Strange Fish Caught in Saugatuck Waters

Robert Woodhull pulled a strange fish from the Kalamazoo River at Saugatuck in February of 1882. The next week, this event was reported in the Lake Shore Commercial (today's Commercial Record). It was written that the unusual creature was "thought to be a carp", a species introduced to the upper waters of the Kalamazoo in 1880 and 1881 by the Michigan State Fish Association.

Congress had established the US Fish Commission in 1871 to oversee the nation's fisheries interests. One of its first jobs was to consider what species to introduce to increase the supply of food fishes. By 1874, the commission concluded "that no other species, except the carp, promises so great a return in limited waters. " In 1877 they imported 345 scaled, mirror and leather carp from German fish farms. Starting in 1879, over 6,000 fingerlings were shipped to recipients in 24 states. One year later, when the Kalamazoo got its first batch, 31,332 carp were distributed.

By 1886, "carp culture" was a going concern. The front page of the October 1 Commercial of that year featured a report from a carp growers convention held in Morrow County, Ohio. Prominent Saugatuck locals got into the swing of things. By December of that same year, local businessman and farmer Calvin Whitney had constructed a carp pond on his farm east of the village. In 1891 William Lindsey of Hopkins Township drained his carp pond and sold $100 worth of fish from what had previously been a "profitless mudhole"

Carp is not a favored food fish today, but once upon a time the restaurants of the Waldorf and Astoria Hotels in New York featured "Carp in Rhine Wine Sauce".

Within a few years, the Commercial had changed its opinions somewhat, and in an Oct. 10, 1897 issue was calling for a "war of extermination" against the German carp, claiming that they "devour the spawn of other and more valuable fishes. It is feared they will soon drive the other varieties of fish from the river."

--submitted by Chris Yoder