# migratory habits of the Redhorse **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 3, 2000, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/migratory-habits-of-the-redhorse/8074 "2000-03-03T17:37:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![justwannano](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7ab992/32.png) [@justwannano](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justwannano)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2000, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/migratory-habits-of-the-redhorse/8074/1 "2000-03-03T17:37:00Z")
When I was a kid we used to go to the local lake and catch what we called carp. They were a foot long and about four inches in diameter. Cigar shaped. They had Deep redish purple dorsal and pectoral fins and tails. I now believe these were lake locked red horse.They are edible because my brother and I cooked one once and ate it. I’ve caught some in a creek near where I live now but the bodystyle is not the same. They are the same length but not cigar shaped. More like a bass. I’ve noticed in the spring that they are backed up behind beaver dams. You can tell them by the dorsal fin sticking up . There may be 50 or so of them. Am I witnessing the migration of the Redhorse.? I’ve heard they were a staple food source of the American Indian ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2000, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/migratory-habits-of-the-redhorse/8074/2 "2000-03-04T00:01:00Z")
## What we call a redhorse in these parts is a redhorse sucker. They are edible, but they’re so bony, they require a special cooking technique. Carp, on the other hand, are much bigger, and they have scales as big as your thumbnail. In the USA, they are usually shunned as a trash fish, but the upper fillets are reportedly quite tasty. In Europe, they are revered as a sport fish. They’re real fighters. Here in central Indiana, more than 50 miles of the White River were rendered fish-free by a chemical spill. Carp fans were crestfallen, for there were lots of carp there. AskNott "Measure twice, cut once. Dang! Measure again, cut again.