Carp Anglers Group

This is a compilation of many conversations and comments on this year's Annual Meeting and Carp Classic . Although the event itself was not a barnburner, no one comes solely for the purpose of winning the contest. The main value of Chicago is to meet the experts and fish with them. This year we were blessed with more top carpers than in any year past. These included Richard Gardner, English tackle maker, Ross Keightley, who makes weights for fishing, and the usual assortment of crazy fanatics who live to fish and obsess about carp all the time such as Peter Dawson, Nigel Griffin, Pat Kerwin, Tom Warndorf, Paul Pezella, Warren Bird, Bud Yancey, and Jack Rowe. We even had long distance comment on the event by "Oatmeal Jack" Blackford who couldn't keep his two cents out so he commented by e-mail. Here are some of the topics discussed.

Weights

The Chicago River has a few problems to solve that most North American carpers don't usually see, mainly dealing with the flow of the river. River anglers such as Pat Kerwin may deal with it by switching to float or quiver tip, but Ross Keightlely of Anchor Weights in England suggests that you can deal with slow to moderate flow by paying attention to what kind of weight you are using. For routine legering with bite alarms, etc. he recommends the use of an in-line semi-fixed lead and a short leader of braided line. The Method was very popular in Chicago. this consisted of an in-line feeder used as a weight semi-fixed to the swivel. Flat in-line weights were even better because the flow did not pick them up and a smaller weight could be used without stressing the rod.

Ross pointed out that the shape of a weight was crucial to the various methods, especially to the bolt rig. A squatty weight with a low center of gravity or attached in-line will not pivot as the fish takes the hook and bait away so the whole impact of the weight will hit the fish all at once. With a weight with a higher center of gravity (such as a long weight or one with a stem on it) you will get a gradual holding of the fish as the weight will either move with the fish for a little distance or will topple over first before the fish can feel the entire weight. A wary carp will spit out the bait and the hook before the bolt rig can work to its fullest extent.

Anchor has designed several weights to counter the effect of a pivoting weight such as their tri-lobe weight which lies on the bottom and is very hard to move. Ross told me that it was originally designed to fly far and come out of the water easier because the lobes were supposed to act as an air/water foil. It turns out that this property was not as effective as they thought, but that the weight really held without moving. A two ounce tri-lobe did much better than s two ounce Bass caster. Flat in-line weights also did well since the center of gravity was always right on the line and not a few inches off.

For quiver tipping and float fishing, Anchor has introduced a new ovoid shaped split shot which has the advantage of being more aerodynamic in the water and in casting. These weights don't gather weed as much as the standard split shot and come in non-lead form.

Tactics

Peter Dawson commented about how hard the fishing was during the Classic this year. Peter managed to do fairly well because he continued to monitor the fish and was able to find out where they were. Paul Pezella and Tom Warndorf both agreed that fishing in a crowded venue was not a set it and forget it proposition. On the day of the match there were hundreds of anglers and onlookers (not to mention the weekend boat traffic) and the fish were more wary. We fished a hundred pegs this year and stretched the venue to the turning basin. The majority of fishermen, including some very good anglers, blanked. those who caught fish did so because they found them first. No huge fish were caught primarily because no huge fish were present. A 10.2 lb. fish was the biggest caught during the match and no 20 lb. fish were caught on the weekend. That's the way fishing is sometimes but there were fish to be caught as Tom Warndorf proved.

He was fortunate enough to be placed on a spot where there was a special feature, the line between the turning basin and the river. At this point there was an eddy which varied in position and brought in fish. Tom fished it the whole five hours knowing that eventually the fish would find his groundbait and he would hit it big. He caught his fish at the end of the time allowed and when they came in, he was ready.

Peter Dawson made the decision to try the river a little farther out that it had fished the previous day. The reasoning for this was that all the commotion was bound to frighten the fish in his mind and he had the confidence to try it. He was not keeping this a secret to his neighbors, but no one else copied him. This brings up a good point about fishing of any kind, the fish will not always do what you want them to. While you may have the best equipment and the best baits, if you don't fish where the carp are, you won't catch them.

The Chicago carp had been fed twenty yards out this year and a lot of the chum ended up on the wall because of the action of the boat wakes. When 500 people assembled on the shore that morning the vibration sent a warning to many of the fish. They went out to the twenty yard line and beyond. None of this was beyond casting range for anyone on the shore, most of the anglers did not visualize what was going on and used tried and true methods. In fact a few of those who caught were fishing in near, but these pegs (such as Number One) were near other structure which gathered in the fish and were not as effected by the thundering herd.

Tom had a plan, which was finalized when he found out which peg he had drawn, and he stuck to it. The advantage of having a plan is that you are able to determine what is happening by referring to your set of assumptions. Any good plan will have a set of contingencies and an answer for each problem that might arise. Tom knew he should be able to draw in the fish at some point, especially at this peg where water flow was so crucial. He also realized quickly that the fish were not at his feet, a situation unusual for Chicago but common in the tournament. He continues to feed the twenty/thirty yard mark and caught one fish early on. This allowed him to "keep the faith" with his plan and not deviate. Eventually it paid off.

For pleasure anglers the lesson is to remember to be flexible. I you know there are fish present and you are not catching them, don't panic. Try and figure out what you are not doing to attract them. There a re a finite number of reasons: the fish are not where you are fishing, the fish are not eating, or your presentation is poor. So you must switch places, feed to entice, or use a different style or bait (or both) to get the fish to bite.

Also remember that a good method will take a while to work as you have to get the fish to be interested in the first place or you are using a technique that relies on the fish to eventually find your groundbait and start to feed. This could take hours of waiting but will be worth it when the fish come.

Baits

While it is a mystery to some, boilies continues to catch nice fish in the Chicago River. Flavors (in some cases, flavours) never smelled by the fish were killers, usually on not-Classic days, and size of the boilies did not seem to matter. Maize in many flavors caught well too as did sweetcorn, bread, and paste baits. But boilies were the most interesting to the newcomer to carping.

Boilies are just another bait, not to be confused with the Banjo Minnow, and will catch fish in the right set of circumstances. Those circumstances were good in Chicago: the fish were eating on a regular basis and in this "turned on" state were exploring the menu.

A boilie (or paste bait for that matter) attracts nearby fish with an interesting smell/flavor which they try. Throwing out a few free samples doesn't hurt either as the fish can try them without penalty first. A boilie is just a hardened paste bait. It doesn't' t have the drawing power of paste, but it lasts a lot longer and can be presented in more imaginative ways because it will not fall off the hook.

In fact the boilie is partially responsible for the hair rig and the bolt rig because it is a bait ideally suited for these terminal tackle. They catch fish when the circumstances are right and sometimes when they are not supposed to. If they work, use them. One of the best ways to fish boilies in a new fishery is over maize. Use a flavor which is attractive without overpowering the fish.

Boilies, unlike almost all other baits except maize, and pastes, can be precisely manipulated to have the effect you want on the fish. In England there are hundreds of recipes just like there are hundreds of variations on plastic baits. These are usually to solve a local problem but often are universal in application. Of course there are fads too, but that is part of the fun of fishing.

Back Leads

Chicago has a big problem with passing boats. Not only are there large tourist boats cruising the Chicago River (which is a canal if you look at the profile of the river) but there are also an occasional jerk who lives to terrorize shore anglers. (I always keep a few lead boilies for them.) The result, purposeful or not, is a loss of line and end tackle which can be annoying at best and expensive if you don't have a Baitrunner. The answer is back leading.

Richard Gardner (the rod pod man) and Nigel Griffin were demonstrating the use of back leads all weekend. This is a simple device which takes the line right to the bottom at the end of your rod and lets the line go across the river just above the silt. Since the river is 20-30 feet in the middle, you can fish the other side without risk of your line being eaten up.

Most back leads are weights with a large loop in them that takes you line down. They are easily removed and don't interfere with the playing of the fish as they are made to come off. They are retrieved later because they are attached to your rod pod or bank stick. they don't seem to interfere with the bite indicators at all, at least not in Chicago.

Gardner Tackle, of course, sells a superb back lead made by Anchor Weights. They clip in readily and come off at the proper time without interfering. Ross Knightly tells me that if you set up your bolt rig properly, you can even slack line on the back lead and have a killer rig for catching any bottom lurking fish. You don't have to use them all the time, but it is nice to know that they work.

Bob Williamson (IL)

Ninety-six anglers from eleven states and three countries converged on the Chicago River on September 27 to compete in the 4th annual Chicago Carp Classic which has become the carp championship of North America. Weather conditions were beautiful for this time of year in Chicago. The number of contestants more than doubled since 1996 to 100. Although the conditions seemed perfect many anglers were unable to get fish on the leader board. Only twenty-nine of the participants recorded one or more fish during the five and hour contest for a total of sixty fish. In spite of good numbers of fish and extensive prebaiting , the carp just did not cooperate on the day of the contest.

This year anglers recorded the lengths of their four longest fish. Longest total length won the Chicago Classic Trophy and first choice from the prize table. Larger individual fish were also weighed. The angler with the heaviest fish won the title of Chicago Carp King and an engraved belt buckle. The field was divided into three sections with section honors and trophies going to the angler in each section with the longest total length of four fish. Anglers selected from the prize table in descending order of their total length of fish. There were enough prizes on the table that every participant received one. Tom Warndorf of Niles, IL, took the Chicago Classic trophy with a total of four fish and a length of 99 inches. He also won the Chicago Cup King title and belt buckle with the largest fish of the tournament weighing 10.2 pounds.

Lou Bird of Dodge City, Kansas was very close to the winner with a 10.1 pound fish. Sasa Cobanov of Niles, Illinois took the trophy in Section 1 with a total length of 76 inches. Bob London of Chicago placed second in the section with 73 inches. Sasa also received an award for the shortest fish at 11 inches. Lou Bird won Section 2 with 87 inches. Peter Dawson of Rolla Missouri was close behind in Section 2 with 86 inches.

Bob Matthes of Muskego, Wisconsin placed first in Section 3 with 42 inches. In spite of the low catch rate, participants thoroughly enjoyed the day on the river and the companionship of fellow carp anglers. Most vowed to return next year to try again.

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Last modified July 1999 Oat

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