The European Carp (Cyprinus Carpio) is one of the most prolific fish in Utah Lake. They are so plentiful that local governments have spent over 4 million dollars to remove 25 million pounds of this species over the last eight years. I imagine in today's world it is no small task getting through the red tape of removing a species from an established habitat. There is always a cause and effect when you do something like that. Some of the reports you may see in a newspaper may be something like a report about how the vegetation is returning to the lake. This of course is a desired effect of carp removal. There is no doubt in my mind that there is a guy named Murphy who is taking a good look at some possible negative effects that carp removal can cause. Things like, we may see less migratory bald eagles coming to our shores to feed on the massive carp spawns. Or, will this affect the new surge of otters populating the Utah lake at this time. The cause and effect scenarios are countless and near impossible to predict.
Kayaking the lake brings me a lot of joy. I suppose some day I will be talking about kayaking the lake and how the carp would fly through the air leaping in their spring rituals and bouncing off the side of my kayak in an awkward landing side flop. Someday people will look at me in disbelief as if I was telling some kind of fish story. :) Indeed, it is on route to becoming a dissipated Utah Lake era.
After reading about anglers in England dreaming about catching wild carp like this, I couldn't help but think what a gold mine we have in Utah Lake. I would love to take a dozen of those anglers out on the lake for the time of their life. We would probably see a change in habitat on the land as slowly cockney accents became more prevalent in the valley as more and more folks from the motherland realize the treasure we have in the lake. Many times anglers will accidently snag one of these and engage in the fish fight of their life. Seeing the sun reflect off that powerful red tail as it breaches the surface of the water is a spectacular wonder of nature to see. If you are in a kayak then be prepared to be towed around at the will of the great fish as she fights to evade capture.
This one was caught from a kayak on 4 lbs test line. It takes a long time to wear out a fish like this. I almost lost him several times as he took me through all the logs and other debris in the lake. As I was putting my kayak on my vehicle the DNR officer was eyeballing me. The fish was laying on a rock (picture above) and he looked puzzled as I prepared to show him my license. He approached and I gave it to him. He said that he wasn't even going to check my license because he was so happy that I was taking that unwanted fish out of the lake. He called it an invasive species and as he took the picture for me he said it was the biggest carp he had ever seen. He then clarified, "I mean healthy and girthy, It is a beautiful fish".
Hunt and Claim:
Once you decide to keep a fish like this you are now committed to try it. I found this video to help you follow through. This is an Asian Carp in the video but the only difference in this video is that I would scale the European Carp first. The scales are like armor plates and they come off the same way you would scale any fish. It was not that hard to do. Other than that, these fish have the same anatomy as the Asian Carp. In this video the restaurant owner's smile looks like he may have given his competition cement shoes. The chef does a great job of filleting and cooking this fish. It looks delicious.
Now what? Try this tempura recipe.
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