Well, I finally got up to Jackson Lake, west of Wiggins, CO. It was a waste of time. Irrigation demands is draining the lake about 12" to 18" a day and will do so for the next fifteen days. The only thing biting was the carp and mosquitoes. I talked to a few fishermen and they weren't catching anything to write home about. Because of the rapid change in water level, catfish, wiper, saugeye, walleye and bass were off their feed. By the time the water stops dropping, they'll be swimming in mud.
Speaking of carp. There was a large school, numbering approximately 100, swimming around the outlet. At first I thought the dark patches was just dead brush, but no, it moved. And there were some good size ones in the school, rivaling a small torperdo. I was tempted to break out the fishing gear and try for a few, just for the fun of it. Really Dave, I would have released any I caught.
The situation reminded me of my fishing days back in Waco, in the summertime of 1958 and 1959, below the Lake Waco dam. I'd make myself a batch of dough bait (my Mom sure got mad at what I did to her pots), get out there early (just to pick out my favorite spot) and throw the line in the water. Usually I didn't catch much, a small catfish here and there and maybe a small carp. I just enjoyed being outside, even if I did bake in the hot Texas summer sun. Well, on one particular morning, something grabbed my dough bait and took off. I'm here to tell you, I had a whale of a time playing that one. After I finally had it in hand, it turned out to be a 26# carp, the biggest I'd ever caught at that time. Carp may not be pretty, they may not taste good (too many bones) and they may be called trash fish but get one on your line and you'll have the time of your life.
Have a nice day.
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Hey there johnincolorado,
Carp from clear running water make some of the best freshwater sushi you can imagine. I guess the main problem is that most of the chefs that know how to cut the carp into paper thin slices might take a little while to get your order to you from Japan.
Carp is a very sweet, odorless, white meat.
JapanRon
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most of them sushi chefs are already in vegas. . . colorado's a short trip
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I've never tried sushi. Rattlesnake, yes but not raw fish.
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Hey, JapanRon. Thanks for the info. I've also heard that if carp is pressure-cooked, the bones are very tender but, for some reason, I've just never gotten around to using that method. I've also thought about trying a local fishing hole, Chatfield Reservoir, another prime fishing empoundment under attack from water-users. It's great for Walleye, bass, crappie, trout, catfish and wiper when the water level holds steady but once it starts to drop, it throws the fish off their feed. What really gets my shorts twisted is that we're still in a drought but as long as our water capacity is close to 50%, the Denver Water Board is waving their arms in glee. Typical politian.
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here in the mid=west , " freshwater whitefish " is well the old bugle mouth bass . imitation crab meat ( po man's crab )is nothing more than sheephead ( freshwater drum ) .
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I don't think the walleyes ever quit biting at Chatfield. Even been catching them through the ice these last couple years. Here pretty soon, till next spring don't bring anything but jigging spoons.
Been to Jackson a few times, but never had much luck.
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I've been meaning to fish Chatfield but just haven't made the time to drive down from Brighton. I read in the Wednesday fishing report that smallmouth and crappie are doing a fantastic job of biting. Don't look for me this weekend, I'm staying home and off the roads. Besides, just picked up Clive Cussler's new book to read under the shade tree with a cold Corona.
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I haven't tried the carp sushi. I stick to salt water fish for my sushi and sashimi, that use raw fish, except for salmon roe. I guess that might be considered salt/fresh water, huh? Somewhere, I heard there was a parasite problem, at least in this country, eating raw freshwater fish. Any truth to that?
I have, however, eaten carp in miso soup. I've also eaten pressure cooked carp. Carp is really a good tasting fish. To me its somewhere between the extremely light, dry taste of trout and the heavy, oily taste of salt water fish. Definitely better than a largemouth or Northern and closer to Crappie, Walleye and Cats.
I find it amusing how johnincolorado is so selective in what he reads or hears, or at least follows through from his reading or listening. He says carp tastes bad, but after you challenged him on that point, he said he's heard pressure cooked carp is good, but hasn't tried it. While bitching how water users are drawing down the levels in our reservoirs, John passes along, as gospel, that the water user caused fluctuating water levels in Chatfield cause fish, including walleye, to be "off their feed" yet when challenged by EricCo who says he has great luck on Walleye at Chatfield regardless, johnincolorado lets out he's read that the small mouth and crappie are biting great there but that he hasn't even fished Chatfield! One, by the way, drives up to Chatfield from John's home in Brighton, not down as he indicates.
Last year John was bitching about all the fires and low water in this state and how bad the fishing was. I'm not sure if he actually went out, but last year ranked high with me as a good, if not one of the best years I've had stream fishing for trout.
Another posting of his, complained mightily about Colorado's horrendous West Nile plague. Even though he inferred he was worried to death that his daughter and granddaughter might get infected, he was surprised when someone mentioned the propane "powered" mosquito control systems and wanted more information even though I've seen them well stocked around here (which is close to his Brighton) at Lowe's, Wal-Mart, and Home Depot. Though he professes to cruise the Web a lot, he apparently, even with all his fears, didn't type "mosquito control" into a search engine. Doing that would have brought up many alternatives including the propane "powered" units which he hadn't heard of.
His postings are usually extremely negative about Colorado, but he has occasionally boasts of our fishing. In one such posting, I found hilarious how he cautioned readers to "come and fish, but don't stay" and how visitors were fine, but hangers-on weren't. He failed to reveal he came to fish and stayed. He visited us from his Texas and hung-on, exactly like he's telling others not to do!!
These are just a few examples of what I've found offensive in his postings for over a year now. He continues to pollute what should be clean waters of fishing BBS's with his negative attitudes, questionable "expert" statements, half-truths, and drivel -- mostly about Colorado -- which really tic this third generation Coloradan off.
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