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Moses Lake Report
Grant County, WA

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06/13/2010
Other
Carp
Other
All Day
06/14/2010
4
7208

I was invited to a pre-tournament practice Carp shoot today to help a lifelong friend hone his skills as a Bow Fisherman and show him a little about Moses Lake. We hit the water at about 7:00 am from the launch at what used to be called Airman’s beach and headed up lake to the Rocky Ford creek area. I’m unsure of what the launch is now called but it’s one of the nicest boat launches I’ve ever seen and it’s free. It’s a brand new single dock with launch lanes on each side and a small inlet/bay with dock and tie ups all the way around it. Upon our arrival at the killing fields we were welcomed by literally thousands of spawning Carp jumping and trashing in the shallow dark stained waters of the lake. Placing the bow mount in ultra stealth mode we were able glide in and slay easily over fifty of the beasts in just a couple of hours. We figured that it would be best if we left some targets in this area for next weekend’s Carp tournament and decided to try another area. We loaded the boat and traveled down to Connelly Park and launched the boat again. Looking for more Carp shooting areas we ended up at an area of Moses Lake called the Fill…Don’t ask me why it’s called the Fill I just know that’s what’s it’s called. We headed under the bridge and into another killing field. The water depth was running three to four feet in this area and was also full of thousands of jumping and mating Carp which made for really muddy shooting conditions. We stayed close to the bank and found the best hunting in water that was less than two feet deep because in between mating sessions the carp seemed to enjoy sunning themselves. As we approached the old timber railroad trestle I caught a whiff of something that wasn’t right at all. It turned out to be a dead deer that had been in the water for quite some time. We motored away from the offending carcass and fished upwind for the rest of the afternoon. After shooting probably another thirty of forty Carp the wind shifted and brought the smell of the dead deer back into our thoughts. This time the smell was so strong you could taste it. We finished our venison dinner and made for the launch at Connelly Park. Upon our arrival to Connelly Park we were greeted by every stupid person in the area. The double lane two dock launch area was filled with swimmers, sun bathers, and folks wishing dismemberment upon themselves. Check out my rant and photos in the forum. Other than the truly stupid people at the Connelly Park boat launch it was a great time. I’m looking forward to hearing how my buddy and his brother do next weekend at the Carp tournament when there’s money on the line.


Comments

Ronbo
6/14/2010 8:32:00 AM
Big D, Thanks for the write up. Got a good chuckle out of your descriptions, especially the "venison dinner" and the "folks wishing dismemberment". Sad to say, they are everywhere.
snorider
6/14/2010 5:22:00 PM
I'm a little ignorant of carp but, it seems a little excessive to be killing 50+ carp doesn't it? I do believe there is no limit on these fish but FIFTY?!

Enlighten me, are they a nucence fish or do people eat them? Seems to me it might be hard to chow down on 50+ fish.

Just curious, I really don't know much about carp in Moses lake but I would like to.
silverking0
6/14/2010 5:34:00 PM
Carp are overly abundant in several lakes in that area they spend alot of time "rooting" up the bottom of the shallow areas of the lake ruining the spawning areas of other fish like smallmouth and largemouth bass and walleye. They can literaly turn the lake brown with mud when they do this. Ruining the other fishes habitat.
Big D
6/14/2010 6:57:00 PM
Hey snorider, Thank you for your comments. Carp are an invasive species and do a lot of damage to the lake and other fish populations as silverking0 has stated above. They have tournaments and no limit fishing for them as a way to help remove some of the Carp for area lakes. Most of the Carp from this tournament are ground up and made into fertilizer. A typical adult Carp can lay 300,000 eggs in a single spawning and can lay over a million eggs in a year. When you see the amount of Carp jumping and rolling in Moses Lake you can start to understand how much damage they can cause. Common carp have been introduced, sometimes illegally, to most continents and some 59 countries. Due to their fecundity and their feeding habit of grubbing through bottom sediments for food they are notorious for altering their environment. In feeding, they may destroy, uproot and disturb submerged vegetation causing serious damage to native bird, duck and fish populations. As far as Carp being a food fish, they are the number one fish of aquaculture. The annual tonnage of common carp, not to mention the other cyprinids, produced in China alone exceeds the weight of all other fish, such as trout and salmon, produced by aquaculture worldwide. Roughly 3 three million tonnes are produced annually, accounting for 14% of all farmed freshwater fish in 2002. China is by far the largest commercial producer, accounting for about 70% of carp production. In Western Europe, the Carp is cultured more commonly as a sport fish although there is a small market as food fish. Common carp are extremely popular with anglers in many parts of Europe, and their popularity as quarry is slowly increasing among anglers in the United States (though destroyed as pests in many areas), and southern Canada. Carp are also popular with spear, bow, and fly fishermen. Carp is also eaten in many parts of the world both when caught from the wild and raised in aquaculture. In Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia and Poland, carp is a traditional part of a Christmas Eve dinner. Carp are mixed with other common fish to make gefilte fish, popular in Jewish cuisine.
Jay K
6/15/2010 6:41:00 PM
Both carp in Big D's pictures are common carp.

For those new to carp fishing, bear in mind, that grass carp are closed to fishing per reg's and likewise not permitted to be taken by spear or bow/arrow.

I believe to easily identify the difference between the two, look to the dorsal fin - the common carp has a long dorsal fin that runs longer along the body. The grass carp has a shorter dorsal fin which is less "ribbon-like."
y2says
6/30/2010 8:56:00 PM
I say kill them all. I went had a bass tournament on Banks and went to a spawing cove and those carps turned the cove into chocolate milk. They are fun with light tackle if you fish for them.
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Available Guide

Available Fishing Guide:
Website: Darrell & Dads Family Guide Service

Phone: (509) 687-0709