Heads up! Carp coming your way

Josh Buskirk narrowly eascapes one of the many silver carp ecnountered on the boat ride. (By Jon Swaby)

Anyone who has been on the river in the past few years has probably experienced a peculiar phenomenon. Whenever disturbed large silvery fish begin hurling themselves from the water, some propelling themselves as high as seven feet above the surface. The culprit is an invasive species of carp, silver carp specifically, that has taken hold of many waterways throughout the American Midwest. The silver carp was originally imported for aquaculture purposes but made it into American rivers due to flooding.

Once established into the waterways, silver carp quickly multiplied and spread into new ecosystems. They reproduce by a broadcast method of egg laying, that is the female lays free floating eggs that are fertilized by the male. The eggs drift freely downstream until hatching. Without sufficient current the eggs will settle onto the bottom and suffocate in the mud and detritus. Hence the reason they are found primarily in river ecosystems.

On a recent river excursion I was able to experience firsthand the high drama of flying carp. After attending the Newberry festival we had a family outing on the river bank. A few traditional games of corn hole, which my brother-in-law Jimmy and I do at every family gathering, and roasting of hot dogs preceded the main event of river cruising. I waited for the second trip up the river as boats were full for the first trip. My friend Josh was taking his wife and small child out for their first time on the river.

Upon returning to the boat landing I looked at Josh's wife and asked how she liked it. Her response was "Not for me, never again." I wondered what could have been so bad about it as his two year old daughter walked up saying "Boat, fish, ewww." A silver carp had jumped from the water and landed into their boat. I can say from experience that a fifteen pound, slimy, flopping fish can make a real ruckus in a small boat.

Stories told I was ready for my trip on the river. I loaded into the bow of Josh's boat and my youngest son Ayrton climbed into the bow of my nephew's boat. Away we went up the river. It seemed every time we would pass an eddy current or slack water the surface would erupt with carp.

By the time we had gone a mile up the river we had seen about 25 carp. Going full throttle upstream I hear Josh give out a yelp as I hear a solid thump in the boat. I turn around to see him holding his side and a large carp flopping around in the boat. Josh had been struck in the side by the fish.

I've witnessed poles being smashed and broken by carp and I have been hit by them myself. In my experience it only seems funny when it happens to someone else.

Silver carp seem to be here to stay and all we can do is adjust. Be careful out there. As soon as you're looking the other way a flying carp may be coming your way too.

A little side note: A couple of years ago I decided to cook some of the silver carp that landed in our boat. I had always had a negative outlook on eating carp, based on what I had heard through the years about the common carp having a muddy taste. The silver carp was a complete surprise to me, it had a mild, white, flaky meat. Yes it was bony and I had to be creative when filleting it to remove the bones. What I ended up with was "carp nuggets" that when breaded and deep fried was among the best fish I have ever eaten. Sometimes you just have to make the best out of a bad situation.

Jon is a staff writer for the Greene County Daily World. He can be reached by telephone at (812) 847-4487, ext. 21. He can also be reached via email at jonpswaby@gmail.com.