Carp!

[Gellar]

Nope, fried. There used to be a famous restaurant in Omaha called Joe Tess Place. They were famous for fried carp. Even made it on Diners, drive ins, and dives back in the day. There were a couple, other hole in the wall bars in Omaha that used to make it. Now they’re all closed but there’s a little fish place in my town that still serves it. I’ll put a link to their menu. Scroll down and you’ll see the fried carp. I grew up as a little kid with all my older family members going to Omaha on a big night out to eat carp. I had no idea till I became an adult that it was just a here thing and not normal to the rest of the population lol.

https://www.mofishcafe.com/menu

The Kampsville Inn in Kampsville Illinois used to have the best fried buffalo carp. People would travel from miles around. @buckbull is that place still open?

 

[Outlaw99]

Um, next time.i drive through im stopping for the walleye bites and chicken gizzards. That place looks pretty damn good.

Just let me know when you’re coming through and I’ll meet ya there and pick up the tab!

 

[Nick87]

Just let me know when you’re coming through and I’ll meet ya there and pick up the tab!

Tabs all mine bud. I'm gonna have to try and remember that. Good chicken gizzards are bout as good as it gets and i bet that place is legit.
. I'll pick up the tab you give my middle one a ride in the combine.

 

[Laelkhunter]

You got plenty of them (https://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/page/louisiana-carp-removal-program) and anything is edible for a Cajun.

Never seen one. But, I mostly fish in the marsh and local lakes. Specs and redfish are mostly what I catch (and hardhead catfish).

 

[buckbull]

The Kampsville Inn in Kampsville Illinois used to have the best fried buffalo carp. People would travel from miles around. @buckbull is that place still open?

Nope. They finally got tired of dealing with the flooding and closed. They had great fried chicken too.

 

[JV842]

My grandparents pickled and jarred carp once…tasted great, the jarring took care of the y-bones but they said it ended up being too much work.
My uncles used to spear buffalo in the Medina River n we would all get together and grill them…that was good!! Can remember many times sitting on top of one my uncle’s shoulders, holding a lantern, while he would wade the shallows spearing buffalo fish.

 

[Gellar]

Nope. They finally got tired of dealing with the flooding and closed. They had great fried chicken too.

Bummer.

 

[shootbrownelk]

My grandparents pickled and jarred carp once…tasted great, the jarring took care of the y-bones but they said it ended up being too much work.
My uncles used to spear buffalo in the Medina River n we would all get together and grill them…that was good!! Can remember many times sitting on top of one my uncle’s shoulders, holding a lantern, while he would wade the shallows spearing buffalo fish.

The only fish worth pickling is Northern Pike, IMO anyway. I caught plenty of big Pike trolling large red & white Daredevils.

 

[Outlaw99]

Thank you all for giving me an excuse to indulge this afternoon!

 

[buckbull]

Bummer.

It actually was bull dozed. Just a parking lot now.

 

[Gellar]

It actually was bull dozed. Just a parking lot now.

I’m sure the insides were all moldy and rotten from constant wet.

 

[Robg2]

I used to catch them in the Milwaukee River just for the fight. Then kill them and leave them for the raccoons and skunks.

And for my dog to roll in.

 

[Robg2]

 

[jrabq]

I caught one about 5 pounds on a fly rod, great fight!

I tried to make it edible, I failed .

 

[IDiot]

Buffalo are not carp. Asian carp have decent flavor but are a bony mess. Don't know about grass, common, or mirror carp.

 

[Gerald Martin]

I used to enjoy shooting them with a bow, but I havent shot one since I learned to catch them on a fly rod.

I was camping out on the Missouri River last weekend. Guys in the campsite next to us were wrapping up five days of their annual carp camp. One of them drives ten hours from British Columbia to catch and release carp on the fly. They said they had landed 17 between the two of them that day. I didn’t catch a single walleye in the four hours I was fishing….. I’m thinking that 8-15lb carp on the fly is intriguing

 

[R.K.]

Buffalo are not carp. Asian carp have decent flavor but are a bony mess. Don't know about grass, common, or mirror carp.

Buffalo are native suckers, and have white meat with a high fat content. Fantastic eating, scored and fried. Redhorse are best, but I’ll take a pound of fried buffalo any day.

Grass carp are white meat, but have a large, very dark red line that needs to be removed. Y-bones are also an issue.

Asian carp are an even bigger issue with the red meat, but the smell on the outside is what turns me off.

Common and mirror carp have orange/red meat, and are extraordinarily oily/fishy. I think if you could purge and bleed one, it would be good smoked. But for the effort involved, they rank pretty low on my preference list.

 

[Robg2]

Steve Rinella has a video where he cooked common carp and thought it was decent fried. But as Newberg once said, just because Rinella eats it doesn’t mean it’s edible.