What is the difference between male and female carp

As I got more curious, I started to do some research on the commonly asked question: how to tell if a carp is male or female? From late summer all the way up to the spawning season, male carp will excrete milt and female carp smaller amounts of eggs.

In order to find out all the ways of telling male and female carp apart, all you have to do is continue to read this article. While determining the gender of a carp can be somewhat more difficult after the spawning season, it is rather easy before the fish have spawned. So, between August or September and May or June , which is when most carp in the northern hemisphere will spawn, the easiest way of telling male and female carp apart is by checking their reproductive products, which will be milt, or sperm, in males, and eggs in females.

Very often, this observation can already be made in late summer , as males will start to produce milt and females their egg production.

If you catch a carp and you would want to know its sex, it can hence be enough to apply light pressure to its stomach or genital area in order to press out a small amount of white milt or yellow or orange eggs. Sometimes, the milt and eggs will just excrete all on their own when the carp is either in the landing net or lying on an unhooking mat. I find it rather fascinating that this fish species carries its eggs for such a prolonged period of time. But as the female carp can lay more than Males are generally slimmer and will be more torpedo-shaped with a smaller belly, as they do not carry that much milt in them.

On the contrary, female carp will be more roundish and compact. As they carry so many eggs in them, their bellies will swell up immensely and can be so round and full of eggs that they almost look like they could explode. Anyone who has ever caught such a carp will know what I am talking about. It almost looks as if the fish is sick or as if someone has pumped it full of air. Like all the members of the cyprinids, male carp will produce very small spots or tubercles that feel rough and somewhat like sandpaper.

These tiny spots will spread all over the head and gills and are skin nodules made of keratin. If sacked in darkness, come daylight, the male fish will look pretty much as it did the night before You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account. Paste as plain text instead. Only 75 emoji are allowed. Display as a link instead. Clear editor. Upload or insert images from URL.

Male or Female? Share More sharing options Followers 0. Reply to this topic Start new topic. Recommended Posts. CarpHack Posted December 24, Posted December 24, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options Guest phonebush Posted December 24, Phone Also, it is a lot harder to kiss a male carp on the lips but they will always share a ciggy bankside with you that's how I tell.

Guest Tommy Robinson Posted December 24, LOL - Phone, you da man! Cyprinusman Posted December 24, Sign in with Twitter. Sign in with Google. Share More sharing options Followers 0. Reply to this topic Start new topic. Recommended Posts. Posted April 29, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options Guest reizend Posted May 1, Posted May 1, Female carp tend not to get caught as much as males.

Because they dont feed as much because they are to busy nagging the males. Posted May 2,