Indiana has many place to fish, and there are also many large strong fish like carp in our waters. It’s easy to overlook them while you’re busy chasing pike and bass. Well that would of being wrong.
Carp are plentiful on every body of water throughout the state, from ponds to reservoirs to rivers. These fish is smart. Knowing what type of fish you are targeting will completely alter everything about how you go about catching them.
This include everything from lure selection and bait selection to the rod power you keep in boat. Why does it matter? Not all carp is created equal.
Some are aggressive surface feeders. Others stay buried in mud, ignoring almost every topwater lure. Some are native to area and have survived for hundreds of year.
Then there are the more recent invasives that are changing landscape on a smaller scale. Understanding the differences make it easier to catch them. It also give you an appreciation for their own special behaviors and biology.
The first step is knowing what type you’re after: a meal or just a fight. They are original members of this family. When you think of carp, you probably picture these guys.
Top Carp Species Found in Indiana Waters
1. Common Carp
Common carp possess rough scales which tend to rub off over time resulting in a mottled look on old fish. It is also commonly seen with its barbels rooting around on bottom, and its feeding style create a clouded water effect by stirring up sediment. Known to bolt on initial hookset and provide powerful run requiring appropriate rod power.
Most effective baits includes cut corn or dough balls rigged off the bottom. They are found all across the state from small farm ponds to the Ohio River. Not all carp is alike.
2. Silver Carp
Silver carp in particular differ than other carp. Silver carp are filter feeders. That means that instead of having a mouth made to bite bait, they swim around with their mouths wide open catching plankton out of water column.
Because they are filter feeders, they don’t respond well to traditional tackle. More importantly, they has a habit of jumping out of the water when surprised by boat motors. Because they jump high enough to cause injury, they have injured boater on several waterways across Indiana.
They won’t be caught on a worm. Control efforts focus mainly on control measures and public awareness. While it’s quite an impressive sight to see one, attempting to hook one is often dangerous and generaly a waste of time.
3. Bighead Carp
Silver carp have similar filter feeding behavior as bighead carp but react differently in the water column. When agitated, they jump high out of the water; bighead carp is less likely to breach surface and tend to stay deeper instead. As a result, they’re not quite as dangerous to boaters but just as tough to catch on traditional angling equipment.
There are lots of them in the Mississippi River basin, including western Indiana waters linked to that system. Bighead carp competes with native fish for food resources. They are not an intended gamefish species.
If you do happen to see one (accidentally snagged in deep water or maybe being pulled from the water by commercial dredgers), it is probably because of its odd head shape and huge body.
4. Grass Carp
The most traditional style of fish to catch out of all the Asian carp varieties would be the grass carp. Where the other two Asian carp varieties is filter feeders, the grass carp has a mouth that’s designed to crop vegetation.
These fish consume aquatic plants, so they was originally used as a pond stocking fish for weed management purposes. Fortunately, most grass carp released into our waters are triploid (sterile), making them unable to reproduce in the wild. That keeps them from being a threat to overwhelm native habitats.
A typical way to describe grass carp is odd; these fish will frequently cruise around checking your boat out and may even follow it around. Grass carp puts up a great battle and can be taken on small plugs and even plant-based baits. So if you’re looking for a challenge but aren’t concerned about the risk of getting hit by jumping carp, give them a try.
5. Black Carp
The fourth species is the black carp, the predator of the bunch. Black carp resemble common carp, but they has unique scale patterning and an oversized head. Their primary food source consist of mollusks, specifically zebra mussels.
Because of this, they’re an ecologically important fish in waters infested with invasive mussel bed. Though less abundant than the others, they are present in Indiana. Since they can control mussel populations, they is sometimes protected in certain situations.
Chances are if you come across one, it’ll be on a managed or commercial water. And chances are good that if you hook up with one, you’ll need to play nice with it. They aren’t necessarily your typical weekend angling catch here in the state.
So each of those species have a unique place in Indiana’s aquatic environment. We all know about the stubborn survivor, the common carp. The tricky invasive Asian carp must be handled with care.
And the odd vegetarian grass carp pose a nice challenge but don’t do anyone any harm. Knowing what they look like at a glance allows you to not only appreciate them for their uniqueness but to show them some respect too. This turns a random fish from mud into something known.
So next time you’re casting into the mud, pay attention to swimming depth, the mouth shape and look for those scales. If you can learn to read the water, it will tell you what’s down there.