I was given 25 carp by a well meaning government hatchery guy, luckily they were all male, a couple of years ago. I didn't want them or catfish in my pond. The 25 got to be about 1 pound and I caught and gave away 20 of them in a 3 day period, I would have taken them all but they got smart. Several months later I caught 1 of the remainders, about two pounds, wow, now I am thinking I should have kept the others, what a fight, I have 7 pound tilapia that wish they were that strong. I put him back and all of the future catches will be released. They eat pellets with the best. they eat bread on a hook below a bobber and they are fun! Mine are common carp and they get big, we have much larger ones here but all carp are slow growers so I will stay with what I have for now. I will follow you progress with interest.
D.I.E.D. may be able to shed some light on California carp, I remember as a kid a big lake up in his neck of the woods was overrun with carp. Almador? Almanor? They had bow hunting contests. They should be huge by now.

1/4 & 3/4 acre ponds. A thousand miles from no where and there is no place I want to be...
Dwight Yoakam