Aug 20, 2009

Carp Carpet

I love fish (though, not to eat). I have a large aquarium at home. I've had ponds full of koi and goldfish. I love scuba diving. So why do I include the photo below on Ugly Overload? Because I've always had a fear of swimming in freshwater lakes. The reason? Carp.

Photo source: RoadsideAmerica.com



















But the carp are the main attraction at the Spillway in Linesville, Pennsylvania. In fact, this spot is so popular that it is second only to the Liberty Bell, with hundreds of thousands visiting each year. The visitors come to hurl bread at the carp that amass so thickly to eat that ducks have been known to walk across them when vying for doughy morsels.

The next time you're in Pennsylvania, be sure to drop by Linesville. You'll find a snazzy new promenade at the Spillway and vendors aplenty to supply you with all the tossable baked goods you could ever want.

Thanks for the carp, Paula.

7 comments:

Unknown said...

When I was a kid, we used to go to King's Island amusement park near Cincinnati, OH. They had a pond filled with carp just like this. My sister and I loved to feed them (Of course, you could by a handful of pellets out of a machine for $.50). My mom just thought they were disgusting! Go Duck!!!

nihil said...

My parents' house resides on a lake and there were always carp gobbling up whatever muck was floating along. They make this disgusting smacking/plopping noise when they feed on the surface of the water. :barf: They're also feisty little buggers and tough to land when fishing. (at least where I'm from)

cynth said...

I want to go to there.

Anonymous said...

What a complete load of carp!

(Sorry. Couldn't resist.)

Anonymous said...

It's a carpet of carps!

Wudas said...

Creepy, crusty, carpet of carps, camping in a crater.

Anonymous said...

This is the letter I wrote when I sent the link in..and yeah, nihil, yeah, that plopping/smacking noise... (shudder)

This seems to be one of those things you have to see when you live in Pennsylvania. Last time we were there I was so repulsed by the gaping maws of so many brown crap colored fish (yes, I said crap, not carp.) that I ended up flinging the rest of the bread to the many gulls that hang out. They were fun to watch. They would hover pretty close & snag bread as you flung it up in the air.
Anyways, please check out the link & behold the awesome ugliness that is the spillway at Linesville.