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A Minute With Mike: Carp Carp Hooray!

A Minute with Mike
Vic Reyes
Minute with Mike

Once again it's time to dust off the ol’Future-tron 2000 and see what might be happening in our state's future.

Dateline: Summer, 2050

 

Lake and river towns throughout Michigan are undertaking final preparations for tonight's 30th annual Celebration of Carp, or “Carpration” as some Michiganeers fondly refer to it. Since its arrival in the Great Lakes in 2020, the Asian Carp has revolutionized Michigan's industry and diet.

 

The bustling carptopulous of Ludington, once a sleepy lake town, is putting on three straight nights of fireworks to honor the fish that has created thousands of jobs.

 

Not to be outdone, Alpena will attempt to break the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest carp cake. Nicknamed the Alpena Queen, the carp cake should weigh in at over 400 pounds, easily beating the previous record holder, the 257-pound Harbor Beach Haggie.

 

All across Michigan, folks are prepping for carp tastings, carp bastings, carp frying, carp drying, carp stewing and even some carp glueing.

 

Of course, the exact date of carp entry into the Great Lakes in unknown. However, scientists theorize that the invasive fish bypassed electrical barriers near Chicago waterways by simply being picked up by a bird and then accidentally dropped on the other side.

 

The first large pod of Asian Carp was found in Lake Michigan on July 16, 2020, which now, of course, marks the Carpration Celebration.

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