2010-05-22 Mendo Panfish Patrol

Great photos--those sunnies and crappies are great eating--and great practice to hone your filleting skills!

I trolled around the NE shore and up and down the channel for stripers without a nudge or nip Saturday a week ago.  Saw some awesome schools of basking carp--I would say up to 40 inches and over 20 pounds.  Talked with a yakker who fishes for them with light tackle, a black crappie jig baited with corn.  Said he hooks up pretty regularly.  (I have tried pretty much everything in my box without success...)

Not much to offer on preparing the carp for the table.  They are usually classified as trash fish and condemned for stirring up the bottom sediment and eating spawning eggs from nests of game fish.  But local Hispanics angle agressively for them for dinner and they do feature in European and Oriental cuisine.  I myself have eaten carp just once as Szechuan hot and sour fish and it was mighty tasty--but with the garlic, hot pepers & vinegar, gym shoes would probably have been mighty tasty too.  A friend says bleed them from the gills and the tail right after catch, then soak in milk after gutting 7 scaling.  Don't bother filleting because you will never get all the bones out.  Just figure on picking them out after it's cooked.

Tight lines, loose women...

I'm not about to bother with filleting sunfish when they can just be fried whole!



Granted, the have some bones that are sure to puncture something important if you don't get them out before swallowing....

I too, have had no luck in catching carp at mendo though I see them almost every time I fish.  A few years ago I hooked a mirror carp in the 30+ pound class on my girlfriend's family farm pond in Ohio. It took both of us in the 16ft canoe on quite the sleigh ride. I can't wait to actually hook up with one on the yak.  It hit a rapala like a freight train, jumped clear out of the water a few times and made her hesitant to ever swim there again 

Like most freshwater fish though, the carp I'm sure are way better eating when the water is cold and clean - even more so since they are primarily vegetarians.  Then again, as you mentioned, anything is tasty with the right sauce@

Great report. Loved the island picnic table! I cooked a carp once. Once. Never again. Now to be honest, it came out of a nasty ass lagoon.

Met a couple of guys yesterday @ woodys buying a cold pack and some worms for mud lake carp...told um I got busted off on 8 lb test few yrs ago, when asked their using 50 braided and 30 test leader.......

Man that pic of fish I'm so freaking Hungry.....   Nice...looks TASTY!!! Thanks for putting the hunger on...  

Nice collection of catches.  Those gills are soooo good deepfried

Gotta love bluegills, little guys are a blast

Oh man, I really want to check out the lake when its that full!!!  The pics are amazing!  Thanks for sharing!!!  When we doing a BAM!?!?