carp

[dsmith]

Anyone go carp fishing? The lake we fish are full of them, so we do catch them when we are catfishing. They sure are fun to catch. By dad used to go bowhunting for carp. Dennis went with him a couple times.
Does anyone eat carp? I've heard they are too boney. I've heard you can pressure cook them. They just don't look good to me

[mastercatter]

If the are prepared right they are not too bad.They seem to have a strong flavor to them...

[flathead]

I like to catch carp

[dt16]

you smoke them

[mastercatter]

I have never tried to smoke them.

[dt16]

you have to cut the blood vein out and trim the fat off be the best smoked fish you ever ate

[bobberguy]

Carp seem to be a southern dish and from what I hear the smaller ones tase better if the mud vein is taken out correctly. I remember cooking a 18 inch carp but it tasted so bad we could not eat it. I think it has to be soaked or even marinated first!

[dsmith]

sounds like an awful lot of trouble. I think I'll pass on eating them.

[olhillbilly]

I grew up eatin em an buffalo. (the fish) Was in my early teens fore I knew that not all fish had needle bones.

I usedta work with an asian indian doctor that would take a carp anytime I went bowfishin. He just wanted it gutted an frozen. So I would save the biggest an gut it an wrap it inna trash bag an freeze it for him. I dunno how he fixed it. An not sure I wanna know.

[mastercatter]

We ate the buffalo and also fixed shad for dinner. Even had gar sometimes...

[trenchrat]

We take a carp and fillet it like you would any other fish, avoiding the bones as much as possible. Then cut the red strip [blood vein] out, just kind of a V cut to get it out. Cut it into strips about the size of french fries, roll in corn meal or crushed corn flakes and deep fat fry them. My kids would eat them faster than I could cook them.

[papa]

Once you get your filets cut off, take and score one side about three quarters of the way through the filet about 1 inch apart, then flip it over and do the same thing inbetween each of the first scores, season them up the way you like and put them in a baking pan with a big spoon of grease and cook them in a preheated 350 degree oven for 25 minutes, all the little bones will disolve and you can just eat them with a fork.

[bulldog]

Gar..... I love to eat gar! There are no bones to worry about and it fries up really nice!! I fried fish for 75 people on the lake one night for a july 4th party. I cooked 25lbs of catfish and 35 lbs of gar. Most of the people came to me and told me to fry up some more catfish. I was gonna do that, but found out all the gar was gone and there was plenty of catfish left. People couldn't believe what they were eating! It's really good and there is on fattie taste like some fish. I usually catch several gar from 4 to 7 foot long when I fish the rivers for big cats. Just can't do carp tho.

[olhillbilly]

I'd be interested in knowin how you prepare yer gar. I keep threatenin to try one every year, but always talk myself outta it.
I figger if I get ta where I like em, I wouldnt catch near as many.

[bulldog]

Preparation for gar is real easy.... just fry it like to do catfish. Fillet gar like you would bass then cut strips out of it at 90 degrees. In other words, cut the fillet straight across in strips about a inch think. Roll that in your corn meal or batter, what ever you like and deep fry it. I like it cajun stile ... course yellow corn meal, garlic powder, black pepper, a little onion salt, a little table salt and deep fry it in oil of your taste.
The gar can me BBQed too. Take a big chunk add bullseye bbq sauce, black pepper, garlic powder, NO SALT, .... wrap it in foil and cook it on the pit slowly until tender. When I cook it on the pit I usually leave on the bone and cook a huge chunk of it like brisket size... around 300 to 350 degrees for a few hours depending on how big the chunk is. Then all that's left is getting the tatters cooked, cut up some white onions, and get some cold beer and dive in!!