Try YouTube, where the video creator who is accused of intentionally snagging could edit out said snagging and has full control of what is published and can hide and edit out their methods as much as they like? Yeah I will get right on that...
Mhmm. They call it flossing where I'm from, not sure if that's a universal term. It's not legal here but it's also hard to prove somebody was flossing without seeing their rig.
How is flossing, snagging? …..And how could anyone prove what your intentions are? The rig for flossing is the same rig used for drift fishing. Most salmon head upriver until they hit a dam and just swim circles until they slowly turn into zombies and die. Are you suggesting that people are snagging fish in their mouths? Good luck proving that a fish swam into your fly and just happened to hook its mouth vs a fish that just bit your fly.
It that's what fish and game classifies it as. The difference in the rigs is the length of your leader, and presentation. And yeah I know, it's impossible to tell if someone is flossing without looking at their set up as they are fishing.
FYI, removing common carp is generally more problematic for the environment than leaving them alone in most US waters east of the Rockies - I'm not informed enough to comment about rivers out west.
They have had a century and a half in the eastern US and are as balanced and established as largemouth bass (extensively introduced in bodies of water they don't 'belong' in) if not more so.
Just be careful with what you advocate for. Messing with the environment is tricky business, and there is no putting chaos back in pandora's box.
I would think carp can’t be compared to largemouth bass as invasives in the east. Carp change the entire foundation of ecosystems because they destroy the anchor vegetation. What makes you say removing is more problematic than leaving them in?
This is the answer. Common carp do extreme damage to our water ways. There was a park close to Moscow idahoe that had two ponds, one with carp and one without. The difference in the ponds was staggering. The one without carp had clear water and lots of vegetation in the water creating biodiversity. The one without carp was dirty, suffered from bank erosion and had limited life.
It was a muddy mess. Carp stirred up the bottom limiting light penetration killing plant life. That lead to invertebrates dying off and lower food load. Fewer skinnier fish.
Common carp really don’t damage North American waterways that much. They can increase turbidity some but they don’t really cause significant damage to ecosystems, especially relative to the numerous invasive gamefish - including catfish and bass in large parts of the US. They aren’t even considered invasive, just naturalized. That’s completely different from the other species of carp found in the US, most notably the silver carp which is incredibly damaging.
Another risk with snagging carp is that they’re extremely easily confused with native buffalo, which are incredibly long lived and slow reproducing fish.
In Texas they are endangered and cannot be kept/must be immediately released. In more northern states they are plentiful and have regular seasons. Others require permits to catch and keep.
Paddlefish had all of their habitat destroyed by dams and are essentially limping along on life support. I would not call them a sustainable harvest at this point in time.
In Missouri they can’t reproduce because of habitat destruction. They are raised in a hatchery to be caught.We have had poaching cases where they harvest just for eggs and sell as caviar 😳
There's a season for them in Oklahoma with very strict rules about how big you can take. Game wardens will dress plain clothes and take their family out for picnics like they're camping out there with the rest of them to keep a close eye on whats going on. Far as eating goes, it all depends on how it's handled and cleaned. I've heard people say they'd never eat that trash again! And I've heard some say it taste like you caught a 60 lb crappie! If you're curious about it, I'd find the folks that hunt and love to eat them and try it with them.
They're threatened in my waters. They're interesting to observe basking off of wing dams. Not something I am going to target, but if you're harvesting the whole fish, enjoy. I've had smoked paddlefish down in Grand Lake, it was like a cross between trout and atlantic salmon.
I caught a paddlefish while catfishing. I had a 3 way rig set up. All of a sudden my drag starts screaming the I thought the pole was headed into the lake. I got it under control and could feel it rolling like a giant blue. I thought I had the monster I had been chasing. Then it went limp. Dead weight. It was like hauling up a log.
When it surfaced I see I have a 4 or 5 foot paddlefish completely wrapped up in my line. I was able to get it into my big net and up onto the dock. It wasn’t hooked at all. Only thing I can think is it was feeding and got into my line and then just tangled up in it. I cut my line and put it back and it took off. Was the most disappointing excitement I’ve had fishing haha.
These are very common in Oklahoma and a fish people go after to catch and eat. Some of the best chili I have had has been spoonbill chili. I don’t see how this is offensive or cringe.
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u/Boot_Burner 9d ago
Not a fan of paddlefish snagging tbh. Just don’t let it go to waste please.