Tossing carp up on shore.

[SCUMFROG]

I can't find in fishing regs were it says what to do with carp. We were talking here at work and they say "toss them on shore, it's in the regs that you have to." I looked it up and can't find it. Can any one help me out here?

[Ralph Wiggum]

Tossing them on shore is illegal (and gross). You either have to take them with you or return them to the water alive.

[SCUMFROG]

That's what I told them. Where does it say what to do with them in the regs so I can print it off and show them.

[shae1986]

Any fish that is caught and will not be utilized must be immediately

returned alive back into the water. A person cannot wantonly waste

a fish that is caught by leaving it or any usable portion on the ice,

thrown up on the bank, or intentionally killing it and returning it back

into the water unless authorized.

Thats what is says in the 2006 rule book.

Andrew Shae

[Ralph Wiggum]

Yup, page 13 of the 2006 regs. Also, check out page 54.

[SCUMFROG]

That's what I also found..... Thanks guys.

[MURPHFISHER]

Please try to educate anyone who is under the assumption that you must throw rough fish of any kind on the shore to rot. It is illegal and disgusting.

[Guest]

scumfrog..

many years back(about 20?) it was illegal to throw carp back. It used to be common practice to toss them on the shore. Now its not legal to toss them on the bank.. You may keep and properly dispose of them if you really want to(trash/etc), or you can return them to the water.

It gets pretty nasty walking around a bunch of dead rotted carp on the bank.. and everything that comes with it.. bee's, stink, etc.

[eyehead]

A couple of years ago there were some guys bowfishing for carp and throwing them on shore. This lake was open to unlimited fishing due to lack of oxygen. Anyways the guys had a pile of about a hundred of them. When the CO went over there he made them load all 100 of them in the back of there pickup So no you can't throw them on shore to rot

[justin32]

they must of just changed it cuz like 2 years ago i had a dnr officer tell me that i cant put them back cuz they dont want them in the waters so i always leave them lay since then. can you get a fine for leaveing them lay. if so how much

[Ralph Wiggum]

It's been illegal as long as I can remember. You sure can get a ticket.

[vern]

That Guy is right. At one time long ago it was illegal to throw the carp back but the law was changed about 25 years ago. It's never been legal to leave them on shore (littering) but that's exactly what people did before the old law was changed. I fished carp a lot on the Mpls. lakes in the late 70's & early 80's & the shorelines were littered with dead carp. I remember one day when there were 80-90 carp lined up near the fishing dock on Harriet. Looking back it was pretty nasty! Also, the park board garbage cans always had a few carp in them & sometimes were so full that the park board employees couldn't even lift them. Harriet & Calhoun carpin' was pretty popular back then.

Justin, that DNR officer was wrong. If you leave them on shore you could be fined or worse.

- Vern

[ratso]

fine or no fine a few dead carp on the shore is no more than coon food and the best idea i have heard in a while... get rid of all of them !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Lunker]

I used to do this when I was younger, mostly because according to my family it was illegal to throw them back, so up on the shore they went.

The truth is, it is

1. Illegal

2.Gross(no one, including any fisherman, want rotting, stinking dead fish on the banks)

3. It is pointless. A single female carp can lay upwards of a half a million eggs a year. The only way to even make a dent in population is through poisining, or mass netting(like in nokomis about 6 years ago). So in throwing a few carp up to die, you're doing a lot more negative then positive. If you want to kill them, use them for fertilizer in your OWN yard.

[barnyard]

In the past 3 years, most of the calls that I have made to DNR enforcement officers has been regarding wanton waste violations.

Generally, the people that I drop a dime on, are those that, even after being shown the reg in the book, still say they will kill every rough fish they catch.

One guy was catching suckers and carp and killing them and tossing them in. We explained that that was illegal, showed him the book, then when he killed another, I called the DNR, gave a description of the guy and his vehicle license number.

He packed up his stuff and left, but not before swearing up a blue streak about how wrong I was. I fugured that an enforcement officer could clue him in and that by showing that his illegal behavior would not be tolerated, that he would think twice before doing it again.

Tom B

[Joe's Kid]

Those ignorant pigs who leave the fish to rot should chained to a stake on a 90 degree day and made to fish all day with the stench.

They're probably the same people who leave beer cans, worm containers, fishing line and every other kind of garbage for others to clean up. Almost every time I go fishing I find dump floating or on shore.

The world is full of idiots. Always has been, always will be...

End of rant.

[shae1986]

Why would someone waste carp like that, dont they know there are delicious when smoked...

[Guest]

When I was a *kid*.. it was still illegal to throw carp back.. that was made clear by everyone.. but nobody told me it was illegal to leave them on the bank. I quit doing that on my own because they did stink the next day when you came back if the city didnt come clean them up yet. I got in the habit of throwning them away, or letting them go if the trash can was too far away. Its not a whole lot of fun fishing getting swarmed by bee's feeding on a fish corpse.

At 10 years old.. it would make a kid proud to line up the days catch on the shoreline.. usually around 20 carp with some of them going well over 20 pounds.

[-Marc V-]

If people want larger "game fish" (walleye, largemouth, northen, muskie, etc) throw the carp back. It was sited about how many eggs those things lay. Think of all the juicy forage the predators would loose out on if suckers, carp, and the like were absent from the lakes. Then the game fish would have to eat more of each other. Then people will really be yelling.

The carp aren't going to breed out the other fish. If it hasn't happened in the thousands of years they've been there, it's not going to happen any time soon.

[Ralph Wiggum]

Carp and suckers are very different in that suckers are native to MN water and carp have only been here for 100 years or so (give or take).

[Dragon Fish ll]

Wait till those Asian jumping carp swim up here.Then things might change.

[Lunker]

We won't have to worry about that, they'll jump right up on shore themselves!(or that's what you can tell the warden when he asks about wanton waste ) Just kiddin

[-Marc V-]

I didn't know that about carp only being here for about 100 years. Thanks for the correction. I've still haven't heard of it being a big concern by the DNR to have common carp in our waters. Maybe it is a concern, but I just haven't heard of it before.

I am a little concerned about the asian carp. A buddy and I have a solution. Set up a couple of guys in the back of the boat with shot guns, and when they jump out of the water from the sound of the boat motor, let 'em have it!! Practice for pheasant, and grouse season.

[Lunker]

Sorry, but you're late, there are guys who already do this! Not sure if it's legal or not but guys go out with shotguns for these things. I've also seen video of people getting badly damaged faces(ie. broken noses, eye bones, etc) from carp jumping while they are in their boats at high speed.

[ghotierman]

Carp muck up the bottom and increase turbidity in the water. The effects the spawning areas of other game species, as well as aquatic vegetation and microorganisms essential on the lower end of the food chain for game fish. They are also voracious and quick to grow. A carp will grow to nearly five pounds in a year. They can throw an eco-system out of whack.

As for disposing of them. They are good when smoked. Not unlike smoked salmon. Great for fertilizer too. But above all, it is important NOT to wantonly waste because it leaves a bad image on ALL ANGLERS. The folks from ALF or PETA would just love to come across a pile of rotting fish to fuel their cause.

I dropped the dime on a grandma fishing with her grand kids from shore...catching bullheads..(not carp, even) and leaving them on shore..."they're not good for nothing" she said. "It is illegal, and a poor example, " I replied. I called local law enforcement as I left. This area is a public park, next to a restaurant with outdoor seating...imagine the stench!

Let's be good stewards of our sport!