Carp - Don't hate me but dang! They are a ball to catch!!! So where.....?

[akthor]

Thousands of dollars in lures and boats and the biggest fish I ever catch is while sitting in a lawn chair on a dock using a can of corn!?!?! Crazy but I'm from Maine so no Carp, walleyes, muskies or Pike. Been fishing in Minnie Belle and Mille Lacs, Ripley and Farm Island. Caught some nice Smallies and Largemouth, one Walleye and one Pike. But have never caught as many big fish as I did Carp fishing. I'm a catch and release guy (I know we can't release the Carp), I have no interest in eating any fish I catch, so for me Carp fishing is a blast!

So got a lake with a Carp problem? I'd like to help. Tell me where

If you got any tips on Lakes with Small mouth or Pike I'd like to know that too.

I just moved here from Maine (go Pats!) And I'm in the Litchfield area. You guys got so many Lakes its hard to find info on them.

Thanks for any help.

[FshBloodRiverMud]

FYI you need to either KEEP the carp or RELEASE them in minnesota.

IT IS ILLEGIAL TO LEAVE ON THE SHORELINE.

The old law that required you to keep the carp, died back in the 80's.

Tons of areas to catch carp. They're fun - i agree completely!!

[Slabasaurus]

Thousands of dollars in lures and boats and the biggest fish I ever catch is while sitting in a lawn chair on a dock using a can of corn!?!?! Crazy but I'm from Maine so no Carp, walleyes, muskies or Pike. Been fishing in Minnie Belle and Mille Lacs, Ripley and Farm Island. Caught some nice Smallies and Largemouth, one Walleye and one Pike. But have never caught as many big fish as I did Carp fishing. I'm a catch and release guy (I know we can't release the Carp), I have no interest in eating any fish I catch, so for me Carp fishing is a blast!

So got a lake with a Carp problem? I'd like to help. Tell me where

If you got any tips on Lakes with Small mouth or Pike I'd like to know that too.

I just moved here from Maine (go Pats!) And I'm in the Litchfield area. You guys got so many Lakes its hard to find info on them.

Thanks for any help.

It's perfectly legal to release carp. So if your intent is to take carp out of a lake, make sure you don't just leave it on shore or nothin, you need to dispose of it properly (smoke it, make a tajine out of it... or give it to a farmer/put it in your garden). I am a CnR fly angler and carp is one of my favorite to target, I hear so many people say it's illegal to release them. It's not... not at all....

Check out the MN DNR LAKEFINDER for a lot of info on lakes around your area, you can search by county. That's how I started out findin local spots 4-5 years ago and it's been a heckuva journey. Google maps/google earth, and the lakefinder.

[akthor]

Cool cuz honestly I have been releasing them but didn't want to say and get in trouble.

[akthor]

Can you PM me or email me details on how you catch Carp on a fly rod. That sounds really cool!

[akthor]

Also would like to catch some big catfish (another thing we don't have in Maine) so any info on places to go near me would be awesome.

[ozzie]

check out the species specific forums and you can learn alot from both the carp guys and the catfishing community

[hydro]

Akthor,

Glad to hear you like to fish for carp. They are one of the strongest fighting fish here in MN with the possible exception of Sturgeon. There is a lot of great info in the Carp forum on this site, and another good thread is going in the Annandale forum.

It looks like you are fishing around Litchfield and are having success, so keep on doing what you are doing. For numbers of carp I would look to larger flowing water as in rivers, and for size the lakes will produce the big ones.

[akthor]

Thanks guys I didn't realize there were individual species sections on here I will check them out!

[sunniewally]

Ya carp are a blast to catch, especially on a fly rod as slab has said. Bell has a lot of carp to play with.

[HandGunner]

if its an asian carp dont release it kill it

[JeremyCampbell]

if its an asian carp dont release it kill it

I laughed on that one Hand gunner

If Someone did come accross an asian carp,I'd imagine the dnr would want to take a look at it first.

Not sure if a great amount of Asian carp are found in Mn anyway but that's a different topic I suppose.