Common US Carp

One outdoor activity that is slowly gaining popularity among anglers in the United States is sport fishing for the common U.S. carp. Without getting into the complicated field of identifying individual species of carp, the common carp is loosely defined as any fish that falls under the name Cyprinus carpio. They are similar in appearance to bigmouth and small mouth buffalos, and can be found in a wide array of environments, all across North America. The closest relative of the common carp is the gold fish, and in nature these two species commonly hybridize.

Common carp were originally found only in temperate regions of Asia, in rivers that emptied into the Black Sea and the Aegean Sea and small clusters in Europe such as the Danube. Today, they are prevalent in every U.S. state except for Alaska. They can also be found in South America, Africa, Australia, and New Zealand, which shows just how resourceful and adaptive carp are.

Common carp are a sturdy breed of fish which can survive in a variety of water and bottom conditions. As such they are a good fish to find in slow moving or stagnant water and do quite thrive quite well in ponds.

If carp are not in a habitat suited to their liking they can convert the habitat to one more suited for them. Several species of carp are listed as invasive species. Because they are bottom fish they will often eat, uproot or destroy the plant life in a body of water. This destruction of the plant life can starve out the fish that feed on these plants. The elimination of these plants also reduces the amount of oxygen in the water which can reduce the number of less hardy fish.

Carp can also increase the overall turbulance of the water, throwing silt back into it reducing the amount of light these plants get for photosynthesis. Consequently, some species of carp will simply take over a region and squeeze out their competition.

Whether hunting for food or hunting for sport, carp are a decent sized fresh water fish that can put of a good fight on the end of your pole. There are fishing organizations dedicating themselves to educating anglers more about the carp including bait and hook configurations, rods and reels and habitat fishing to make for a more successful outing when angling for the common U.S. carp.