Savayman
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Posts posted by Savayman
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Since its inception back in 1993, the Carp Anglers Group “Champion of the Queen” award (sometimes referred as “Protector of the Queen” award) has been used to acknowledge exceptional achievements in promoting CAG and carp angling in North America.
It is named after the description given by Sir Izaak Walton to the carp in his book the ‘Compleat Angler’ first published in 1653 “The Carp is the Queen of Rivers: a stately, good and very subtle fish”.
Ed has been a dedicated member since the very early days of the Carp Anglers Group.
He was the NY State Chair starting in 2000 hosting fish-ins and helping many anglers new to the sport catch their first carp. Over the years Ed has been a dedicated member of CAG most notably supporting Barry Howard (Membership and Store Director) and attending CAG events near and far including the annual Indy Chili Meet.
Over the years he’s successfully fished many carp tournaments and we hope to see him back on the bank after his recent back surgery. We are delighted to offer our appreciation to Ed by awarding him the 2022 Queen’s Award.
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It is with great pleasure that we announced Barry Shildneck as the recipient of the 2023 Carp Anglers Group Champion of the Queen Award.
The Carp Anglers Group “Champion of the Queen” award, sometimes referred as “Protector of the Queen” award, has been used to acknowledge exceptional achievements in promoting the mission of the Carp Anglers Group together with carp angling in North America.
It is so called after Izaak Walton author of the Complete Angler (published in 1653) described the Carp as the "Queen of Rivers" and a ”Stately, Good and very Subtle Fish”. The award was first given in 1995 and the list of recipients over the years is a tribute to their efforts on behalf of our organization.
Barry says he caught his first carp 64 summers ago when he was 14, on a homemade, vanilla flavored doughball, using a 5 foot steel bait casting rod (which he still has). He’s been chasing carp ever since.
He grew up in south central PA, 9 miles from Hagerstown, MD, so fished for carp mainly in large creeks that eventually flowed into the Potomac. When he was older, he fished the upper Potomac itself quite a bit, until he graduated from Oglethorpe College in Atlanta, and moved to Georgia, permanently in 1968.
He continues to fish for carp off and on, when he has the chance. He learned about CAG around 2007 when by chance, Vaughn Osmond (Scott's dad) was doing consulting work for his employer. When Vaughn heard that Barry was a carp angler, he put him in touch with Horace LaFavor, who invited him to a CAG fish-in. Several years later, Horace resigned as GA State Chair and Barry volunteered to replace him "until we had another volunteer". And the rest as they say, is history.
Over the years Barry has been a stalwart supporter of CAG as State Chair for Georgia and helped introduce many to the enjoyment of carp angling.
On behalf of the CAG Directors and fellow members, we are delighted to honor Barry with this award together with Life Membership of the Carp Anglers Group.
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Champion of the Queen Award 2025
Awarded to Bill and Diane Markle
In 2010, the Carp Anglers Group helped promote a day of carp-fishing with kids all over the United States (the event was named TAKC, Take a Kid Carpin'). Bill and Diane Markle set up a successful TAKC event in Syracuse with many kids in attendance. They successfully repeated it in 2011 and 2012.
In later years Bill and Diane formalized their own annual event and named it Take a Kid Karpin'. The focus was always on the kids having a fun day with a lot of fish caught including some quite sizable ones! Thanks to Bill & Diane the event grew with excellent participation and symbolic prizes.
In more recent years, regular interactions started to occur between the St Lawrence International Junior Carp Tournament and the Syracuse TAKK event. This included marshals supporting both events and free entries given to the St Lawrence Junior Tournament for TAKK winners.
Overall, thanks to the dedication of Bill and Diane, a small seed planted in 2010 prospered for more than 15 years and gave to countless local kids the opportunity to learn about carp fishing and catch a big fish. This makes both Bill and Diana very worthy recipients of the 2025 Champion of the Queen award.
The Champion of the Queen is an annual award that recognizes the person or persons who have made a significant contribution to the Carp Anglers Group and ultimately helped grow carp fishing in North America. The significance of the award stems from Izaac Walton’s description of the carp being the “Queen of Rivers” in his book The Compleat Angler The recipient(s) receives a specially inscribed trophy and a well deserved lifetime membership to CAG.
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Here are the winners for the Fall Big 4 2025
Thank you to everyone who took part and congratulations to our winners!
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Congratulations to our 2025 Members Draw winners!
Thank you to all our members and if you didn't win one of the great prizes this year then fingers crossed for next year!
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Hiding in the Long Grass -Stuart Brookes
Signed Copy!
Stuart's journey in this book follows on from his book 'Beyond the Green Gate'. In the first section he recounts fishing Savay on the 'Toad' rota and then in the Second Section - Chimneys a lake he describes as wild, barren and a of lake! Finally Section Three takes a trip to the River Trent and his pursuit of its barbel! Brilliant read!
$50
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Strictly Carp - Martin Clarke
Anyone who knows the name Martin Clarke will know about his success in catching carp over the years. In this book he reveals 'His Ingredients for Success' and the book also features some great guest chapters!
$25
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Carp County - compiled by Chris Haswell
If you want to learn more about the growth of carp fishing in the UK then this is THE book! From the 1960's to 1980's the county of Kent attracted the the very best anglers to unlock the many secrets of the carp swimming in its numerous waters.
The names in this book read like a who's who of carp angling... Springate, Ball, Gibbinson, Rowley, Wilton, Jackson and many more!
Two copies available and both a steal at $20 each!
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King Carp Water - Chris Ball
As always Chris's forensic research provides incredible insights to the renowned Leney carp. Later chapters explore some the famous waters into which they were stocked!
Two Copies available. $40 each
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Sticklebacks to Throwing Sticks - Tom Bankes
Signed Copy!
Tom's curiosity asks many questions in his thirst for answers in his quest to catch fish of many species including carp!
$60
Fine Line to Lunacy - Tom Bankes
Signed Copy!
Tom's second book follows his enthusiastic spell of carp fishing between 1998 - 2010 on some of the UK's most iconic as well as lesser known waters.
$45
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Fallen Kings - Davy Levy
Signed Copy!
A wonderful book following Dave's remarkable angling journey.
$50
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Congratulations to Garrett Stone on being unanimously voted in as State Chair for NY State - Central Region.
Garrett has a huge passion for carp angling and helping fellow anglers and newcomers enjoy catch and release carp angling.
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CAG Member Prize Draw 2025
---- It's Free! You just have to be a Fully Paid Member! ----
The Carp Anglers Group Members Draw for 2025 has an incredible array of prizes!
OVER $3000 in prizes have already been gathered or donated.
On November 30th a randomized draw will decide the lucky
CAG Members who will receive one of the exciting prizes below.
All you have to do is ensure you are a fully paid CAG member* before the draw date!
*temporary & e-memberships are not included
Follow this link to join CAG
https://www.carpanglersgroup.com/forum/index.php?/store/category/5-join-cag-membership/
Here are just some of the great prizes to be won!
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FALL Big 4 2025 Logo!
Print Out and Follow the Rules on Taking Photos of your Catches!
There is also a .pdf file version you can download at the bottom of this thread.
5. Upload your entries within 48 hours of capture and before midnight on the last day when the competition ends. If you have upload problems or unable to upload within 48 hours of capture you must notify us using this email address only: big4@joincag.com See Rule #2
6. Your Upload must include the following details: (1)Trophy Photo of You, the captor, with the Fish, the Scales used to weigh the fish & the Fall Big 4 Logo for 2025 clearly visible in black and white or color; (2) The exact Weight of the fish in lbs and ozs; (3) The State in which the fish was caught. (4) The Date and Time of capture which must be entered in the comments section under the photo.
7. Photo Requirements: (1) Images must be clear. (See notes below). The fish, anglers’ face, scales and logo must all be in focus and clearly visible. (2) The Scales & Big 4 Logo must be positioned in the foreground and as close as possible to the fish (scales or logo’s positioned in the background behind the angler and fish are not acceptable). (3) All photo images must clearly show the full width of the fish. Photos where the fish is presented at an angle (45 dTegrees, tail or head first etc) to the camera will not be accepted. (4) Photoshoped or altered entries may be subject to disqualification. (5) The photo should also show your fish capture being held over a protective mat.
11. For the first 72 hours only entries will be also accepted where the photo shows the CAG Fall Big 4 2025 Logo clearly visible on a cell phone or iPad/tablet etc. Printed Logo’s are valid at ALL times during the event dates.
The CAG BOD reserves the right to request any angler entered in the CAG Big 4 to submit his/her scales and photo date stamp for verification in the event of any disputes.
Here is a good example of how your entry should look: Scales & Big 4 Logo clearly visible in the foreground. The fish is being held correctly (not tilted or at an angle) and is held safely over a protective mat.
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Hi Louis,
Yes there will be a T-shirt available. Design is same as last year. They will look something like this but with a red color shirt.
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How to Calibrate your Scales.
An easy way to check your scale calibration is as follows:
Suspend your scales from a tripod or similar (don't hold the body of the scales with your hands as it will give a false reading).
Suspend an empty 5 gallon bucket from the scale and zero the scales.
Now pour in exactly One Gallon of water. The scales should read: 8lb 5.5oz
Now add 2 more gallons and read the scales. They should now read: 25lb
Add 2 more gallons and the scales should read: 41lb 11oz
This will check the accuracy of your scales across their range.
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One of the keys to taking successful photos at night is good lighting!
The Lume Cube Mini Panel combined with a Smartphone Clip is a great option.
The Smartphone Clip can be mounted on a Tripod or a suction cup that can be attached to a bucket or tackle box.
The key advantage to the Mini Panel is it provides plenty of light to illuminate the subject. The phone can be operated by a remote trigger or you can take a video and capture a screenshot. It's small and compact making it ideal for fishing!
This is just an example of a perfect night shot taken with this set up.
Find out more:
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Fall Big 4 2025 - The Prizes!
- Subject to confirmation -
*** $2,250 in Prizes Up for Grabs! ***
There are also Regional BIG 4 Awards and Photo Plaques (Canada is Region 5)
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CAG FALL Big 4 2025 will run Sept 1st - November 30th 2025
Entry is $12 and you must be a Full CAG Member for the period of the Big 4 Event.
Don't forget that Registration closes at Noon on August 30th 2025
*** There's a $150 Prize for the Biggest Buff and Biggest Grass Carp caught during the Spring Big 4 ***
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By Registering for the Fall Big 4 2025 you agree to abide by the following rules!
Fall Big 4 2025 Runs: September 1st – November 30th 2025
Entry to take part in the Fall Big 4 2025 binds you to these rules.
It is the Competitors responsibility to read, understand and abide by these rules.
No changes or allowances will be made to catches or uploads outside of these rules.
*** If in doubt ask! ***
1. To enter the Big 4 competition you must be a FULLY paid up CAG member for the duration of the event (temporary memberships are excluded from entering) and have registered and paid your entry fee of $12.00 payable in the CAG Store for the Fall Big 4 2025 before Noon on August 30th. No entries will be accepted if your registration or payment falls beyond this date.
- Please look for a separate topic on how to post your catches! -
2. The Competition will run from September1st at 0:01am until midnight on November 30th 2025. All uploads must be completed by midnight on November 30th. If you have an issue whereby the upload of an entry is not accepted by the CAG Leaderboard on November 30th you must contact Willem by email: big4@joincag.com by no later than Midday December 1st. Provided your entry complies with the rules we will accept your entry and assist you in including it on the leaderboard. No upload or messages posted with a date/time of December 1st midday or beyond will count.
3. Upload protocol must be adhered to in order to have an entry accepted. If any requirement or detail is missing then the entry will not be counted. It is the Angler’s responsibility to ensure all details are correctly entered. See Rule #6
4. Only your four biggest carp of the common, mirror or leather varieties count towards the Big 4 Awards (no grass carp, or other strains/breeds will be accepted) and must be caught from North American waters (fish raised in stock ponds or from commercial venues such as paylakes etc may not be entered). Upload the first four fish that you catch during the qualifying period. Subsequently, ONLY upload a fish if it is BIGGER than your fourth biggest fish.
Please DO NOT UPLOAD FISH THAT ARE SMALLER THAN YOUR FOURTH BIGGEST FISH: this clogs the system and causes errors in uploads. This competition is about four big fish & not the total quantity of fish caught during the competition.
4 (a). For Fall 2025 you can also enter your Biggest Grass Carp or Biggest Large or Small Mouth Buffalo capture for a special Biggest Grass Carp or Buffalo Prize. This runs separate to the CAG Big 4 Common Carp event but all other rules apply.
5. Upload your entries within 48 hours of capture and before midnight on the last day when the competition ends. If you have upload problems or unable to upload within 48 hours of capture you must notify us using this email address only: big4@joincag.com See Rule #2
6. Your Upload must include the following details: (1)Trophy Photo of You, the captor, with the Fish, the Scales used to weigh the fish & the Fall Big 4 Logo for 2025 clearly visible in black and white or color; (2) The exact Weight of the fish in lbs and ozs; (3) The State in which the fish was caught. (4) The Date and Time of capture which must be entered in the comments section under the photo.
7. Photo Requirements: (1) Images must be clear. (See notes below). The fish, anglers’ face, scales and logo must all be in focus and clearly visible. (2) The Scales & Big 4 Logo must be positioned in the foreground and as close as possible to the fish (scales or logo’s positioned in the background behind the angler and fish are not acceptable). (3) All photo images must clearly show the full width of the fish. Photos where the fish is presented at an angle (45 degrees, tail or head first etc) to the camera will not be accepted. (4) Photoshoped or altered entries may be subject to disqualification. (5) The photo should also show your fish capture being held over a protective mat.
The CAG BOD reserves the right to request any angler entered in the CAG Big 4 to submit his/her scales and photo date stamp for verification in the event of any disputes.
8. The Fall Big 4 2025 logo will be available for download in a separate thread just before the start of the Competition (just before midnight on August 30th).
9. Prizes will be awarded to the Anglers finishing in the first 10 places which will be determined as the aggregate of that Anglers best four fish caught within the rules and during the period of the Big 4 Competition. There will be individual prizes awarded for Biggest Common and Biggest Mirror. Additional recognition awards will be made to the captors of the four biggest fish in the 5 regional areas. Special prizes will also be awarded for the Biggest Grass Carp and Biggest Buffalo caught during the competition.
10. Fish Care: Any entries NOT showing proper fish handling or care will be rejected!
11. For the first 72 hours only entries will be also accepted where the photo shows the CAG Fall Big 4 2025 Logo clearly visible on a cell phone or iPad/tablet etc. Printed Logo’s are valid at ALL times during the event dates.
12. All Anglers must be in possession of the required State Fishing License.
13. All fish must be caught on a single hook rig, using legal rod and line methods and must be returned safely without harm.
How to Weigh your Catch
Please check your scales for accuracy and ensure that you properly zero the weigh sling (wetted but properly drained) before weighing your catch. Here’s a suggestion: wet your weigh sling, shake off any excess water then hang it on the scales until the water drains and the weight is stable. This usually takes less than 30 seconds. Then zero the sling on the scales and weigh the fish. Scales must be suspended from a Tripod, Weigh Bar or Weigh Crook to ensure stability and accuracy of weight. Holding the body of the scales with your hands will result in inaccurate readings.
Some pointers and suggestions for photos.
The Big 4 Logo should be printed out to ensure it can be clearly seen in the photo (Letter or half letter size is ideal). Enclose your logo in a zip lock bag or get it laminated to prevent it getting wet or damaged.
When taking the photo have the fish close to your body with your elbows balanced on the thigh/knee area and over a suitable un-hooking mat. This allows you to keep proper control of the fish and to place it back on the mat easily and quickly if required. Do NOT hold the fish out at arms length or while standing. The fish, angler, scales and logo must all be in focus. When taking the picture do not zoom in to just have angler and fish. Zooming in reduces the pixilation count on the photo and reduces the quality of the photo. Winners photos will be used for magazine publication and the biggest regional fish photos will be used for awards.
*** A good example of a Big 4 Entry Photo that meets the Requirements for Rules # 7 & #10 ***
The Big 4 logo and Scales are positioned & clearly visible in the foreground.
The fish is also being held & supported correctly & positioned over a suitable protective mat
These are the final and definitive rules for the CAG Fall Big 4 2025.
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On 6/25/2025 at 8:30 AM, Danny said:
Please send me a link with registration
https://www.carpanglersgroup.com/forum/index.php?/store/product/370-ccc-2025-registration/
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About the CCC
The "Chicago Carp Classic" was first held in downtown Chicago in October 1994 and has been running ever since! This friendly but competitive one day tournament is open to Carp Anglers Group members who compete to catch the four biggest fish. The winner gets to see their name added to the coveted trophy as North American Champion. The trophy has been won by some well-known names over the years including Bernie Haines, Nigel Griffin and even Max Cottis (former Fox and ACE tackle director) from the UK.
The first CCC in Chicago back in 1994
Prizes and trophies are also awarded for Total Weight, Biggest Fish, Big Mirror, Smallest Fish, First Fish as well as Section wins.
The evening before the tournament many of the anglers gather for the BBQ Social where friendships are made or renewed and fishing stories are shared. It is also an opportunity to have your scales checked for accuracy.
After the CCC tournament anglers and invited guests gather for dinner at a local restaurant. After dinner the results are announced and winners presented with Trophies & Prizes. There is also a raffle with some top class prizes!
Dinner & Awards Ceremony
A few years ago the CCC was renamed the "CAG Carp Classic" to reflect it being held in different locations including the St Lawrence River around Waddington NY, Lake Michigan in Wisconsin and the Des Plaines River in Joliet IL. More recently it has been held on the Hudson River around Coxsackie, NY.
The CCC has attracted anglers from all over the USA and even Europe!
Notable winners over the years include Nigel Griffin, Bernie Haines (probably the first 'carp guide' in the USA) and Max Cottis (former director at Fox and ACE Tackle)
Nigel Griffin
Max Cottis
Bernie Haines
2024 winner Steve Clow from Connecticut
Some photos from early CCC's with unconventional methods!
Mick Thill fishing the pole in 2000
Iain Sorrell catching carp on a fly rod in 1996
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Registration for the 2025 CAG Carp Classic is now LIVE!
Cost is $70 for CAG Members which includes your CCC Entry as well as Dinner at the Awards Ceremony.
** Non members pay $95 which includes a one year CAG Membership. **
Click Here to Register for the CCC 2025 & Dinner & Awards Ceremony
CAG Members please note you must be logged into the Forum to get the $70 CAG member rate!
You can also purchase dinner for a non-fishing guest for the Awards Ceremony on the Saturday night.
Click Here for Non Fishing Dinner Guest Purchase
*** CCC 2025 Commemorative T-Shirts will also be available for purchase ***
Designs will be similar to last year and images will be uploaded soon
Purchase Link Will Be Posted Soon!
CAG Carp Classic 2026 - Save The Date!
in Public Announcements
Posted
2026 CCC Schedule
Saturday September 19th
Location: Seneca River, Baldwinsville NY
---- More Details to Follow! ----
We will post more information over the next couple of weeks including:
How to Sign Up
Friday Social Event
Saturday Awards & Dinner
Local Hotels & Accomadation
One day NY Freshwater License is $10 Buy online: https://www.ny.gov/services/get-freshwater-fishing-license