Northwest Fishing Reports

Here is a great way to cook that yellow bass!

First, fillet carp and carefully carve out the mud vein that runs parallel to the ribs. Be very careful not to puncture, as it will spoil the meat. This is what people do not realize gives carp the extremely "fishy" taste. After removing the vein. rinse meat thoroughly running cold tap water through the fillet and gently rubbing out any excess blood. Soak fillets in a salt/ teryaki brine for 12-18 hours. Soak a cedar plank ( the kind you use for salmon) an hour before you remove fillets from brine. After you remove the fillets, Pour the brine water over the cedar plank and soak for another 30 minutes or so. For the ingredients you will need:

1/2 cup of flour
1/2 cup of dijon mustard
1/2 tsp of tarragon
1 tsp of salt
1/4 cup of milk
1 whole cucumber chopped
1/4 cup of apple vinegar
1 cup of shitake sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup of margarine



Mix ingredients in a medium sauce pan and simmer to make a thick cucumber sauce. In another pan melt butter and quick fry the mushrooms. Fire up the BBQ and when coals are ready, place fish on cedar board and cook uncovered for about 10-12 minutes. When you can flake the fillets with a fork, pour the cucumber sauce over the fish and let it soak in for about 1 minute. The excess will drip off the fish, over the plank and through the grill, that's OK, there will be enough to saturate the fillets. pour the mushrooms over the fish as well and cook until they dry out a little, probably a minute or so. Carefully remove the fillets(board will be hot so wear some oven mitts). Carefully remove fillets from board and throw in the nearest trash can and enjoy your cucumber sauced cedar board with shitake mushrooms!!!

Yeah, makes sense to me. In Eroupe carp are one of the main fresh water fish they eat. In the summer of 98 a friend and I fillet a carp that I speared in Long lake. I then cut the fillet into long strips and deep fried it and it was awsome, except for certain peices and I will bet it was that vien.

Thanks I will be out spearing those carp this june. It is a lot of fun. Also I might try fishing for them I did in Missouri using corn and or a cheezit dough bait.

does carp taste similar to any other fish? If so,what?
I've never had carp.

I have another recipe for carp I'll put on .Its called Gefilte-fish.Its a Jewish dish I make every year right before Passover which happens next weekend.The carp is mixed with pike and or whitefish.Formed into balls with Matzoh Meal and eggs.Boiled in water,then put into a good fish stock.They are eaten as a apetizer and usually best with some extra hot ground horseradish.

Have any of you guys ever cleaned a carp? I cleaned my first carp about a month ago. They have bright red meat and guts similar to what a human would have, and the thickest bones I have ever seen in a fish. It was unlike any fish I have ever cleaned. I had a razor sharp knife that I had sharpened for about a 1/2 hour, by the time I was done filleting the carp it was completely dull. Plus is took me 10 minutes to "saw" a fillet, I didnt even bother with the 2nd fillet. By the time I got done cleaning it there was no way I could stomach eating the thing.

gpc wrote:Have any of you guys ever cleaned a carp? I cleaned my first carp about a month ago. They have bright red meat and guts similar to what a human would have, and the thickest bones I have ever seen in a fish. It was unlike any fish I have ever cleaned. I had a razor sharp knife that I had sharpened for about a 1/2 hour, by the time I was done filleting the carp it was completely dull. Plus is took me 10 minutes to "saw" a fillet, I didnt even bother with the 2nd fillet. By the time I got done cleaning it there was no way I could stomach eating the thing.

gpc, they are an odd fish internally. I have fished Tuna sence carp and I noticed a simularity. Esp the red meat and boy they can bleed like a tuna. Sometimes when spearing them and you are trying to hold them, they can bleed a large red cloud, like you poured a bucket of blood in the water. I LOL ...... real loud when I read about your experience cleaning a carp, brings back memories!

Kevinb, It is hard to describe how they taste. The closest I can think of is like a cross between fresh tuna and catfish maybe?

eustace wrote:

gpc wrote:Have any of you guys ever cleaned a carp? I cleaned my first carp about a month ago. They have bright red meat and guts similar to what a human would have, and the thickest bones I have ever seen in a fish. It was unlike any fish I have ever cleaned. I had a razor sharp knife that I had sharpened for about a 1/2 hour, by the time I was done filleting the carp it was completely dull. Plus is took me 10 minutes to "saw" a fillet, I didnt even bother with the 2nd fillet. By the time I got done cleaning it there was no way I could stomach eating the thing.

gpc, they are an odd fish internally. I have fished Tuna sence carp and I noticed a simularity. Esp the red meat and boy they can bleed like a tuna. Sometimes when spearing them and you are trying to hold them, they can bleed a large red cloud, like you poured a bucket of blood in the water. I LOL ...... real loud when I read about your experience cleaning a carp, brings back memories!

Kevinb, It is hard to describe how they taste. The closest I can think of is like a cross between fresh tuna and catfish maybe?

Yeah they are pretty nasty fish. When we caught it we thumped it over the head and put it in a cooler, no ice, no water just an empty cooler. 3 hours later it was still breathing and making a farting noise. When we bled the fish it took forever and there was a ton of blood. It also reminded me of a tuna, acctaully very tasty looking meat.

If memory serves, Carp meat is a white meat, much like panfish, bass, walleyey, etc. That said, obviously the carp's diet is much different than that of the before mentioned fish, and probably does have a much "fishier" taste. However, it must be decent enough tasting, as many countries probably roll their eyes at Americans for considering the carp a "crap" fish (get the pun?). In fact, in some countries in Europe the carp is a traditional meal for Christmas Eve (wikipedia). Additionally, it is a very popular cuisine fish in Japan. My wife is japanese, and has eaten it before in japan, and she said it was probably the best fish she has ever eaten. Of course, carp raised in pens for the sole purpose of eating, verses carp that have been living in the mud in a lake for years, are probably going to have a different taste as well.

I have found that soaking fish in a water/ baking powder mixture immediately after fileting will drastically cut down the 'fishy' taste. I honestly think that if a person could get past the look of the fish, soak it in baking soda, and prepare it in a manner used to cook other white meat fish, it would actually be tasty. The way I would prepare it is the same way I would prepare bass -- deep fried. Anything tastes good deep fried, and when deep fried, the fishy taste dissapears almost completely. Here is a recipe I posted last year that would probably work decent with carp:

http://www.washingtonlakes.com/Forum/vi ... .php?t=424

All I know is that you should smoke it or bury it in the garden....

The beer batter recipe beerman posted is an awsome recipe. I have tried many and this is the best one I have found. I have tried it on crappie, perch, catfish, trout, flounder, sole and a few other store bought white meated fish. Plus I have used for onions, green beans, and bell peppers. All were fantastic. I even skipped the eggs 1 time (just didnt have any at the time) and it still turned out fine.

beerman1981 wrote:If memory serves, Carp meat is a white meat, much like panfish, bass, walleyey, etc. That said, obviously the carp's diet is much different than that of the before mentioned fish, and probably does have a much "fishier" taste.

www.roughfish.com wrote:The carp is the top gamefish in the world - more people rate the Carp as their most sought-after fish than any other. The Carp also exceeds all other fish in pounds eaten per year. The reasons that the Carp is the most popular fish to catch in the world are many. First and foremost, they are big, tough fish...Adult carp feed mainly on aquatic insects, but have been known to eat minnows, seeds, and crayfish as well.

Larry Dahlberg wrote:Trout fishermen look at the world through a drinking straw

I think the same could be said of bass fisherman...

I have only been fishing for two years and have not targeted carp, but they are on my list for this spring/summer. I seek to subdue all that swim.

If anyone is interested in a real recipe for carp click here!

I still say eat the cedar plank. Let me tell you a story. When I was in high school, one of my close friend's parents were from Missouri. They were outdoorsy people and they loved a good meal. On Sundays, after church, they would always invite my family over for Sunday lunch. She was a great cook and made some of the best fried chicken I have ever had. Her boys were big so she would make a huge feast. One Sunday, they invited us over and she had deep fried these long oval things that were breaded in corn meal. They smelled so delicious, and she had two platters of them, on each end of the dining table. The dad took a few and threw a bunch of tabasco sauce on them and just wolfed them down. Actually all of them did. I asked what they were and they said if they told me, I wouldn't eat it. Well, I ate my first bullhead there and they used to chop of the tail of the bullhead and deep fry that too with a bunch of tabasco and I tried that and it wasn't that bad. Tasted like a spicy potato chip. So I knew it was going to be weird, but I trusted her because she could cook anything and make it taste good. Well, they finally told me what that oval breaded dish was. Carp eggs! I took one put some tabasco on it, popped it in my mouth and the first bite I took it exploded and I had all these little slimy eggs, that felt like pop rocks slithering around my toungue. It was the grossest experience I have ever had. I ran to the bathroom and puked every little thing I had in me. I could never make it on Fear Factor. True story!!

beerman1981 wrote:If memory serves, Carp meat is a white meat, much like panfish, bass, walleyey, etc. That said, obviously the carp's diet is much different than that of the before mentioned fish, and probably does have a much "fishier" taste. However, it must be decent enough tasting, as many countries probably roll their eyes at Americans for considering the carp a "crap" fish (get the pun?). In fact, in some countries in Europe the carp is a traditional meal for Christmas Eve (wikipedia). Additionally, it is a very popular cuisine fish in Japan. My wife is japanese, and has eaten it before in japan, and she said it was probably the best fish she has ever eaten. Of course, carp raised in pens for the sole purpose of eating, verses carp that have been living in the mud in a lake for years, are probably going to have a different taste as well.

I have found that soaking fish in a water/ baking powder mixture immediately after fileting will drastically cut down the 'fishy' taste. I honestly think that if a person could get past the look of the fish, soak it in baking soda, and prepare it in a manner used to cook other white meat fish, it would actually be tasty. The way I would prepare it is the same way I would prepare bass -- deep fried. Anything tastes good deep fried, and when deep fried, the fishy taste dissapears almost completely. Here is a recipe I posted last year that would probably work decent with carp:

http://www.washingtonlakes.com/Forum/vi ... .php?t=424

Beerman1981, The meat does turn white after cooking it (kinda). Just like Tuna does after being cooked. And yes that recipie is awsome. I think it is a shame how we percieve edibility of some of our fish, mainly due to a bias.

Put enough time/process into anything and the fillets taste will be masked by the process, sounds like thats what is being done here.

here's a good way to prep carp; http://dnr.state.il.state.il.us/fish/carpprep.pdf smaller carp taste better than the big ones and you can prep them easier with out denting your fine edged knife. as with all my fish, i like to let them set in the fridge for a least a day with a little salted water to get the most blood out. mainly for the bigger fish such as bass, pike, crappie and sunfish if they are big. carp are like tuna the cheaper canned tuna has alot of the what i call the "mud vein" its the darker meat that has a strong taste the more expensive cans is the white flesh. same goes for carp. proper preperation makes for better eating of this fish. the stores in the midwest sell smoked carp and i've eat'n alot of it years ago when i lived in minnesota. like any fish smoked it's how you prep it that makes it a great treat:chef:

:chef: here is some more recipes that you can try :chef:

http://www.bassonhook.com/fishforfood/carprecipes.html

or if you have time look up "cooking carp" :thumleft:

gpc wrote:Have any of you guys ever cleaned a carp? I cleaned my first carp about a month ago. They have bright red meat and guts similar to what a human would have, and the thickest bones I have ever seen in a fish. It was unlike any fish I have ever cleaned. I had a razor sharp knife that I had sharpened for about a 1/2 hour, by the time I was done filleting the carp it was completely dull. Plus is took me 10 minutes to "saw" a fillet, I didnt even bother with the 2nd fillet. By the time I got done cleaning it there was no way I could stomach eating the thing.

here is a sharpener that i'm going to try out with my fillet knives, just set it next to the cleaning station and you'll be able to clean "hundreds" of CARP with a sharp blade this is almost like what the Jennio's turkey deboning line use's to keep the knives razor sharp for hours of cutting the meat off the bones.

SORRY here's the site. www.ozitech.com

crappiemaster wrote:Here is a great way to cook that yellow bass!

First, fillet carp and carefully carve out the mud vein that runs parallel to the ribs. Be very careful not to puncture, as it will spoil the meat. This is what people do not realize gives carp the extremely "fishy" taste. After removing the vein. rinse meat thoroughly running cold tap water through the fillet and gently rubbing out any excess blood. Soak fillets in a salt/ teryaki brine for 12-18 hours. Soak a cedar plank ( the kind you use for salmon) an hour before you remove fillets from brine. After you remove the fillets, Pour the brine water over the cedar plank and soak for another 30 minutes or so. For the ingredients you will need:

1/2 cup of flour
1/2 cup of dijon mustard
1/2 tsp of tarragon
1 tsp of salt
1/4 cup of milk
1 whole cucumber chopped
1/4 cup of apple vinegar
1 cup of shitake sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup of margarine



Mix ingredients in a medium sauce pan and simmer to make a thick cucumber sauce. In another pan melt butter and quick fry the mushrooms. Fire up the BBQ and when coals are ready, place fish on cedar board and cook uncovered for about 10-12 minutes. When you can flake the fillets with a fork, pour the cucumber sauce over the fish and let it soak in for about 1 minute. The excess will drip off the fish, over the plank and through the grill, that's OK, there will be enough to saturate the fillets. pour the mushrooms over the fish as well and cook until they dry out a little, probably a minute or so. Carefully remove the fillets(board will be hot so wear some oven mitts). Carefully remove fillets from board and throw in the nearest trash can and enjoy your cucumber sauced cedar board with shitake mushrooms!!!

Sorry, I found the cedar board had a fishy taste, I think it was from the yellow bass you suggested I place on top.

muskyhunter wrote:All I know is that you should smoke it or bury it in the garden....

I tried to smoke it but couldn't keep it lit...... Burying sounds great