there however.


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## Pecorino (Jun 22, 2013)

Had another attempt today! Unfortunately the lower Logan was not a success since the visibility was so low. We went HERE. It looked worse than Utah Lake.

I guess I'm either going to have to get out of the valley, or do as normal fisherman do and just use a worm and a hook ;-)


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## outdoorser (Jan 14, 2013)

I'm not too up on spearfishing regulations, but can't you spear them from above the water too? just like bow fishing.


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## Pecorino (Jun 22, 2013)

Kind of like this guy? I called the DWR office the other day and asked about it - the man I spoke to said either way was fine, as long as they're carp.


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## Mavis13 (Oct 29, 2007)

I didn't know that was still considered the Logan river; I thought that was the Bear River. There's no shortage of carp in Benson; good luck


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## Greenhead_Slayer (Oct 16, 2007)

Seriously, take my advice and post a thread on the waterfowl forum and you'll have your speared carp in no time. If I had a boat I'd take you in a heartbeat. We shot ~75 carp a few weeks ago. They were all in the shallows and had all their backs exposed out of the water.


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## Packfish (Oct 30, 2007)

1. Hyrum had a school of gold fish- ranged from a pound to 5 pounds- as they went by the water actuall glowed a bit- they were killed when Hyrum was poisened.

2. Porpupine has some suckers- no carp.

3. You can go below the Cutler dam and catch carp on a worm- or you can go out to Benson- look for a flooded flat or possibly a field and get them with 7 iron. ( been there done that)

4. You would have to go pretty low on the Logan to get carp- they are there- but not above 6 west really.


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## fishnate (Sep 11, 2007)

Mavis13 said:


> I didn't know that was still considered the Logan river; I thought that was the Bear River. There's no shortage of carp in Benson; good luck


It's the lower Logan and it meets with the Little Bear a little ways down from there and forms Cutler Marsh.


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## Pecorino (Jun 22, 2013)

Greenhead_Slayer said:


> Seriously, take my advice and post a thread on the waterfowl forum and you'll have your speared carp in no time. If I had a boat I'd take you in a heartbeat. We shot ~75 carp a few weeks ago. They were all in the shallows and had all their backs exposed out of the water.


Alright, I'll mull this over! I may be going to Bear Lake soon enough anyway so I may end up figuring it out but that's a good option. That's a nice picture - I'm sure that was a ton of fun. You're standing in really shallow water it looks like. I didn't realize that some parts were that shallow. Did you just wade through there and shoot at what you saw?


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## Greenhead_Slayer (Oct 16, 2007)

Pecorino said:


> Alright, I'll mull this over! I may be going to Bear Lake soon enough anyway so I may end up figuring it out but that's a good option. That's a nice picture - I'm sure that was a ton of fun. You're standing in really shallow water it looks like. I didn't realize that some parts were that shallow. Did you just wade through there and shoot at what you saw?


Once you get outside of the main channels it gets really shallow. Some spots are only an inch or so deep. We'd have one person shooting off the front of the boat and one pushing the boat most the time. You could just wade and shoot, I'm not sure where you can access though that isn't too deep. If you are bored drive around and look for their backs in the shallows, it is pretty obvious to see them. You can get within a foot or two of them if you do it right.


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## Pecorino (Jun 22, 2013)

UPDATE: Several attempts to catch a carp were made in Cutler. At one point I even had my vegetarian wife help out with using a rod while I tried to get close enough to one on the shore to spear one! It was all kind of ridiculous. They were always just a little bit too far and would always dabble at the bait on the pole.

So, I bought a $30 youth bow on KSL, and bought a bowfishing kit for the same price. I went to Benson marina and landed this female carp:










My first shot was a headshot! Part of my research paper involved eating the carp. I'll post my findings in a separate thread later but the results were very promising. I can honestly say I will be eating carp again. They're highly abundant, local, and if they are prepared correctly can be delicious.

I appreciate all of your help!


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## outdoorser (Jan 14, 2013)

That's awesome Pecorino! I'm gonna do some bowfishing up at bear lake this week. It will be my first time. So even after you're done with all this experimenting, do you think you'll continue bowfishing just for fun?


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## Mavis13 (Oct 29, 2007)

You got me interested, so last week we filleted one on a dare with my brother and dad. Other than there's all kinds of bones in the fillet we thought it tasted better than the channel cats we had. :shock: It was tough getting through the thick scales and there's not as much meat as you would expect, they seem to be mostly gut, I was surprised. I really expected them to taste bad. I know they are highly consumed in other parts of the world and that our fore fathers brought them here for food so...


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## Envenomation09 (Oct 22, 2012)

I caught a carp from utah lake and ate it. Marinated it then breaded and fried it. It was delicious. Everybody says they're gross, but really they are great. Not the best, but definitely not the worst. Just a lot of y bones in the fillets.


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## Pecorino (Jun 22, 2013)

outdoorser said:


> That's awesome Pecorino! I'm gonna do some bowfishing up at bear lake this week. It will be my first time. So even after you're done with all this experimenting, do you think you'll continue bowfishing just for fun?


Oh, I absolutely will. I had a blast even though I only got one fish. By the time I got there, all of the carp had gone under. Really though, it's incredibly fun. I'd encourage you to keep a few from your trip and try eating them - if you do, let me know what you think. Make sure you bleed them as soon as you can! This will improve their flavor.



Mavis13 said:


> You got me interested, so last week we filleted one on a dare with my brother and dad. Other than there's all kinds of bones in the fillet we thought it tasted better than the channel cats we had. :shock: It was tough getting through the thick scales and there's not as much meat as you would expect, they seem to be mostly gut, I was surprised. I really expected them to taste bad. I know they are highly consumed in other parts of the world and that our fore fathers brought them here for food so...


That is excellent! Better than a channel cat even! Good on you for challenging a stigma that's been passed down through the generations. Honestly, after researching their history, their reputation as an inedible trash fish isn't deserved. Mine was also excellent.



Envenomation09 said:


> I caught a carp from utah lake and ate it. Marinated it then breaded and fried it. It was delicious. Everybody says they're gross, but really they are great. Not the best, but definitely not the worst. Just a lot of y bones in the fillets.


There's been a couple methods I've come across for dealing with those y bones. Pressure cooking them is said to dissolve those bones completely and you can eat them without any issues. Another way is scoring and breading the carp. This apparently dissolves the bones. I obviously don't have a ton of experience, I've only just read a lot, but it sounds like the easiest way overall is to just separate the meat like this when you're eating it:


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## swbuckmaster (Sep 14, 2007)

I've ate a carp. The only part that is ok is the tiny strip above the back bone and you'll choke on bones eating it. The rest is gross! They stink up your house when cooking them.


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## Pecorino (Jun 22, 2013)

That's too bad! Carp are quite susceptible to tasting bad if taken from water that is heavy on a compound known as geosmin (found in water with a lot of algae) which can create an off, "muddy" taste. I have many sources on this, and there's a few solutions that have been said to get rid of it:


Bleed the carp immediately. This has been suggested since they were first planted here ages ago. 
Smell the gills. If they smell off, then you'll want to remove the red meat and any fatty bits.
Soak the meat in a brine. Again, this has been suggested since people first started noticing bad flavors in carp back in the late 1800's. 

After bleeding the carp I caught, the gills smelled like the water - very neutral, with no hint of a muddy smell at all. Didn't even smell fishy. As for the bones, see the picture above. The bones do make them more difficult to eat, but if you know where their bones are you can easily avoid them.

I think you should definitely try them again. It sounds like you get a ton of them.


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