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CARP IN THE ILLINOIS RIVER W B Battice of Oneida S D declares in HunterTraderTrapper that he believes that writers about carp are generally mistaken about their sex The males some claim have only a few scales scat ¬ tered over the liody but mv experience with both kinds proves that the femalas also have scales scattered over the body and that particular kind of carp is what we used to call the leather carp The others were called the German tarp Very likely in some localities both are called German carp carpThe The feeding and conditions of both kinds are about the same as far as I know but neither kind will taste muddy when eaten if they have a good place to live in As to their being destructive to other fish I am not certain but I have always heard that they were Still i the Illinois River thirty years ago there were quite a lot of them and also lots of other kinds too After the sewage was turned into the river all other kinds of fish died and the carp alone survived survivedOne One winter 1 remember well when the weather liegiiii to warm up my father uncle and I were down along the river and there were thou ¬ sands of the nicest kind of black bass sunfish bullheads catfish some sturgeon buffalo and in fact all kinds of fish lying dead under the ice I am certain that nothing but the sewage from Chicago killed them After that there was nothing in the river to speak of but carp They seemed to do well wellOn On the lower Illinois River carp fishing is quite an industry Around Lacoii Chillicothe Henry and vicinity tons of carp are caught and shipped east Very likely they have a different name for them there on the markets
