2/12/08 J-river
Had a few hours to kill so I decided to head to the Jordan for some sucker and some ugly carp fun[;)]. Caught a few nice ones, can’t believe how big this things get. Here is a few pics of some that I caught both over 7lb. I even score on a small white bass no pic sorry. But here is a question for you all I’m all about catch and release but what is you take on Cap I know the sucker is on the endanger species so I let all those go but what about carp?[unsure]
Don’t worry about the suckers you catch in the Jordan River. They are Utah suckers…not June suckers. Keep all you catch…carp too. They make good bait for catfish and other species. Or, you can liven up your garden with them.
The good ol’ Jordan River is an overlooked spot to bend your rod and stretch your string just about all year. Amazing how many species of fish you can catch from it. Even some hefty browns and rainbows. Plenty of decent sized walleyes too.
[:)] what i mean about the carp is should i put them back in the river or should will do them all. Just saying.
Whether you keep them, kill them or release them unharmed is a matter of personal choice. While I usually kill just about all the carp I catch, I do not flatter myself that I am making much of a difference in the ecology…one way or another.
It serves no useful purpose to release them, but it does no good to kill them either.
You just do whatever you want to do. Enjoy the fishing.
I live really close to the jordan river, how do you fish it? what do you use and where are some of the best spots close to 70th south?
well i fish it from where willow pond is up to 70 south just spots here and there. Go for places where there is a lot of brush and they can’t see you they really like bread dough mixed with garlic juicy. Not the best fish to fish but they sure are fun.
The Jordan river is the most fish friendly river I can think of, where else can carp, suckers, catfish, white bass, smallmouth, largemouth, bullheads, bluegill, piranha and that alligator they found a few years ago. Is the rumor about someone finding an snapping turtle true?? Either way good job on catching those carp, keep fertilizing the banks of the river!!
Whoa! This is crazy. Less than a half hour ago I was scouting out some places on the Jordan River to try soon by Draper. In less than 5 minutes I saw a trout take something off the surface, and what I think was some white bass feeding in the same area. Been icefishing so much and there’s so much snow everywhere I thought it would be a good break to fish some current.
I agree with tubedude about how overlooked it is, and although its dirty and the scenery aint all that, the fishing can be pretty good sometimes. My favorite is to just catch carp and big channel catfish.
I caught a sucker once too, strange looking fish but fought just like a carp trying to hug the bottom and pull hard. The Utah suckers are quite plentiful, its the June Suckers that are endangered.
About the carp, do whatever you want with them. I don’t know if you’ve heard but it is estimated that 7.5 million carp inhabit Utah Lake and they are probably going to start an eradication program to try to gid rid of them.
[reply]
…they really like bread dough mixed with garlic juicy. Not the best fish to fish but they sure are fun.[/reply]
I went there the other day on a lunch break and talked to a guy at the willow park area that was using bread sprayed with the YUM Shad scent then balled up on a hook.. Maybe sportsmans should start selling loaves of day old bread [:)]
He too was getting sucker meat.. I didn’t meet you did I?
[reply]
The Jordan river is the most fish friendly river I can think of, where else can carp, suckers, catfish, white bass, smallmouth, largemouth, bullheads, bluegill, piranha and that alligator they found a few years ago. Is the rumor about someone finding an snapping turtle true?? Either way good job on catching those carp, keep fertilizing the banks of the river!! [/reply]
And walleye, some trout, green sunfish, a tire, a plastic bag from Harmon’s, etc. 
Seriously though, alot of people let their aquatic pets go in the Jordan, don’t know why because most of them are tropical and will just die in the winter. Plus its illegal.
The snapping turtles would probably be ok as it got pretty cold in North Carolina in the winter and they would come out of it just fine. The Jordan River has a good population of Red Ear Slider turtles now (the most common aquatic turtle you see in petstores) which are not native to Utah by a longshot.
nop that was not me.
Talk about fish that don’t belong there i have been spoting alot of coi fish there, in fact saw a guy pull 5lb white coi fishing for carp.
The koi are actually just goldfish. As they get larger, they tend to turn white and lost most or all of their gold color. Since they are just another member of the carp family, they can grow quite large.
piranha? wOw that would be something.. i heard of guy that got some at decker lake but not the jordan, wow thats some crazy stuff.
Koi are nothing more than fancy carp. They both have the same scientific name, “cyprinius carpio,” and are the same species. “koi” in japanese is another word for “carp”. Koi come in all different colors regardless of size and age. Some prize koi can go for as much as $10,000 in the koi fancier circles. One koi went for $68,000 in Japan! I don’t know if that’s the world record or not.
I’ve owned several koi and there are some in the pond in my backyard right now. The japanese domesticated wild carp and selectively bred them to get the different colors and fin styles. Because they were bred for looks and not for size, the average koi will not get as big as the common carp.
Goldfish are also Cypriniformes, and can hybridize with carp.
See attached pics:
i did not know that. Tha is some good info thanks for the pics.
I realize I might be coming across as someone who is trying to be a know it all. I apoligize if anybody thinks that, as it is not my intention. I don’t know everything and that’s why I am here, to learn from more experienced guys about what I love - fishing.
Snapping turtles oughta do just fine in the Jordan. They were fairly common in the Black Hills area in South Dakota & the winters up there can make ours look like we live in the banana belt.
Good point, trout are in there as well. We once “caught” a coke machine that was dumped around 126th south. How many red sliders have you seen in there? I haven’t fished it for years but it would be cool to catch a few of those with some nets, I have two at home in my aquarium, which I have named and would never just dump them in some river or lake. People do some stupid things sometimes, gotta love bucket biologists…
I have not thought that at all. Actually I have enjoyed the info you have added.