Carp: a fly fishing report

[Fishtopher]

Been a member here for a while, and that is by far the best written report I've ever read on OFF. Thanks for taking me along with ya on your trip...

 

[troutmasta]

Ya I just read the story again. Richeous!

 

[GraphiteZen]

Well done!!! :clap::clap:

 

[john montana]

Thanks for the comments. It is going to be a long winter!

 

[kaimuki49]

Dear Montana et al - great pics. thanks a lot. question: do all the carp u guys catch have the same basic color as shown in the pics? are there ever any genetic "throw backs" that look like the colored carp (patterns of color, white, red, orange etc) which are prized as pond fish (esp among the chinese)?

aren't the carp here descended from the decorative carp? thanks, tommie kai

 

[john montana]

Carp and Koi are actually two completely different species. I do think they can cross produce (based on purely anecdotal evidence from some local PDX ponds) but i have yet to see a koi in the columbia River...just the common carp and some grass carp. The coloration of the commons varies, but only in shades. The Columbia has a nice population of Mirror carp as well (different scale pattern). If you are looking for Koi, i'd check the ponds in portland. I haven't seen any in the Big C or willamette.

 

[Drew9870]

Carp and Koi are actually two completely different species.

Idk about this, because the only difference is the color, they even have the same scientific name. Koi have the same exact dietary requirements, in the wild, some Koi actual revert their color back to that of a common after a few generations.

They have the same amount of fin rays, the same mouth and pair of whiskers, the only thing different is the color, which is pretty much just a mutation.

 

[john montana]

Good catch...

Koi - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

must be natural selection as to why the brightly colored ones don't live well in the wild.

 

[kaimuki49]

yeah thanks to drew and the good cite. that is as i suspected, the koi quickly lose their decorative look in the wild probably due to various natural selection factors, ie, the bright ones are easy prey, the koi genes are quickly overwhelmed by the more numerous carp genes and so on.

one reason i asked the original question was because when i wild boar hunted a lot, once in a great while you come across a wild pig that clearly showed his domestic back ground in some way. usually it was a white neck ring, at times brown and spots on the back. the shape was the same, but the color popped up once in a while. i was just curious if this same phenomena occurred with carp/koi.

t big kahuna kai