
DATE: Friday, May 9, 1997                   TAG: 9705090676

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 

SOURCE: BY PAUL SOUTH, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   92 lines

TRAFFIC-STOPPING CARP SHAKE BAY'S WATERS IN THEIR EGG-LAYING RITUAL

Few people care much about carp. But the often-maligned fish drew a crowd Thursday when they began leaping out of the waters of Kitty Hawk Bay.

Curious motorists parked their cars at water's edge to watch in awe the invisible hands of Mother Nature at work.

The carp - estimated at up to 17 pounds - stirred up the bay's placid waters with their annual spawning ritual, laying hundreds of eggs in the protective cover of marsh grasses.

Linda Laird was one of the first people to pull her car off a busy Colington Road curve to catch the show.

``I moved here in December,'' Laird said. ``My girlfriend has been here for eight years, and told me not to miss this. There's no missing this. . . . No missing it.''

Car after car pulled to the side of the road. Some were filled with tourists, others with residents. All gazed in awe at the swirling water.

Richard Biffle, 69, a veteran birder who raises fish in a pond near his Colington home, has come to the water before.

As a brown flash cut the topwater, Biffle watched intently. He never tires of this, even though he's been here for 18 years.

Why the fascination?

``Oh, I don't know,'' he said, never taking his eyes from the bubbling water and the fish just below. ``They're really doing their thing.''

Cars continued to go by. Some stopped. Others slowed to a crawl to watch the turbulent waters.

``What is it?'' one man asked.

``It's carp,'' came the reply.

Another man, wearing a hunter orange jacket, yelled, ``Better get your treble hooks and get some of those carp.''

Biffle may have seen this before. But for others, like first-time Outer Banks visitors Alma and Gary Fuess of Ambler, Pa., it was an unexpected bonus not found in the guidebooks.

``Oh my God,'' said Alma, a pair of binoculars at her eyes.

``This is our first trip here. We were just driving around and saw the island on the map. We saw this, and had to stop. This sure is worth it.''

Gary Fuess has already had one fishing thrill on his trip, landing a 30-pound tuna.

He said seeing the carp spawn will be another memory of his trip to North Carolina.

``I'm a fisherman, so I find this kind of thing interesting,'' he said.

Some of the folks gathered near the six-foot marshgrass shared culinary advice.

``Marinate it in some Italian dressing,'' Biffle said. ``It tastes just like a fillet.''

The carp spring ritual has been going on for the last week, said Bing Bingham of Colington.

``I've been watching this for the last several days,'' Bingham said. ``We just built a little retirement home here. This is an amazing phenomenon.''

Carp are common throughout the United States and Canada. Introduced to North America in the 1880s as a food fish, the carp is part of the goldfish family. They can grow up to 60 pounds.

``They like to spawn in areas where there are grasses,'' said Liz Plymell, an aquarist at the North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island.

``That keeps the eggs in place, and they're not floating around everywhere.''

The carp commotion is not the only sign of spring on the bay, said Richard Graf, who works at Dare County's reverse osmosis plant.

For Colington crabbers, softshell time is here.

``The guys are working on their crab shedders,'' Graf said. ``I get off work at about 2 or 3 in the morning. You drive by this place, and it's lit up like Manhattan. They have to get those softshells quick. It makes the difference between selling them for $1 apiece or $1 a dozen.''

Just a few feet from Graf, two greenhead mallards were vying for the affection of a brown spotted female.

She squawked as one of the males grabbed her by the nape of the neck, and pushed her head under water time and time again, like a bully picking on a small kid at the neighborhood pool.

Then, one male tried to chase away his rival.

``Fighting over a woman,'' Graf said.

``Just like Saturday night'' at a local tavern.

But most of the folks who came to the water Thursday saw something magical.

``It's not something we've done,'' Linda Laird said.

``This is a reminder of the God-given gifts we have, and that we should take care of.

``This the reason we moved here.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

DREW C. WILSON/The Virginian-Pilot

Spawning fish put on an impressive show

Passers-by get out of their vehicles to watch the carp stir up Kitty

Hawk Bay, near Colington Island, on Thursday. The carp, shown at

right, are estimated to weigh about up to 17 pounds. The fish lay