CAGI 2005 CT - results & stories Options

[Jerome]

So 17 brave participants drove to West Thompson Lake (CT) to discover this new & very scenic venue that we didn't fish before. Including two junior anglers, that was nice.

No need to introduce Gate Dragone, who can probably outfish most of the CAG members, but Sophina Clough (the cute little lady) was also a strong contender with a personal best of 26lb...

Here is the group picture, except that we have four missing participants, Vinny & Sarah were still sleepy (well mostly Sarah), plus Dom & Eric were making circles on the road claiming that I gave them wrong directions (yes, so what? ).

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[Jerome]

Here is a pics of the swim and the angler destined to make the difference. A LOT of difference...

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[Jerome]

We will publish more pics of the fish-in itself, but check this one. Vinny has been fishing for years with corn on the hook, and that was it. He now got started on a great learning curve, and this rig cracked me up. Let's see:
* a hair rig
* boilies in snowman
* pop-up boilie
* and PVA bag!

Great to see people experiment new things, this is very encouraging.

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[Jerome]

Two small prizes for Sarah Stevens (1st run of the day + our own lady angler) and Ben Darby, a guest who landed two carp more than two state chairs and a CAG director (ahem! ), and this was his first day of carping...

Then we had a special prize for juniors. Gate Dragone ended up not catching but made a very brave attempt, fished the full 10 hours under a scorching sun, and was unlucky enough to have two runs without a fish landed. So he won the famous Cadillac Escalade. I suspect Dad will want to play with it...

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[Jerome]

The big fish was all relative, fish were so incredibly small in this venue which doesn't seem to provide rich food for its inhabitants. But this made catching a bigger one than others even more difficult!

This regional award was won by Mark Wade in a very close race with Steve Clow (and also Dom Mariano). A 8lb 9oz monster!

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[Jerome]

Then Steve Clow ruled... No participant caught more than 2 fish during the event, and he kept catching one per hour for the entire day. 9 fish at the end, which obviously secured the top-4 and the total-weight (54lb 10oz). Well done in a very challenging situation, great display of angling skills.

Since we painfully succeeded to catch 18 carp (half of them by Steve!) for 17 anglers, CT qualified for the national awards. My guess is that Steve has a go... But stay tuned!

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[Jerome]

Oh, and we had the wooden paddle, reserved for the angler who went throught the most "glorious" (kind of) blank...

Well, yours truly not only blanked on his regular rods, but I was VERY intent in keeping my scooby doo rod title. Yeah, well, never go chat with your neighbors when a scooby with a tight drag is set up. You guess it, I had a take and came too late, the scooby is probably floating somethere after the 20 pounder I undoubtedly hooked broke the 6lb line...

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[Jerome]

Then we had a great barbecue organized and cooked by Mark Wade, with help from Bob Giordano (who also pre-baited the venue). Many thanks to both.

PS. while I'm at it, also thanks to Fran for the doughnut breakfast!

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[Jerome]

Overall, I think we made the best of a difficult day. Even if fish appear to not be that big (although I heard a pretty loud splash), I think we definitely need to work more on this venue, this is really a jewel.

Let me finish by a pics of Sarah battling a fish, I believe this pics will give you a feel about what's special to this venue, the scenery and its very clear water.

PS. Quite a few participants ended up taking a swim as a quite desperate strategy to attract carp!

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[MarkTheShark]

Thanks Jerome, you did a great job organizing another fine event.
Even though the fish were small and many blanked, it was great to see tons of smiling faces at the presentation and Bar-B-Q

Bob and myself worked VERY hard for the fish we caught. Every method, every bait and every thought was tried and adjusted and tried again. But the fish didn't want nothing to do with it.
Yes, the winning weight was just over 8 1/2 pounds, but size doesn't always matter.
Steve fished very well today after speaking to him at the Bar-B-Q after, he also put alot of effort into his peg and was well rewarded.
Bob and myself had pretty decent looking pegs. Fishing on the old river channel dropoff and also fishing the actual 10-12ft deep channel, we succeeded to bring plenty of fish to our pegs. With a constant pace of loosefeed and chumballs being tossed in, the fish displayed themselves in return by jumping right over our baits.
Bob did get plenty of little taps and knocks, and landed a well deserved common.

I had a common at 8.50am and the regional big fish at 5.00pm. I think I would have done much better fishing with a waggler of some sort, but I forgot them

All in all it was a good day to be out

Here are a few photos of Bob and myself with our fish of the day. I didn't get a picture of the 'bigger' fish.

[MarkTheShark]

Here is Bob This picture came out pretty good, I like the sun reflection

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[MarkTheShark]

and here is my first fish

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[Sarah]

Good trip, annoying weather , but at least there was great water to swim in. I learned some things (of course) concerning my fishing. I guess I'm not keeping the rod under enough tension as I'm bringing a fish in. That accounts for one of the fish I lost. Anyway, thanks to everyone for the organization and work that went toward this trip. I had fun

[supercarpio]

Thanks Jerome and Mike for organizing the event. It was very nice to meet and chat with the other CAG members. Although I only caught 1 fish, a 5lb 6oz beast, it was fun.

My guest, Ben Darby, who caught his very first carp, and then another one... was thrilled...

I'll post some pictures later.

-Marius

[Domm]

Nice to meet everyone!! New and old. Had a fun time in the near unbearable heat.