Native fish making progress!
https://www.stcroix360.com/2022/04/minnesota-lawmakers-ask-dnr-to-reconsider-rough-fish/

Boy would it be great if TPWD allowed commercial fishing of carp! Give Buffalo more room to expand their range. After all carp are an invasive species.

Just me- I'm not understanding the whole newly found
reverence for rough fish
It hasn't been that long ago that you could fill a cargo
ship with gar and carp taken by any means short of
tossing a few sticks of dynamite in the water.
I can't tell you at the gar we've bowfished over the years
and I've never seen any scarcity.
Back some years ago when I worked with several
tournament bass fishermen, they'd pretty much
chauffeur you around in their big nice gas guzzling
bass boats and let you arrow as many gar and carp as
you could.
Seems to me like many in 2022 have more
reverence and esteem for deer and fish than
for the human species

Personally, I like catching most species of fish in Texas and I have had many great days catching carp and buffalo. Both species are found in many Texas lakes and reservoirs, so managing them makes more sense then just pretending they aren’t there or wishing they weren’t there.

It isn't all that newly found, people like me have been against the extermination of rough species for decades. Gar and bowfin, to name a few, are not only really cool looking creatures native to Texas but they are an important part of our ecosystem. We need to preserve our native fish and set limits. Shoot all the invasive carp you want.

Very sad that members get on this forum to bash fish they don’t like. Why? No body asked for your opinion, just enjoy fishing for the species you like. It’s obvious that the haters have never captured a big carp or buffalo or they would appreciate there power. Gar take exceptional skill to catch. As for bow fishermen, I never understood what joy they derive from killing just for fun. Kind of a sick. One last comment; if anyone wondered why this forum is not nearly as good as it used to be it’s due to people that just want to give negative opinions where they are not needed. BTW, TX Multi-Species has caught more big fish than any of the posting haters have ever dreamed of.

It is called the Texas Fishing Forum, last I checked. Heck if they swim in the water, I like to fish for them. The big thing here is to use the right rigs for that fish... You don't use a deep sea rig to fish for your bait for bigger targeted fish. Superlite rig for bait or even a fly rod, is a blast for me. Heck using a cast net for shad is quite the blast for me also.

Carp, Buffalo or any of those species is a blast to fish for and I have caught them from 20-30 foot with different baits, to taking them off top water with a fly rod , just make sure your rig is right and your ready for quite the sporting fight. Least for me guys...

I’ve bowFISHED a half dozen carp and buffs bigger than anything TX multi has ever caught in a single bow fishing outing for years…..
You guys catch some big fish, and I’m sure it’s enjoyable. That’s what fishing is all about. Kudos.
The deal is, when you go out at night and see the sheer number of fish that size or bigger in the lakes, catching a mid 30# or even 40# carp simply isn’t that impressive to me. They are a dime a dozen in our lakes.
Plenty there for all. Even us bowfisherman…..

The one thing I’ve seen that I will try is catching them on a fly rod like Osborne. That would be something. Looking for a reason to use the fly rod anywhere but Wyoming and Montana anyway, just need to upgrade from the 4W.

Happy fishing fellas

Internet gold...pure gold.

Do you guys ever use excrement for bait on these rough fish?

No, but I did catch a 12.5 pound largemouth bass on cut carp.

I don’t feel you should kill a fish simply for the sake of killing them, as has been customary for many years with “trash fish” there are exceptions in closed systems like ponds with fish like bullheads or green sunfish, but otherwise there is a reason for every native fish in a waterway. I feel the only reason to keep rough fish is if you have a real use for them like bait, but I don’t believe in letting them simply go to waste.

So you’re ok with the killing of carp then, as they aren’t native. Just not buffalo and gar. I can respect that.

I have always felt that fish biologist know more about the subject than I do. I will always follow their lead. It does make me upset when someone catches a rough fish and just throws it up on the bank to rot. That's just wasteful.

Sounds like a lot of hot air to me.