According to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s Division of Fish and Wildlife, a new state record grass carp was taken with a bow and arrow from the Delaware River on May 14. Mark Kronyak of Middletown caught a 59 pound, 12 ounce specimen that weighed 10 pounds, 9 ounces more than the previous record taken from the Delaware-Raritan Canal in 1996.
Kronyak was fishing from a boat when he landed the carp with a Cascade bow. The fish measured 46½ inches in length with a 31½-inch girth.
The freshwater grass carp, also known as the white amur, is the largest member of the minnow family and may reach a weight of 100 pounds. A native of Russia and China, the grass carp was brought to this country in the 1960s to control aquatic vegetation.
In order to manage the unchecked spread of this species, biologists developed a genetically altered variety known as the Triploid. If this sterile form were not developed, grass carp would continue to reproduce and quickly denude their surroundings of all available vegetation.
Mark right after he brought it in.
Looking good!
Mark and his fish
Nice bunch of fish
Jack Spoto & Mark Kronyak
Weighing it in
at the scale
The Record Fish Program honors the largest species of fish caught in the state. It revolves around a specific list of eligible freshwater and saltwater species, and is based on weight alone (there are no line classes). Scale certification documentation and a weighmaster’s signature are necessary. Other rules apply.
For more information, visit the Record Fish Program webpage at www.njfishandwildlife.com/recfish.htm.
This information is taken from http://www.njfishandwildlife.com/news/2006/recgrasscarp06.htm