Three years ago there were those who scoffed at the idea of a carp tournament on a section of the Allegheny River in Pennsylvania long known for smallmouth bass and walleye fishing. “No local will publicly fish for carp, and no one will travel any distance for a carp contest,” claimed some area anglers. But they were proved wrong.



Young Entropy with a 29.5 inch carp which won the prize for the biggest fish of the tournament. It was also the ONLY fish he, or I (Dad Entropy) for that matter, caught. Good for 6th place overall best out of 4 carp, 35 entries.

Oil Heritage Region’s River Romp weekend conclude on Sunday, September 17 with the third annual Bank-Fishing Carp Tournament on the Allegheny River in Pennsylvania. Thirty-three contestants (half of them from the local area) paid an entry fee to fish at a randomly drawn peg for six hours at the “Ramp”, “Beach” and “Outback” areas near the Oil City Marina, with top finishers taking home cash prizes and trophies. The tournament was the climax to the Western Pennsylvania CAG Fish-In and the 24-hour Mr. Whisker’s Catfish Derby.

Preparation for this year’s event began a week before River Romp with baiting of the area by local volunteers using boiled whole kernel corn and cracked corn. The river section is the site of a former sand and gravel dredging operation. With depths to 20 feet in the two-mile pool, it is a natural draw for larger river carp.

The one-day Bank-Fishing Tournament takes place on city owned property that stretches for about one mile along the river’s east bank. Normally vehicles are restricted from the site, but this year the city granted permission for participating anglers in the CAG Fish-In to drive right to the site, set up shelters as needed and fish straight through the weekend.

Among the first ones to arrive early Friday were Chuck and Kelly Weaver from south of Pittsburgh and Flip Scheggetman who drove in from Philadelphia. Steve “Poison Chum” Lojek of Sharon, PA was there, as well as Nigel Griffin from Connecticut. And then the rain arrived.

Chuck Weaver (Left) and Nigel Griffin (Right) show off a couple fine specimens of mirror carp taken at the Western Pennsylvania CAG Fish-In on the Allegheny Rive at Oil City. Griffin went onn to win the River Romp Bank-Fishing Tournament the next day and Wearver was named Allegheny Carp King for catching 35 carp during the two-day CAG Fish-In.

In spite of the weather, several local anglers came down to fish for carp with the out-of-town quests. But most local fishermen simply stopped by to register for the Mr. Whiskers Derby, have a hot dog and then head out to their favorite catfish hole. Actually, the fishing was excellent Friday night, with Chuck Weaver catching over 30 carp with largest going 24 pounds. Despite his reputation of strange chum concoctions, Steve landed several carp including a very nice mirror. In addition, the 60-some anglers registered in the 24-hour catfish derby did better than previous years.

By mid morning on Saturday, the weather was clearing and the bite was waning. By Saturday evening, everything had shut down. Even Nigel and Flip with their sophisticated methods could not wrangle up a fish. Everyone decided a good nights sleep was more important than tending rods through the darkness.

Sunday morning arrived with 33 registered contestants for the Bank-Fishing Tournament. Fish would be scored by length again this year because three sets of scales had not arrived in time; only the four longest fish would count. Anglers were spread out in three venues on city property, with stewards maintaining contact by 2-way radio. Following a bit of a rough start in getting people to the different sites, anglers quickly got into the flow of things when the start horn sounded.

Samatha Bobrzynski of Pittsburgh was the first to land a fish. “Sam” almost captured the First River Romp Bank-Fishing Tournament in 1998, but lost to Mike McElravy of Warren. She had the winning fish on as the closing horn sounded but was unable to land it within the allotted time when the fish became entangled in weeds. Was 2000 to be her year?

Samatha "Sam"Bobrzynski of Pittsburgh, a vetran of many CAG Fish-ins, caught the first carp of in the Bank Fishing Tournament within minutes of casting out her first bait.

Bill Devine then jumped into early lead with three carp, but then could not come up with a fourth one. Nigel Griffin got off to a slow start, but by noon had four fish and was trying to improve his score with bigger fish. With three good fish under his belt and making a run at Griffin, Dale Black of Oil City lost a huge carp right at the bank that would had pushed him out front.

However, at 1:00 P.M. word came from the “Outback” that Mike E. Eiler of Eau Claire was on a run. In less than an hour, he had landed four carp and was challenging Griffin. Both anglers caught additional fish in the final hour. However, when the final horn sounded 2 P.M., Nigel Griffin had edge out Mike Eiler by only a few inches.

During the award presentation, Nigel said it was time to change Steve’s nick name from “Poison Chum” to “Sweet Chum” since he had won at the peg where Steve had chummed and fished for two days before. With two consecutive year’s victories at the tournament, Nigel stated he would not enter the competition next year but would return as a steward.

Most fish were taken on corn, both canned sweet corn and boiled & flavored field corn. The second most productive bait was boilies on a hair rig. While secret recipe dough baits were used by a number of contestants, these did not seem to produce many fish.

With a total of 35 carp recorded on Friday and Saturday during the CAG Fish-In, Chuck Weaver was named Allegheny Carp King.

The Bank-Fishing Carp Tournament is one part of a larger River Romp weekend celebration along the Allegheny that focuses activities aimed at the family, including a triathlon, canoe race, PA State Stone Skipping Championship, Casting Kids, frog jumping contest, jet boat rides, story-telling bonfire and an arts/music festival.

For 2001, River Romp will be held on the weekend of September 21, 22, and 23. The Bank-Fishing Carp Tournament will be Sunday the 23. There will be 40 pegs for the tournament. (Hopefully that can be increased to 50 pegs.) Pennsylvania CAG Chairman John McKean has agreed to designate the River Romp weekend as one of Western Pennsylvania Fish-Ins. Also next year, a special beginner’s carp clinic will be planned for kids on Saturday morning with assistance of CAG members. For more information throughout the year, check out www.riverromp.com. If you would like to help out with preparation for the Fish-In or serve as a steward for the tournament, please contact Darl Black at 814-425-8011 or email darlblak@toolcity.net.

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Submitted by River Romp Fishing CoordinatorDarl Black.

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