Extra float pod under the outboard. Stick steer to keep the floor open. Boat was a 48” oauchita that I cut down the middle and widened out to just under 84”. It’s a barge but will float super shallow and carry a lot of weight.

Some very interesting comments on this thread. I may be an outlier, since I actually have said I wish there were more carp and gar in a lake. It is also interesting that there is an attitude that Lake Whitney is overrun with carp, when Whitney is one of the best striper lakes in the state right now. It appears they are coexisting pretty well. Most of the great largemouth bass reservoirs are full of carp and buffalo. One of the great things about fishing in Texas is the great species diversity.

back to reality folks dont show up to our fine lakes in tx to fish for carp an gar the folks that are spending money renting rooms buying gas snacks an tackle are fishing for bass crappie an catfish an if you ask those folks if you could rid the lakes of rough fish especially carp that sucks the aquatic life out of the lakes they would be ok with that.

Someone didn't read the article. Getting rid of rough fish is detrimental to the ecosystem as a whole. Not to mention there are a plethora of anglers such as myself who drive not only all around Texas but all around the country in pursuit of specifically rough fish. I just recently drove 5 hours to spend 9 days at Toledo Bend catching Carp and Buffalo, and I'm far from alone in this. In fact I was joined by several of my buddies on that very trip!

I had lots of fun catching all three species.







There are more species of fish than largemouth bass in Texas. Many of them fight much harder then largemouth bass and are more difficult to catch.

Had to look twice at this photo - at first I thought you had the fly rod stuck in your hair.

My family and I have used buffalo and carp for catfish bait for decades. Used to get it easily from Commercial fishermen. Now, since none of us bow hunt or can't due to disability, we get them from bow hunters who go on a trip once every spring and end up with 10-30. Enough bait for several trips during the year.

I could care less about carp, gar, bowfin, even some catfish.

Nasty, slimy fish.

We have had this conversation before, it is too bad you carp fisherman refuse to help manage the resource. And you refuse to accept that carp and gar can be detrimental to gamefish populations. That you are trying to say that a significant number of people spend as much money fishing for carp in this state as say even crappie fisherman is ridiculous. That and we will never be "rid" of rough fish. The whole article is about screwing bowfisherman. I personally also believe arrowed fish should not be returned to the lake. But you missed the part about not managing a resource. Why not remove every carp you catch under 10 pounds from the lake? Leave the big ones but do some good instead of sniveling about bow fisherman who are actually doing the lakes favors.

He will never admit there is any reason to harvest carp or any rough fish. As far as he is concerned the lakes can be over run with them and he would be happy, I mean watch these guys lovingly handle a carp, take a selfie and gently return it back into the lake. He would probably quit fishing for them if the law required he keep all fish under 10 pounds. It is like trying to reason with a democrat.

Sure a few people doing what should be done. The few hardcore carp fisherman out there can't put a dent in their numbers and generally, like you refuse to help manage the resource. I would hate to think this is only because you want to better your chances of getting a picture of yourself with a big carp at the expense of other creatures in the lake. Odd that we don't commercially fish for Buffalo and carp here like they do up north, there is no shortage of carp up there either.

I notice the article is oriented toward native fish such as the Buffalo and river carpsuckers not carp. It also says these fish are being thrown back? I too don't think that is legal. Sure I would like to see limits on Buffs but I would also like to see here in TX a rule made that every carp caught under ten pounds be retained and a limit on how many over ten pounds can be retained. I want this rule to include anyone who catches these fish either with a bow or rod and reel.

Would you quit carp fishing if you had to keep all you caught? Carp are not a native species.

Carp do not compete directly with Stripers but if bio diversity is what you want then just how many pounds of carp are in a given lake compared to other species? Carp do directly compete with other fish that feed off of vegetation such as minnows and shad. Consider how awesome Whitney would be without that? How many more Buffalo would there be in the lake if they didn't have to compete with carp, an invasive species.