how you tell

[shadrapla]

how you can tell diffenct between carp and sucker i used to spear sucker wheni was kid aitkin area so now i live in cambridge so i wonder where i can find suckers i want to smoke it soon i love eat it

[Crawlerman]

Suckers have a smaller Dorsal fin, without the one spine that carp have. They usually have a brown/molted, whitish or silver color (except for Redhorse) And MUCH smaller scales. As a general rule of thumb; they are also skinner and more streamlined than carp. Also, the mouth is smaller and further on the bottom of the fish. Suckers generally don't have the two barbels that appear by a carp's mouth. The DNR has pictures to tell the difference of most fish in MN waters as well, this may be the easiest way to really see the difference.

Hope this helps

[doubleUcubed]

shad, try a search engine (Google) type in rough fish. The site you want should be the top one. Good Luck!

[Lunker]

From the dnr

Identification:Carp
General description: The large, big-scaled carp has a light gold color and has a long dorsal fin. It has two pairs of barbels (whiskers) and a lipped mouth similar to a sucker.

Identification:White sucker
General description: Like other suckers, this medium-sized fish has big lips, no teeth, and soft fins. It is greenish on top and light-colored beneath, with scales increasing in size from front to back. Young white suckers have three large dark spots on each side of their body.

However, i find its easier to say like this, suckers look like the suckers you buy at the bait store but bigger.
Carp are wider and usually orangish in color, like a big goldfish.

[Roughfisher]

Just look for barbels (whiskers). If it has barbels, it's a carp, otherwise it is one of the seventeen kinds of suckers in our area.