carp fishing

is there any decent carp fishing around washington, and can you catch them this time of year. thanks Ben

Potholes resevoir and Moses lake in eastern WA. are loaded with carp nobody really targets them but I've caught most of mine accidendtly in late spring and summer

I can remeber when I was a kid seeing huge carp around Queen City Yacht Club on Lake Union (right across from Seattle Yacht Club).
Also, Banks Lake east of the HUMP has rather large carp.

They target them in Green Lake in Seattle. I used to love catching carp on dough balls in my youth. Had one break my rod once. That was fun!

A couple years ago I caught them at the water ski lake across from Nunally. I was targeting the trout in there when a really big nasty one took my fly. Pulled me around in my float tube for awhile. They are in lower crab creek also. I hear they are big time game fish in England.
TallyHo!

As far as Green Lake goes, I'd leave them alone. They are a hybrid put in there to eat all the weeds that take over the lake every summer.

They're eating the weeds so you can continue to trout fish in there.

Banks Lake near Coulee City is supposed to be good for big carp. I've caught them on big deer hair mice on the North End of the lake in the spring in summer.
-Steve

I know of a kid's fishing lake in near me that has them, but I have never been able to figure out what to get them on. Saw one hog gulping air(?) that easily could have gone 20 lbs. I can just imagine what my 5 year old would do if he hooked into one.

Regardingv Green lake, I believe there are actually two species of carp in there. The ones that grow big (common carp) and grass carp, which were planted to help reduce the weed problem. I believe they feed pretty much on just the grass and weeds in the lake. I think the grass carp were planted 1-2 years ago. I could be all wet on this, so best to check with WDFW to be sure. (in fact maybe I'll just do that, gotta earn my keep around here.

Here's the carp info straight from WDFW: I didn't find the part about the grass carp, but this does clarify the common carp question:
"Further exacerbating these water quality problems, a large population of common carp has expanded unchecked in the lake and now dominates the biomass of the fish community, reducing resources for more desirable species such as trout, bass, and catfish. Common carp stir the sediments extensively through their foraging activities and resuspend the phosphorus. This behavior combined with the excretions of these fish is thought significantly diminish water quality. Furthermore, because of their rapid growth, Green Lake common carp rapidly reach sizes that make them invulnerable to the lake's resident predators."
I've e-mailed WDFW to get more info on the grass vs. common carp issue. As far as catching common carp - dough balls or yellow corn are all you need, slip weight on the bottom. Hang on if you hook a 20 pounder!

Long lake down by olyimpia has monster carp in it I dont know if they are grass carp or not but there is a lot of grass in the lake.
I was bass fishing and they kept scaring the carp out of me. They kept popping up close to my boat
I caught a 20 lbs carp out of the cowlitz.
every morning they would be sunning themself in the slack water.

Mike, I just read page 58 of the "regs" and it says the there is no season on Grass Carp. Jim S.

Here is the reply I received from WDFW:
------------------------------------------------
Dear Mr. Carey:

Thank you for your e-mail correspondence to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) Fish Program.

Both grass and common carp reside within Green Lake. Common carp were probably first observed in Green Lake somewhere between the late 1940's to the early 1960's and have been present (and very prevalent) since. Grass carp, a recent introduction, were stocked into the lake in 2001 to control severe infestations of Eurasian water milfoil.

Presently, anglers may fish for common carp in Green Lake. There is no bag or size limits for common carp and at present, no licenses are required either. In Washington, it is illegal to possess a grass carp. If an angler happens to catch a grass carp it must be released back into the lake immediately.

Common and grass carp can be differentiated from each other by several physical characteristics. These include the following:

Common Carp: stocky and laterally compressed, suction-type mouth with barbels (whiskers), very large diamond-shaped scales (however, some individuals may have scattered scales [mirror carp] or have no scales [leather carp]), coloration is brownish-orange (in general).

Grass Carp: longer and more slender (but still robust) than common carp, their mouth is closer to a trout's (no whiskers though), they have very rigid jaws used to grasp and tear aquatic vegetation, they are grayish-white in appearance, and have large diamond-shaped scales (grass carp do not have a mirror or leather form), all grass carp stocked into Washington waters (as well as most other states) are sterile.

I hope this answers you and your reader's questions. If you have any other questions feel free to contact me either by e-mail or phone.

Sincerely,

Chad Jackson
Area Inland Fish Biologist
425-775-1311, ext. 113

thanks for the info, I really want to check it out in the spring time, they sound like a blast to catch. Ben

Years ago I shot 4 carp in Sprague lake with bow and arrow that weighed 111 lbs. Its still full of carp. Also try tench fishing. They look like a carp, fight like a carp, and are real easy to catch. Fishing Walleye we caught 5 before we got one small enough for the cooler. All at Sprague lake. If you don't keep them, kill them because they really mess up spawning beds. The State should have a bounty on them like Squaw fish.

I got into some on the wynoch that were hitting my spoons!It was around middle of jully,They were all females with mature roe.I was camped and cooked them up for the fun of it.Not that bad but I wouldn.t say they were great.They actually fought pretty good!Funky looking fish!

what the hell is a tench?
tyler

I like shooting them with a bow and arrow, they make good fertilizer and dimond side bait. I have done this mostly in Oregon.

Fishalot

Greenlake carp,grass carp and tiger muskies

tench


record grass carp

[ 01-26-2002: Message edited by: Eddie L ]

are there any tench in WA state waters?? ive never seen or heard about them being caught here before.

I know there's some in Lake Washington around the Arboretum(UW).

tench-info

[ 01-27-2002: Message edited by: Eddie L ]

Did someone say carp?

Time to fire up the smoker!

Lake Washington has lots of huge carp near the Newport Shores marina, and in the shallow water leading to the Newport Shores housing developement, also in the shallow water where the Mercer Slough drains into the lake near the marina. Have never caught one on purpose, but early in the A.M. they are jumping around these areas like killer whales! Most look like they'd go at least 15-20 lbs. Sometimes instead of jumping, they just stick their heads out of the water and kinda stare at you. If you were quick with a bow and arrow you could stick them easy. DOGFISH (ANDY) should give that a try sometime.

Traut: Are those carp in there now? If not, when? I have two new fly rods that need exercise right now.

SALMON CANDY: I'm not sure, the weather and rotator cuff surgery have kept me off the lake lately. If I remember right, last March was the last time I was out in Newport bay early enough in the a.m to see them surfacing. I know they are there ALL summer long. As for now, if they are there it's not too hard to tell - you can actually see them from the east bound I-90 lane on the east channel bridge as you drive across from dawn til about 8:30 am seemed to be the peak activity time. Check it out and good luck! Hang on tight!

Traut: Sorry to read about the rotator cuff surgery-pretty painful according to my wife. When I get out, I'll let you know the results.