Caught this in the lake behind my house on the golf course on some 8lb test, and with Mrs. Bairds Buttered Split Top wheat bread.



It was way too cold to fish but my friend and I were bored, he had to walk in the water to get it, and he was a little cold afterwards, but he managed.

Nice fish! What's with the gate?

Can't say for sure from the pics ( Can't see the head/mouth and dorsal fin that well ) But I Think that's actually a White Amur, not a carp.

Whats the face, and shorts covered for !?!?

Starless, we have to jump the gate to actually touch water, we can fish from behind it, hence why I am behind it. He just jumped over to get it out of the water. I have been told by many people who know anything about fish that it's definitely a carp.


Not sure, was just bored in MSpaint.

and here is a better shot of the head, excuse the blurryness.

Ah, some fence hopping huh? Would I be correct in assuming you were fishing a golf course or other private pond you shouldn't have? Like...the kind they'd stock White Amur in? Lol.

It looks like a White Amur. White Amur are often called ( Mistakenly ) Grass Carp. They are stocked in places like Golf Course ponds to control Vegetation.

However, Common Carp, one of my favorite fish...Are NOT vegetarians! Lol. People often get them mixed up.

Carp are golden-bronze scaled fish with a broader body then an Amur.

More importantly, Carp have four barbels around their mouth. That's two small whiskers on each side of their mouth, one larger then the other. Also, their mouth orients towards the bottom.

An Amur's mouth faces forward like a bass.

A Carp's dorsal fin extends up into a spike, then runs a long ways down his back.

An Amur's dorsal fin is simply a triangle.


Anyway, without a clear shot of the mouth, showing barbels, or a clear shot of the dorsal fin, I can't say for sure...But it definitely looks like a White Amur ( Grass Carp ) to me!

Common Carp:

Notice the barbels under the mouth, and the shape of the dorsal fin along it's back.

White Amur

Again, note the narrow body shape like your fish, the triangular dorsal fin, and the forward facing mouth with no barbels.

Also, White Amur are more often a bronze color like the fish you caught.

Anyway, could be wrong, but pretty sure that's a White Amur! Kind of cool actually as I've caught TONS of carp, but not yet an Amur!

looks like a grass carp to me.

Starless, I was about to jump on here and say "Man what are you talking about. Of course that's a carp." But after reading your details and seeing your pics I think I'll just shut my mouth. This is a topic best left to the master.

Thanks for the info, everyone will think I am a guru as I correct them!

It is a private lake, on a golf course, but seeing as I live on the golf course, and I pay money to have a membership to the golf course, I feel like I have my right to be there

Cool WA, and circumstances

Big Fish, lol. Yeah, well, what can I say, I've done my research on this species lol.

Havo - Cool! Yeah you'll probably impress some guys if you explain the differences now lol.

The other carp anglers around here and I try to make sure we point out the differences between White Amur and Common Carp whenever we can. Too often Common Carp get a bad name because of White Amur. People assume that since White Amur chow down on all the vegetation in a water body, so do Common Carp. Which simply isn't true!

Carp are often seen rooting around in vegetation, but more often then not it's because they are sucking down snails, bloodworms, crustaeceans, insects, mussels, etc.

Anyway, I totally agree! If you pay golf course fees, you should be allowed to fish their ponds!

Some golf courses have HUGE Amur in their ponds, they stock them so that their water hazards stay nice and "clean" for the golfers. So there could be some much older and much larger fish in there!

Could be some big common carp as well, or koi, so let us know how you do!

Feel free to re-post that picture down in our section as well hehe.

Also, for future reference if you catch any, this is a common carp:


Note the body shape, and the way the dorsal runs most of the way down his back. Also check out how his mouth extends, rather then simply opens like a bass. And if you look closely, you can see the barbels, one is clearly sticking out ahead of his mouth lol.

I love catching Common Carp cause they are one of the hardest fighters in freshwater!

I haven't caught a White Amur yet, but I have heard mixed things, some say they fight great, some say they don't.

How'd yours fight?

I'd say we were fighting it for at LEAST 45 minutes. I made a phone call after we caught it (5-15 minutes later, not sure) and 45 minutes later, after we got it, I also took a picture on my phone. So I know it was 45 minutes, maybe more. All while we were trying to get another on the other rod, maybe hoping to get lucky. The funny part is they're just shitty poles we got ($40 with a reel) at Academy because we were bored. One pole had 8lb test, the other one 65lb.

And this thing would pull like CRAZY. It gave us a good run for our money. Not to mention we had to have nearly no drag, then at the last second, the pole got knotted REALLY badly, and he ended up jumping in, and grabbing the bitch.

EDIT:
And these sizes are usual for that lake. Plus, it's interconnected with other lakes on the course, so large ones definitely not unusual. We might try fishing a deeper spot, hopefully getting lucky and catching an even bigger one. I will take a picture of the lake soon and show you the size. It's on a short Par 3, not more than 150 yards long by maybe 30 yards wide

Awesome. 45 minute fights are my kind of fishing.

I do most of my fishing on light gear with 6 or 8lb test myself, cause I'm addicted to the sound of screaming drag hehe.

Have you ever caught Common Carp?

Looking forward to the picture of the lake.

Nice fish.