BUFFALO ARE NOT CARP!

[CrappieHunter]

Recently online, I saw some guy bowfishing for carp, buffalo, bowfin, and some other rough fish. Many people in the comments were asking why some fish, the guy called carp, looked different than the others. He replied to all the comments, saying they're the same thing and both invasive. I tried to correct him about how buffalo are important to the lake, but he kept talking about how long he's been fishing and he knows better than me, he also tried to say the real name for Buffalo was "Buffalo Carp," which is not a real fish. It's bad someone is misidentifying fish alone, but when he's teaching other people the incorrect names, that's even worse. People thinking buffalo is just some trash fish is the main reason their population is in decline in most bodies of water. We are losing a cool fish because people refuse to learn.

 

[Eatsleeptrap]

Was what he was doing legal?

 

[deleted user]

There are a lot of bow fishermen that are starting to leave buffalo alone. I think it was an episode of meateater where i learned the big ones are over 120 years old. Pretty cool.

 

[Lycanthrope]

Recently online, I saw some guy bowfishing for carp, buffalo, bowfin, and some other rough fish. Many people in the comments were asking why some fish, the guy called carp, looked different than the others. He replied to all the comments, saying they're the same thing and both invasive. I tried to correct him about how buffalo are important to the lake, but he kept talking about how long he's been fishing and he knows better than me, he also tried to say the real name for Buffalo was "Buffalo Carp," which is not a real fish. It's bad someone is misidentifying fish alone, but when he's teaching other people the incorrect names, that's even worse. People thinking buffalo is just some trash fish is the main reason their population is in decline in most bodies of water. We are losing a cool fish because people refuse to learn.

But do they taste better than carp? I shot a bunch of buffalo with my bow when I was a kid, a few over 30lbs.

 

[Davy Crockett]

Quite the variety for sure. I don't know if we even have carp in the hills. Suckers at one time when I was a kid but they winterkilled. Canada had a good thingamajigger on them.

https://www.asiancarp.ca/asian-carps/confused-with-carp/

 

[deleted user]

I’m intrigued. But I want one of you guys to try it first.

 

[Obi-Wan]

Was what he was doing legal?

Legal or not doesn't matter to many on this site it's about how they feel about a given subject.

 

[Allen]

But do they taste better than carp? I shot a bunch of buffalo with my bow when I was a kid, a few over 30lbs.

Back in the 80s when we commercial fished them out of Sak and ordinary carp out of Audubon, carp were about $0.10 a pound on the fin, Buffalo were around $2 a pound gutted.

So, yeah...based on demand and price they must be. Both are far too oily for my taste.

That being said, I read an article from NDGF a number of years ago that talked at great length about how they were a very long-lived native species in decline. I'd have to imagine NDGF has been contemplating limits on them for several years at this point.

 

[tikkalover]

Wife's grandparents lived in Arkansas, when we would go visit, her grandpa and I would set trout lines in the White River for them.

Bleed and ice them right away, scale them chop them up, bread them with seasoned corn meal and fry them in hot oil. They were good if you ate them while they were hot.

 

[MSA]

Bigmouth buffalo is hands down the worst tasting fish I have ever tried, to this day its the only fish I have deemed non-edible. Ive eaten carp, drum, gar, bullhead, sucker, and dozens of random saltwater fish, and all were worthy of eating again....except them buffalo. I kept three out of the tailrace in the spring and tried cooking them 3 different ways. My whole house stunk like hot trash. the meat was all dark and grayish and had a fatty tofu like texture, like it wasnt even muscle.

I recommend trying Buffalo just for the awful experience

I think they're primary use is cut bait for crawfish traps down south, and they work really well for alligator gar bait.

I think theres 3 species of buffalo here in ND, the bigmouth, smallmouth, and the black. Ive only caught bigmouth here.

 

[Allen]

Bigmouth buffalo is hands down the worst tasting fish I have ever tried, to this day its the only fish I have deemed non-edible. Ive eaten carp, drum, gar, bullhead, sucker, and dozens of random saltwater fish, and all were worthy of eating again....except them buffalo. I kept three out of the tailrace in the spring and tried cooking them 3 different ways. My whole house stunk like hot trash. the meat was all dark and grayish and had a fatty tofu like texture, like it wasnt even muscle.

I recommend trying Buffalo just for the awful experience

I think they're primary use is cut bait for crawfish traps down south, and they work really well for alligator gar bait.

I think theres 3 species of buffalo here in ND, the bigmouth, smallmouth, and the black. Ive only caught bigmouth here.

Ours went to all the big open-air fish markets in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and Seattle. They would take all we could provide.

From what the distributor claimed back then, they were really popular with some ethnic groups. In particular the Asians, African-Americans and maybe the Jewish folks.

 

[deleted user]

Bigmouth buffalo is hands down the worst tasting fish I have ever tried, to this day its the only fish I have deemed non-edible. Ive eaten carp, drum, gar, bullhead, sucker, and dozens of random saltwater fish, and all were worthy of eating again....except them buffalo. I kept three out of the tailrace in the spring and tried cooking them 3 different ways. My whole house stunk like hot trash. the meat was all dark and grayish and had a fatty tofu like texture, like it wasnt even muscle.

I recommend trying Buffalo just for the awful experience

I think they're primary use is cut bait for crawfish traps down south, and they work really well for alligator gar bait.

I think theres 3 species of buffalo here in ND, the bigmouth, smallmouth, and the black. Ive only caught bigmouth here.

Ok I’m no longer intrigued.

 

[risingsun]

Ok I’m no longer intrigued.

I never was.

 

[johnr]

Bigmouth buffalo is hands down the worst tasting fish I have ever tried, to this day its the only fish I have deemed non-edible. Ive eaten carp, drum, gar, bullhead, sucker, and dozens of random saltwater fish, and all were worthy of eating again....except them buffalo. I kept three out of the tailrace in the spring and tried cooking them 3 different ways. My whole house stunk like hot trash. the meat was all dark and grayish and had a fatty tofu like texture, like it wasnt even muscle.

I recommend trying Buffalo just for the awful experience

I think they're primary use is cut bait for crawfish traps down south, and they work really well for alligator gar bait.

I think theres 3 species of buffalo here in ND, the bigmouth, smallmouth, and the black. Ive only caught bigmouth here.

Awesome reply.
Not that I was going to fillet one anyway, but nice to know

 

[measure-it]

But are they buffalo...or bison?

 

[Lycanthrope]

Awesome reply.
Not that I was going to fillet one anyway, but nice to know

MSA is our "mikey"...

 

[snow2]

Had a little Asian feller at my work years back pretty sure he was nv I couldn't pronounce his name so his nick name was "harry" couple days/week in spring I shot carp,buffalo, suckers,gar b4 work early morning at our local city damn I used a 5ga heavy duty wire as my stringer.... after a couple hours shooting off to work,usually I dropped my fish @ little siagon near my work place but often times I stopped at my work place and always asked Harry if he wanted my fish,he only took buffalo fish when I had them,no carp or suckers Asian restaurant took em all fyi pass on fish soup like POI ar/in Asian restaurants.... trust me.

 

[Jiffy]

But are they buffalo...or bison?

Either way they still suck, just like NDSU.

 

[Wall-eyes]

I agree worst thing ever to eat just lost my appetite.

 

[scrotcaster]

Iam thinking that Lewis and Clark wrote about eating them back in the day