carp

does grabbing a carp by the eyes hurt it? its a pretty common practice in my group of carpers to push the eyes in and hold the fish by the bones of its head.this seems to stun them and they dont kick around much makes hook removal easier. just wondering if anyone on here does this or if i should tell the rest of my fishing party to stop doing this. they say it doesnt hurt them

I would definitely advise against it and don't see why it would be necessary in the first place.  For fish that are a bit more active and unruly on the bank, I've seen a damp, dark towel or cloth placed over the carp's eyes calm them down enough for unhooking.  Never tried it myself, though...but figured it was worth passing on.

Yup that will cause major damage. Even picking them up by the gills is extremely harmful. If you ever watch someone pick one up by the gills the will usually bleed afterwards.Its mainly cartiliage (spelling not sure) and is not bone so it tears the gills as well.Best thing to do is like said cover the eyes with even your hand it it will be noticeable calmer. I do it all the time. Also When picking them up just put a hand under the gill and one under the tail and basically cradle the fish with your hands. Thats about the safest way to handle and release them.

We used to do that with walleyes and muskies, didn't know any better.

Thats a good point. Carp are not the only ones that can be mishandled some. If you grow up doing it a certain way you may just not have known. Theres always something to learn out there.

thanks a lot for the tips! i think a dark rag over there eyes should work just fine. i knew josh was full of bs. "oh it doesnt hurt them" yeah right

ORIGINAL: bigben7

thanks a lot for the tips! i think a dark rag over there eyes should work just fine. i knew josh was full of bs. "oh it doesnt hurt them" yeah right

Don't forget to put antiseptic on the hook wound and all the other boo--boos before ya release it as well.

No joke, ya can actually buy this stuff: https://www.resistancetackle.com/catalog.php?mode=publicviewitemdetail&ref=1105

ORIGINAL: carpin05

I have not seen the pads in use.... only on video but i might try it???

That's what I thought------it's very rare to see mats used at paylakes (I don't use one)------some still "kick" the smaller fish back in.

Ya might want to change the netting on the hoop of your landing net.  I switched to a soft mesh (used a few different ones at this point), years ago for all my carpin', but often all I get is strange looks and comments from other paylakers on my different mesh netting when using at the paylakes.  The large-holed knotted nylon nets that are commonly used at paylakes can cause damage (split fins and tails, possible gouged eyes) to the fish when they are carried a lot in the nets.  Going to a softer mesh with smaller holes can go a long way in preventing possible fish damage when netting and carrying them.

The mesh I have on my net now is from here: http://www.lokinets.com/sportsfishing.html
I ordered a 36 in. deep replacement netting (#RCS-3) than is brown mesh and is used on their steelhead landing nets-------check out page 8 in their online catalog here:
http://www.lokinets.com/library/LokiNets_Catalog_0809_1214315654.pdf

The mesh is thick and durable and holds up well.  Sometimes the carp's dorsal fin will still get caught in the mesh, but that happens with most mesh nettings.  The best thing is that when it dries it does not hold the fish stink like some other nettings.  Thing is, these net and nettings are hard to find for sale, so I had to order directly from the manufacturer, which they were a bit hesitant to do at first, since I wasn't a dealer.  Would be nice if FishUSA could stock a few of these nets/netting, especially in larger sizes for fish like carp and cats.  Loki Nets makes a nice big heavy duty musky net as well and it looks like a carp net is a new addition to their products:
http://www.lokinets.com/news/show/11
Or maybe it would be a good idea for the paylakes to start selling these soft mesh catch & release nets too?

This place is just one option, some of the on-line carp tackle dealers sell replacement mesh netting as well.  More and more of the local outdoor/fishing stores carrry mesh landing nets now, but sometimes the problem is finding bigger hooped nets that come with the mesh netting, so ya have to resort to replacing the netting like I did on my large hoop net.