Preparing carp for cooking

[Questor]

I like fishing for carp, but have had no luck cleaning them and preparing them for cooking. I've heard that they're good to eat. My only two attempts at cleaning them looked like the Texas Chainsaw Massacre Meets The Aftermath of a Rocket Attack on Seaworld. Yechh! Blood and scales everywhere.

What's the trick to cleaning carp? Can you direct me to a site that shows pictures of the procedure?

Thanks.

[sparcebag]

Where ya from Questor??May 1st I'll be cleaning some.

[so haaad]

Clean them like any other fish. Just fillet them out and they are ready for the smoker. I think suckers/redhorse/tullibee are much better tasting than carp. If you agree, then the next time you can just leave them whole and saute them with garden dirt.

[CRAKSHOT]

A female carp,out of cold water is hard to beat.To clean them,slip-scale them,with a sharp knife,cutting against the scales,leaving the skin on,then fillet off the back bone.Flip skin-side down,and score thru the fillet,about a quarter of an inch apart,from one end to the other,without cutting thru the skin.bread them,and deep fry.There's a mud line in the middle,just eat around that.They are also good smoked or pressure canned.

[sparcebag]

Crank; I'm gonna try your method! But why a female? and cant I remove what you call mudline before cooking?

[CRAKSHOT]

No,you really cant cut out the mudline,when you score them,cause you leave the skin intact,and just score down thru the flesh.Hen fish have a lot less mudiness to them,than the males.Make sure your knife is sharp,and cut down thru fillet,that way,you'll cut down thru the Y-bones,stop,before you cut the skin of the fillet.That way when you deep fry them the Y-bones are somewhat cooked,and they are short.

[Scott K]

I will stick to walleye and panfish!

[Trophycatch]

I have eaten carp for many years prepared many different ways, but here's my favorite.

Carp Noodles, No there is not actually noodles, however, fillet the carp just like any other fish, from gill to tail. Remove the scales using fillet knife like you would a crappie. Now you have a large side of fish. Make sure your fillet knife is very sharp. Use a cutting board to lay the fish side on. Start at the tail end cutting completely through the fish, making the cuts a little less than 1/4 inch apart, working forward toward the rib cage. The pieces will be like small french fries. When you get to the ribs cut through leaving two ribs in a piece. The hair bones in the side are now so small (cut up) they will fry out completely. Batter with your favorite mix and flash fry in hot grease. Its like eating meaty carp french fries. The larger rib pieces have no hair bones so there like carp corn dogs.