What to do with harvested carp?

[Yukonman]

What are some ideas on what to do with harvested carp? I want to be responcible and discard them in the right place. Is there a list of mink farmers? Or does the dnr provide dump areas?

Last year the first time out we filled a 55 gallon drum and the guy I was with said he knew where to get rid of them. Well we drove down a dirt road and at the bottom of two hills where no one could see us we dump it out. I knew it was wrong when we did it but I didn't know what else to do. After that I just trophy hunted for the big ones only taking one or two per outing. Then freezing them and put them in the garbage on pick up day froze.

I am in the St. Cloud area.

Please Help????

[Ralph Wiggum]

That's a good question and I hope there are some others with good suggestions. Like you mentioned, mink farmers will probably take them, as will anyone with hogs. I wish I knew of some hog farmers, though. I've used the garbage, like you, but I'm not a real big fan of it.

Anyone???

[DeanoB]

smoke 'em and eat 'em, or see if McDonald's wants them for their Filet o' Fish sandwich

[glenn57]

mcdonalds fillet of fish, now thats funny i dont care who you are! kinda true though. carp makes good fertilizer buried in the garden.

[sparcebag]

A while back I used carp & fish entrails in my garden my tomato garden only.Lots of em!! My tomatos actually tasted fishy,so now a few here & there,but not like I was.I now limit how many I can take,some smokers early season,some for fertilizer,some for a mulch pile,then I quit takein um,nowhere to dispose of them!

[Yukonman]

I don't intend to eat hundreds of carp nor do I have the will to go through that much work smoking them. Due to them being an exotic species I don't mind finding a way to discard them.

As far as McDonalds go. Lets be serious here. (A) no serious food processing plant would touch bow shot fish that have been sitting in the sun, in a barrel, with flys all over them. ( I am looking for serious answer to a problem many face with what to do with unwanted carp.

DeanoB -- I don't think I will be visiting any McDonalds in Dodge co. anymore.

I see to many people discard them near the waters in which they came. When they rot, chemicals are released that have a negitive affect on the lake or river.

Also who wants to dig a hole to contain 55 gallons of carp?

[sparcebag]

 Originally Posted By: Yukonman

I don't intend to eat hundreds of carp nor do I have the will to go through that much work smoking them. Due to them being an exotic species I don't mind finding a way to discard them.

As far as McDonalds go. Lets be serious here. (A) no serious food processing plant would touch bow shot fish that have been sitting in the sun, in a barrel, with flys all over them. ( I am looking for serious answer to a problem many face with what to do with unwanted carp.

DeanoB -- I don't think I will be visiting any McDonalds in Dodge co. anymore.

I see to many people discard them near the waters in which they came. When they rot, chemicals are released that have a negitive affect on the lake or river.

Also who wants to dig a hole to contain 55 gallons of carp?

To be a responsible carp bowperson an effort has to be taken to keep the sport from negitive views.Reading your post Its my opinion you should avoid archery carpin it does take work and you state you dont want to do much but kill em.

Chemicals released???? Neg.impact????

So please take up a different sport!

[glenn57]

yukonman, in my opinion the mcdonalds thing was a joke! in other words i dont eat fish i dont catch and/ or clean. real fishermen dont go out to eat fish.

[Burnham]

i think he is trying to find a way to still use the fish(not just waste them), even though they are invasive we can still find a use for them. i dont really have any ideas, other than give them to a farmer, and that was already mentioned..personally i dont think i'd eat a carp and i dont think he wants too

[mrklean]

I would advice finding a neighbor or friend who have compost piles, hog farmer, or post something on hsolist. Someones junk is another persons treasure. So your carp could be what someone wants.

[Dooley87]

there is a mink farm in richmond, Lang's Mink Farm

18627 Cedar Island Lk Rd, Richmond, MN 56368 (320) 597-3400 my buddies dad works there part time in the winter in between chores and milking.

[poutpro]

sometimes bait dealers will take them for leech traps.

[Yukonman]

Bearbait87 thanks, that is the type of information I am looking for.

I would like to keep this thread going for others to find places to dispose of their fish.

Sparcebag: This post is intended for resposible bowfisherman. The main chemical that is release by rotting fish is amonia. I dout resposible bowfisherman would want to release that into there favorite lake or river. I am sorry I pushed your buttons. I think bowfishing is a great sport. I am going to pass it on to my son and daughter.

[Gordie]

sparcebag hit it on the head. best fertilizer on the market,it makes the maters really good. I used to work for a guy that buried them and rasied maggots for fishing. once you get past the stink its not that bad.

Check to see if any farmers in your area want them for fertilizer or hog food.

[protrapper]

look for some mink and coon trappers they will buy the carp from you. usally about 10 cents a pound.

[sparcebag]

I've also given them to Somalians,SE Asians,smoked and raw.But I still cant get rid of all I could skewer.

[mncarphntr]

This is probably the number one biggest problem facing serious bowfishermen, what to do with the catch? Everything I dont smoke or keep for bear bait goes into a manure pile for compost, a couple tons per year. The compost I sell to neighboring berry farmers or nurseries or spread it on my fields. This works great for me, I can use all I get but obviously not everyone has a manure pile, loader tractor and fields to put it on. There are places that will take the fish though, as mentioned mink farms or livestock farms, also some compost operations will take them in. The leg work has to be done before hand though, not when you have two 55's full of fish starting to stink! Everyone that plans to get serious about this owes it to the sport to line up some sort of disposal options because it will be a problem and dumping in the ditch or landing is not an option.

[goblueM]

Yeah, the hmong people love carp, so make friends with a few and let them know you'll be giving away free carp. Heck, I've even seen carp fillets in Rainbow Foods in St. Paul before...

[Rodbldr4fun]

I suspect if you advertised free carp, you would get takers. The are good smoked if you take the mud line off them. They are also good as canned mock salmon.

[sparcebag]

I do eat carp smoked and fillets with latteral line removed,I never did eat fillets till I had asian neighbors,I put the word out I could supply some,I had more takers than carp,Eastside of St.Paul

Now I'm by Willmar and I'm thinking of a ad in the paper,Just one, if I'd get takers word of mouth seems to work well.

[Dooley87]

if that mink farm i listed don't take um im pretty sure my buddy would let you dump em in their manure pit for a very small fee if none, let me know and i can talk to him.

[DTro]

http://www.fishingminnesota.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/1350660#Post1350660

[ec30_06]

I am fortunate enough to know a lot of older people that like to take them and smoke them. When I have more than I can get rid of they usually get buried in a garden. When that gets full they go to my friends farm. Plenty of things to do with them there. Some lakes the fish taste weedy on, no one eats them. Those usually go into the manure pile and eventually spred on the field. Suckers go into the freezer for bait

[bassNspear]

you guys really dont eat them after you smoke them do you? When i worked at the meat market years back, i remember all the guys that usta bring them things in, and man, they are still shaking when you bring them out of the smoke house have 12 hrs of smoke on them.

[PerchJrkr]

i had a game warden tell me a couple years back to find a field. the farmer will love you for it. we had about 200-300 suckers