Guys, I appoligise for comming down on you. It is a great fish and you are to be commended for releasing it. I'm glad to hear that it swam away.

We prize these fish just as you would a 10 lb bass. I encourage you to treat these fish as you would a 10 lb bass in future catches.

Relaxin - No surprise to hear that fish fought harder then any bass! Carp and buffalo are VERY strong fish! That is why I love catching them so much, that's why I got hooked on them in the first place. I had NEVER had a fight like the first carp I ever hooked!

And if it whets your appetite to catch more of them...keep in mind that the fish you caught, a Smallmouth Buffalo, can reach over 80 pounds!

And...keep in mind that the Common Carp...is a MUCH harder fighter! Yep, even harder then that big buffalo!

Pretty sweet eh?

Relaxin - Given your upbringing, I'm all the more glad to hear you released it! That's awesome, good for you man, we really appreciate it.

And I am VERY glad to hear that my promotion of the sport and Zack's promotion of the sport has changed your attitude enough for you to put the fish back alive.

THAT is what is is all about.

Relaxin', and Senko, we hope you two will visit our little section of the forum more often!

We would all be VERY happy to hit the water with you two, and put you on more of these big, hard-fighting buffalo, and the even harder-fighting common carp any time you'd like!

A few more of my ramblings...I cut one post into two, lol.

I've been promoting carp fishing on this forum for several years now...Ok, more like a year and a half...

And I have literally seen a revolution in people's attitudes. When I first signed up for this forum, Zack posted a picture of a HUGE carp, and most of the replies were like "Nice trash fish HAHAHA kill it" and garbage like that.

Nowadays, with Zack's pictures and posts and my formerly frequent carping stories and pictures, we really have seen a huge tournament in people's attitudes towards carp, and rough fish in general, and that is very, very rewarding.

We like to think we might be at least in part responsible for the TWPD's changing attitudes towards carp as well!

Just read the Carp Fishing article in the new regulations booklet!

Anyway, I think tt's pretty sad when people think it's a sin to throw a native fish back in the water! (Buffalo of all species after all, are native to our country and the state of Texas! )

I didn't know that had many Smallmouth Buffalo in South Dakato. You may be thinking of carp, though people often get them confused.

Carp were in fact imported, but waaaay back in the 1800s, and trust me, they're very naturalized and integral to many water systems all over our fine country now!

I've done some carping in S.D. myself! I used in live in MN, and my dad sometimes had business trips to SD. So when he had to go out there while I was on summer vacation, I'd go with him, and while he spent the day working, I'd spend the day catching Smallmouth Bass, White Bass, Walleye, and Carp! Pretty sweet deal.

My dad and I saw some really big carp thrown up on the rocks there, and every time I saw it, it pissed me off! I didn't understand why people would waste one of the hardest fighting fish they'd ever catch in fresh water, and I still don't!

Anyway, I know it is very hard to people to break out of the school of thinking that is ingrained in them by their upbringing, and hard to start to consider a "trash fish" something with returning to the water.

So once again, I'd like to say I'm very glad to hear you returned that one to the water!

Also, I think it will probably make it. Buffalo are very hardy fish, we've seen plenty of them more beat up then that swim off just fine.

Brew is right, Stingers all the way through the gills can be damaging to the fish. Most of us carpers would happily do that if we planned to eat the fish, but if we meant to let it go, we'd steer clear of the stringers.

But I do totally understand the desire to get it weighed and photoed! I myself did the same thing with plenty of big carp back in MN when I was younger.

But, I also put stringers just like that through the gills of bass i was going to keep in MN...those bass died awfully fast...when when I did it to carp...the carp were as healthy and active, with no apparently gill damage when I let them go hours later as they were when I put them on the stringer.

Buffalo, like the one you caught, are pretty hearty as well.

If the fish was active and strong, showed no apparent signs of gill damage, and swam off without a problem, he'll probably do alright.

Brew is one of our more adamant defenders of not only our sport, but also our favored sportfish, and we're glad to have him defend our noble quarry, hehe.

As Zack said, it was caught by someone who wanted a picture and a weight. No harm intended and we totally understand and appreciate that Relaxin!

Thanks Starless, Usually I fished the Missouri River in S.D.. When I was younger we caught carp on moss that we gathered off the rocks in the current. Have you ever used this tactic?

No problem!

The only spots I fished in South Dakota are the lakes and rivers around the city of Watertown, not too far from the MN border.

Fished plenty of places in MN though!

Nope, never used algae as bait! Most of my carp have come on Sweet Corn, Doughbait made with oatmeal or wheaties, nightcrawlers, and leeches.

Also caught carp on artificials several times, as well as live minnows.

Bravo to Team Sweet for the catch and the release.

Brew, the 2 biggest buffs in a tank were on a stringer for a couple of hours before I got there to pick them up. They are doing fine. Like Zach said, it's not the recommended way to handle a fish, but it was a circumstance of the situation.

Nice buff, though. I bet that was one heck of a fight!

I meant the 2 biggest buffs in my tank at work. They showed no signs of damage from the stringer, and they actually went straight into the tank b/c of their size.

So you'd catch carp on moss? Sweet! I've tried this sort of technique at a couple places with no success, but then again, it wasn't in South Dakota. By the way, nice fish.

Alan

Yes, the carp were heavily concentrated in the strongest current. Finally figured out they were swimming up to the rocks and eating the moss off of them. So we took trebles and wrapped them in the moss and it was ON!!

I notice carp traveling this type of structure on the bank in the spring in dusk and dawn...there are all kinds of nutrients to be had in the algae like bugs and eggs.

alan

Alan is right.

Most of the time it's actually not the algae itself that the carp are eating, but the other things that can be found hiding it. Snails, insects, insect larvae, etc, all easily found hiding in algae. When you see them sucking on it good idea though!

Yep,

A good way to tell is to pull off a chunk of algae and pull the strands around...you'll see many little things at times. I'll tell ya what though, I caught carp on canibus(sp) dough bait a few years ago....got it from a plant off Lewisville Lake, lol. Just for the record, a couple months later, the plant was gone....so no need to call the policia, lol.

Alan