(RI) pickerd

Very impressive video, and a real nice common that you landed. You are on your way and I see a 30 lber in your future! Keep up the great fishing.

The Spring Big 4 is one of our signature tournaments. If we were going to make big changes (as we did in 2018) on how things were going to run as well as the outcome (winners and prizes), it should have been addressed beforehand on this Forum with the members. The BOD should have also discussed these changes and approved/disapporoved of them before the Spring Big 4 was held.

I also did not like the regional aspect of this tournament. That tends to work when you have equal number of entrants from each zone. If you look at the list of entrants at least half were from the northeast zone. Some zones had almost no one. So, no question, the NE guys were at a big disadvantage. I agree with Dave on this point. And only one winner from each zone. Come on man. The BOD discussed this several years back when numbers were way down in the tournament, and we decided to up the number of winners to get more participation. That was the policy we adopted. At the time we decided to award the top ten finishers and this happened several years in a row. I assumed this would happen again this year. And, we had no idea of the number of winners or the prizes until after the tournament was over. This should have been all set up and explained beforehand just like what is done in the FFF. I'm sure this will affect how many enter the Fall Big 4 unless it changes. By the way, I do think this is all a good idea to get input from members as to what they think about how things run. Sometimes, we, as the BOD tend to act on our own as was done here and maybe it is not what the members want. I, too, would like to see input on this from all who entered so we can better serve you next time.

Rex, some nice fish posted. You will find that the Blackstone has many surprises. I have caught a lot of bullhead or horned pout there, but I have also caught large white catfish, hybrid goldfish and even a pike while fishing for carp in the river.

Thanks for the info. And, nice size mirror.

One issue that I see is that on the leaderboard there are several people who are entering fish but not indicating their location or region. Shouldn't that be a requirement since this is a regional event?

Wow, terrific fish. Congrats.

OK, been trying like a son of a gun to get a big mirror. It happened today with this gorgeous 31 lb., 8 oz. fully scaled beauty. Ah, persistence (with a little luck) pays off!

I'm guessing your pics should have been reduced as you suggested. This has been a problem in the past. Reducing to 640 wide should work. Noticed most of the photos downloaded to the leaderboard did not work. Maybe this should have been explained ahead of time.....

Nice going Lizardman. Love the hat!

Been catching good numbers of small ones and then, bingo, 29 lbs. 2 oz. Got this big girl on a combo bait of maize and a white artificial corn fished on the hair rig. Method ball packed around the sinker. Stange thing is that I landed over 20 fish in this spot and not one of them even hit ten pounds. Hmm, you just never know!

Thanks to all who attended this year's very successful NECC. And, a big shout out to our President, Iain, for putting this whole thing together! Here are some of the photos of the event.

Lefty, Great to see you back and with a terrific fish. The carp in MA are in trouble now! Dave

I don't know if anyone has checked the stream flow data for the CT River but as of right now, I don't think you will be able to fish it since the river is flowing about three times the normal for fishing. The problem is that there is a TREMENDOUS amout of snow in the mountains. It is melting and sending a torrent of water downstream. Water flows in that location are just about unfishable in the month of April due to high water, fast flows and lots of debris. If you are planning a fish-in I would have a back-up location in a pond or lake just in case the river is not fishable.

Our popular RI CAG Spring Big 3 Tournament starts April 1 and runs until June 30th. It is open to all RI CAG members and any other CAG members who would like to participate. Basically you enter your biggest carp for the month of April, the month of May and the month of June. We total up those three weights and that is your point total. Medals are awarded to the top three finishers. The rules of the tournament are below: RI CAG Big 3 Rules Spring, 2018 Here is a summary of the rules for our 2018 RI CAG Big 3 Contest: 1. You must be a CAG member in good standing (dues up to date) to fish in this contest. Participants can come from RI as well as other states so long as they are CAG members. 2. Only fish caught and released from RI waters can be entered. 3. When fishing in this tournament, you can only use two rods max. Anyone caught using three or more rods while the tournament is going on will be disqualified. 4. You will enter your biggest carp for the month of April, the biggest carp for the month of May and the biggest carp for the month of June. These can be mirrors as well as commons. 5. You can enter as many fish as you want, but only the biggest (by weight) will count for each month. 6. No fish can be entered for the month after the month ends. For instance, we will accept fish entered for April up until April 30, and not in May. 7. You should use an accurate scale to weigh your fish. I also suggest the use of a weigh sling if possible. Fish can be weighed in decimal format or lbs. and oz. For instance, 20 lbs. 8 oz. or 20.5 lbs. I will convert all weights to lbs. and oz. All fish must then be released. 8. Photos are encouraged but not required. Try to take a photo of a good catch. Portraits of you holding the fish are best. Photos can be sent to my e-mail. I’m hoping to use some of the photos on the blog. 9. You should send weights of fish entered to me by e-mail at imhooked2000@cox.net Include your name, the weight of the fish, and the date of the catch. Or, if you see me you can simply tell me the info we need. 10. At the end of each month we will set up an updated leaderboard on the RI Carp Fishing website at www.ricarpfishing.blogspot.com or I will update members by e-mail. 11. At the conclusion of the tournament, sometime around the first week in July, medals provided by the CAG will be awarded for first, second and third places. These places will be determined by the total weight of the three biggest fish. Note that we can not have a tie since we only have three medals. In the unlikely event of a tie, the fourth largest fish entered will be the tie breaker. Any questions, feel free to contact me. Good luck to everyone and have fun, Dave Pickering, RI CAG Chairman