Colorado - CarpQuest

Carp Fishing in the State of Colorado

History of Carp in Colorado

In the late 1800s there was critical decline in the stocks of lake and river fishes due to an ever expanding population. To answer this concern the U.S. Congress authorized President Ulysses S. Grant to appoint the US Fish Commission in 1871 to oversee the nation’s fisheries interests. Among the first tasks was to consider what species to introduce to bolster the nations supply of food fishes. By 1874 the commission, after long study, issued a report entitled “Fishes Especially worthy of Cultivation”. This report went on to say that no other species except the carp, promises so great a return in limited waters. During the years 1879-1896 the US Fish Commission distributed 2.4 million carp, some of which were sent to Canada, Costa Rica, Ecuador and Mexico.

So, when you wonder why there are carp in our local waters here in Colorado we have the answer. We brought them here as food. The same could also be said of Rainbow Trout, introduced in the 1880s, the Brown trout from the 1890’s, Black & White Crappie 1882, Large Mouth Bass 1878. As fishing as a recreational sport became more popular other “sports fish” species were also introduced, Walleye in 1949, Small Mouth Bass 1951, Wiper, Saugeye and Tiger Muskie in the 1980s – the later being actually introduced to help control sucker and carp populations. I am sure the list goes on. It could be argued, minus the few native species that survive in our waters today, e.g. cut throat trout, channel catfish, etc, the carp were actually here before all of your favorite “sports fish” of today!

Carp Fishing State Records Records:

Released (by length)

Common Carp – Chatfield Reservoir / length 42″ / Angler: David Dashnaw
Common Carp – Denver Pond / length 42″ / Angler: David Torri

Grass Carp – Rock Creek Ponds / length 46.5″ / Angler: Rory Chinatti

Kept: (by weight)

Common Carp – 2001 / Glenmere Park (Weld County) / 35 lbs 5 oz / length 38.75″ / Angler: Adam Wickam

Grass Carp – 2013 / Cottonwood Park Lake (Jefferson County) / 57 lbs 13 oz / length 47″ / Angler: Brian Husmann

Regulatory Status of Carp in Colorado:

GAME FISH

“Game fish” means all species of fish except nongame, endangered and threatened species, which currently exist or may be introduced into the state and which are classified as game fish by the Commission. This includes brown trout; cutthroat trout, except greenback cutthroat trout; golden trout, lake trout (mackinaw), rainbow trout, splake (Lake trout x brook trout hybrids), brook trout, arctic char, grayling, kokanee salmon, whitefish, sculpin; smallmouth, largemouth, spotted, striped, and white bass; wipers (striped bass x white bass hybrids); carp, bullhead catfish, blue catfish, channel catfish, Mack crappie, white crappie, drum, northern pike, tiger muskie and any other muskellunge hybrids, yellow and sacramento perch, sauger, saugeye (walleye x sauger hybrids), rainbow smelt, tench, walleye, wipers (striped bass x white bass hybrids);bluegill, bluegill hybrids (bluegill x green sunfish), green, orange-spotted, and pumpkin-seed sunfish; gizzard shad, white and longnose suckers, top minnows and minnows.

Daily Slot / Possession Limit: NONE

Bow Fishing & Spear Fishing Allowed for Carp: YES (dependent upon location)
Use of Spotlights Allowed for Carp: YES

Chumming Allowed: NO

Sweetcorn as Bait: YES

The common and grass carp are considered game fish in Colorado and it is illegal to discard any edible portions of “Game Wildlife” in Colorado unless the carp are caught for the use as fish bait or bait for furbearers. Any fish released upon catch must be released alive and into the same body of water unless it is to become part of the bag and possession for carp (PWC #W-104.A). However, there are no bag and possession limits for the grass and common carp.

State Agencies

Colorado Department of Natural Resources
http://www.dnr.state.co.us/

Colorado Parks and Wildlife
http://wildlife.state.co.us/

Colorado State Government
http://www.colorado.gov/

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Offices in Colorado
http://www.fws.gov/offices/directory/

Elected Officials and Contact Information

Governor John Hickenlooper, 303 866-2471,
Contact the Governor http://www.colorado.gov/govhdir/

Department of Natural Resources,
Director Mike King, 303 866-3311 x8655, [email protected]

Colorado Parks and Wildlife,
Director Rick Cables, 303 297-1192, [email protected]

Most all legislative information and legislator contacts can be accessed through the Colorado General assembly web page:

www.leg.state.co.us.

In addition, the co-chairs of the Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus are:

Sen. Lois Tochtrop, 303 866-4863, [email protected]
Rep. John Soper, 303 866-2931, [email protected]

Operation Game Thief

OGT Logo/Ad

Operation Game Thief is a Colorado Parks and Wildlife program, which pays rewards to citizens who turn in poachers. You can call us toll-free within Colorado at 1-877-COLO-OGT, Verizon cell phone users can dial #OGT, or contact us via e-mail at [email protected].

Colorado Parks & Wildlife Master Angler Program

The Master Angler Recognition Program is designed to recognize anglers for success in their sport, as well as to promote the conservation of fishery resources and quality fishing by encouraging the careful release of trophy-size popular sport species.

The program offers Master Angler award certificates in two general categories: fish caught and released, and fish caught and kept. Awards are based on fish length rather than weight. (See qualifying lengths within the Master Angler brochure for details.) This allows anglers to measure fish and return them to the water alive if they choose to do so.

The State Record Released Fish program awards anglers for the longest caught-and-released fish of each species. See the updated Master Angler brochure for a complete list. Master Angler records by length are tallied at the end of the year for released fish and are announced at the beginning of each year on the website.