During late spring and early summer, they thrash and splash their way into very shallow, weedy areas and broadcast their eggs. Their bodies are sometimes completely exposed out of the water and the splashing they make is quite a sight to see. A 20-pound female carp will lay nearly 10 million eggs. Originally from Asia, carp were first brought to New York State to provide another food fish. Although carp can tolerate polluted waters, they prefer clean waters.
Carp taken from clean waters are excellent to eat.
Carp are commercially marketed live, smoked, or cleaned and iced. Often considered a pet, goldfish also live in the wild and are found in many waters across New York State. They prefer warm, weedy, shallow sections of smaller ponds and lakes, as well as slow-moving rivers such as the Mohawk and Hudson. They are very similar in appearance to carp, but can be told apart by the lack of barbels around their mouths. Goldfish are native to China and have been kept as pets for centuries.