Carp jump out of the water to regulate the level at which they’re swimming. When carp swim across the upper layers of a lake, pressure will build on their swim bladders, so the jumping carp are forcing air out of their bladder, alleviating that pressure in the process.
While this is the most common reason why carp jump, they might also jump to maintain their bodies and gills’ cleanliness. On rare occasions, carp might surface to feed. If there are other predators prowling in the water, jumping could be an attempt to escape them.
Introduction
When you’re an avid fan of carp fish, you’ll surely ask yourself, “why do carp jump out of the water?” It’s important to know why and how carp tend to behave, especially for carp anglers planning to release the carp back.
The answer is quite simple (if you’re familiar with carp anatomy, that is). If not, we’ll give you a hands-down answer below, so read on!
1. To Regulate Pressure in Swim Bladder
The main reason carp jump out of the water is to empty their swim bladder like other fish species. A swim bladder contains a variety of gases, but they have more oxygen than other gas, which helps them moderate buoyancy in their natural environment.
In deeper water, the pressure on carp’s swim bladder increases when they change depths; therefore, carp perform a full jump and then heavy splash to release this pressure. Doing so allows carp to swim deeper near a lake bed.
Similarly, carp leap out of the water to take in more air, easing the pressure on their swim bladder and allowing them to swim in shallow waters.
2. To Clean the Body Surface and Gills
Sometimes carp will simply jump out of the water for their personal hygiene, and that’s one of the natural processes of this fish. Here’s how these bottom feeders can clean up their bodies.
Remove Parasites
Lakes are the housing environment for a host of tough parasites, and these creatures can easily cling to carp, which many anglers might spot while carp fishing. Unfortunately, they can lodge into a fish’s gills.
As one would expect, the impact of a fish hitting the water can easily dislodge these parasites off their bodies. Also, the impact will force parasites and dirt out of the gills.
Remove Food, Bait, or Debris
One feeding activity you should be aware of while carp angling is that this fish has a filter that pushes debris and stuck food out of their gills.
Carp gills will have stuck bait and debris in them if they live in silty lakes, something that their filtering mechanism might not always be able to clear out. In that case, carp can jump clear out of the water to remove this sticky waste, using the water and air force combined to clean their gills!
3. To Feed
While these feeding fish consume most of their food at the bottom of a lake, they might often perform a half-hearted jump to catch flies or any consumable bugs that float over the water surface. These carp feeding incidents are common, and most carp anglers might witness them if they look closely.
4. To Escape Predators
Carp leaping out of the water could also be an attempt to escape nearby predators. Although it’s very unlikely, a carp jumps to escape certain attacks from predators. You can see leaping carp in lakes that house several predators.
Carp jumping might also happen because another fish has startled them. Silver carp, in particular, can do so when in groups.
Types of Carp Jumping
There are several types of jumping. Here are the common ones.
Full Jump
The full jump, also known as crashing, is the typical carp jump you can see anytime. It starts with leaping out of the water and ends when the carp hits the water surface.
This jump happens when the carp require enough force to clean their body of parasites or remove debris from their gills. If you see carp jumping in a part of the lake with high quantities of silt, they’re feeding and trying to clear their gills.
Half Jump
A half jump is also quite similar to a full jump, but it lacks the force. Carp can still perform this jump if they’re feeding and cleaning up or if they’re relieving pressure off the swim bladder.
You can also identify this jump by how much you see of a carp’s body. You’ll only see most of a carp’s body during a half jump.
Rolling
Carp do this jump in groups. While it’s not necessarily a full-fledged jump, the rolling on the water surface ends with a splash.
When carp do that, they’re done feeding off that area, and they’ll head to another area of the lake. Therefore, closely follow their direction to know where to drop your hook.
Head and Shouldering
As the name of this jump suggests, the carp’s head and shoulders will be visible over the surface, and it ends with a weak splash. This motion is mainly associated with feeding, as carp do it when they’re clearing their gills.
So, you’ll have even better chances of catching carp if you see this jump, as this indicates the presence of a large number of carp.
Head Poking
Head poking or surfacing is yet another method with which carp can feed. While this fish is a bottom feeder, they’re still able to ingest other edible material off the water’s surface, which indicates that carp are feeding in the area.
Sometimes, a carp fish can poke its head to get more air into its swim bladder. In all cases, if a carp pokes its head out of the water, this indicates a carp activity.
Final Words
Now that you know the reasons why carp jump out of the water, you’ll be more familiar with the behaviour of these stunning creatures in real-time!
Carp jump to regulate pressure on their swim bladder, but remember that they could also be jumping because they’re feeding, startled, or simply moving away. With regular observation, it’ll be easy to tell exactly what they’re doing.
If you still have any questions about carp jumping, leave us a comment down below.
