"THE FIGHTING ROUGHFISH'S" Illinois Carp Championship

[Silurus_glanis]

i made some Promo Video, enjoy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jw8FVmHXFc

That was a great video!

Very cool!!!!

[Larry H]

Hello fellow carpers, Tracy here. Thanks Larry for for running a fairly tight ship. An awful lot for 1 person to cover. Beautiful venue, access to bathrooms, and being to camp right at the bankside was both good and bad. The reason I haven't posted sooner was getting over the bank surfing. What that is: At 1 and 4am the alarm goes off and your half asleep fumbling with your flashlight heading out the tent. I practiced it many times in the light(3 steps to the edge, 2 steps down to the pod). When your half asleep and miss count(1st) or miss the steps all together, you go down the bank WAY faster than your ready. Once down the bank on the right side and once on the left. I'm moving better today and nothing broken. The fishing was like a very looooong matchfishing contest. Small everything with a heavy weight is hard to balance. 3 onces held out so far and 4 onces abit father and so on. The fish were further out in the light and closer at night. We just couldn't land that special kicker fish. I know we had one on several times but couldn't get it to the bank. I enjoyed myself(little sore) but think I could do that again. BTW, need trash cans, didn't see a one. later

Sure hope you survived. Man, do I feel bad for you guys having to keep running down the bank for alarms! If you had asked, we would have traded pegs with you and you could have slept all night without all that noise!! LOL You could have also taken some of Paul S. "medication" and you wouldn't have remembered the surfing.

[Guest cornball]

Here's one...

[Slimy]

Kudos to Larry for a well organized event and for drawing out most of IL top anglers and others from Indiana! Thank you to Lee and Eric who volunteered their time and drove many hours from Wisconsin to help ensure the success of the event.

A beautiful venue with easy access set the stage for the 2010 Illinois Carp Championship.

Great weather; The breeze on Saturday kept the high temperature bearable and perfect weather that evening made staying by the rods that much easier (a coating of mosquito spray helped) .

Larry has been the most active Illinois State Chair I have known. CAG is fortunate to have someone of his caliber so active in promoting Carp angling to new comers (In the past year alone he has been promoting our sport on television, newspaper and radio shows). As if organizing one event wasn't enough, this past weekend included a second tournament below the dam for all new comers (who caught hundreds of pounds more fish than the veterans above the dam ).

Too bad the fish size didn’t live up to the tournament hype. I would guess that the average fish was 2LBS, the largest weighing in at 12+LBS. But nonetheless this made for a good contest among the participants (whom I dare to say are not used to catching fry ) who had to adjust to the fast current and fish size. It was challenging but we were all up against the same challenge.

My intentions were to take many many pictures but my camera froze up early the first day….

Cory calling for pointers

Lee and Eric looking very official

Saturdays first 10 hours

Rocket launchers, pretty venue....

Paul always smiling...

World Classic Baits Team

Mike setting up camp

Why Dr Frank didn't catch any fish

Larry sporting new underwear

MCAA President Sam always on his game

[Silurus_glanis]

Laura and I would like to say thank you to Larry for putting on a great competition and to all the sponsors who made donations. Championships are supposed to be tuff, and this one was a real nail biter. I felt the way I did back when I used to run track in school; hearing the footsteps of competitors’ right on my heels.

I could hear, “I am coming for you Paul,” the whole way. I mean literally, guys were yelling it down the bank at me. Thank you, Larry.

Lee and Eric also deserve a special thank you. I believe they volunteered their services to act as marshals, so they deserve a pat on the back for a job well done.

I just seen the video put on YouTube by Paul Sanders today, and it is great. Very cool Paul!

Congratulations to the Champions! Jesus and Massimo had a great peg, and they fished like champions. Their teamwork and strategy seemed flawless. You might be interested to know that they were holding the fish in their swim very effectively. I am pretty sure they shut off the flow of fish for most everyone fishing the margins. Laura and I found ourselves struggling to budge the shoal of carp they had feasting in front of them. I am not surprised they finished first by more than eleven pounds, and it could have been even worse if they had not missed a few monsters. Laura would like for me to point out that Massimo and her are both Italian born, so Italy took the Gold and Silver in the IL Carp Championships.

Congratulations to Mike on becoming the new IL CAG State Chair. It looks like your teammate had your back right up until he moved to Arizona. Congratulations to Frank on becoming the new Arizona State Chair for CAG. Mike has been taking my money all year in the MCAA events, and it was nice to get some of it back. I am also happy he is the chair and not me.

I end this post in the words of my teammate who said this to me while she was dragging a 5 plus pounder to the net.

“Don’t worry; I will not lose this fish because I am the greatest angler ever.”

[JIM DONLAN]

A few Photos. Thanks for the Hospitality from all the Hoosier Carpers.

[FJR1]

Nice pics, everyone!

[Guest cornball]

A few Deby pics.

Why I did it.

Edward, I am in your debt.

Micheal had over 65 #s alone.

Really Cool!

The top "Twenty Fish" caught were over 7#8oz

Really!!

More to come!!

Edited September 1, 2010 by cornball

[JESUS LOPEZ]

Massimo and I would like to say thanks to Larry for all the hard work that he did.

and all the sponsors. Thanks to Lee & Eric for the great job as Stuarts.

Congratulations to Paul & Laura and thanks for let us use the scale.

[Guest cornball]

More....

Tons of fish on the north side of dam

Lead by example, and the rest is easy

Great views

People havin' fun

???

Whats bigger than an umbrella and can be seen on Google earth

I got more, Ill post later........

I would Like to thank the following for without them, my life would have been alot harder....

Ed.....thanks a bunch, I can't say enough.

The Chione Brothers......You guys are what CAG is all about, and you are most definitly "Fighting Roughfish Material"

Bill, Chris and Pat.....Thanks for keeping me sane during the whole thing

Eric and Lee, You truly are stewards of Carp fishing

Magda and Ernst, Thank you for the Prizes

Paul P, You as well!

Mayor Jim Burke, I hope I hope I earned the trust you so freely gave.

Colleen at Dixon Tourism, during everything you've had to go through, I appreciate your dedication and hard work.

Deb Carey, Why you let a bunch of maniacs carp fish your beautiful park I'll never know......but i'M GLAD YOU DID!

The anglers of Dixon, Your kind words really meant alot....see you next year.

Jim Dolan, best advice ever!!!

To all of you who traveled to fish at Dixon, I hope you found something to take with you......And thanks for packing out your trash

[Carpislife]

From Jesus Lopez, Pic's of fourth, third & second placed teams

[FJR1]

For anyone interested in those St. Croix Avid Carp Rods that Lee was showcasing this past weekend, I checked with the St. Croix reps in Park Falls, WI, and they indicated that the rods should be available by early October. However, I think you may be able to make orders at St. Croix retailers now.

[Larry H]

For anyone interested in those St. Croix Avid Carp Rods that Lee was showcasing this past weekend, I checked with the St. Croix reps in Park Falls, WI, and they indicated that the rods should be available by early October. However, I think you may be able to make orders at St. Croix retailers now.

At the peg draw, Lee Young mentioned a 12 & 1/2 foot version may also be coming out this fall. He may have been taking some orders for the 12 footers last weekend. If the local retailers don't have the info, check with Lee.

Edited September 1, 2010 by Larry H

[FJR1]

I was hoping that Paul at Wacker Bait could order one for me, but I'm not sure he's an authorized St. Croix dealer.

[(IL) CHIBIGTEE]

Try these. I believe one of Larry's sponsors is a dealer. Angler Inter'l Resources? Also the Salmon Stop, Henry's, and most Dick's sporting goods.

[Silurus_glanis]

Here is a couple of photos of Laura's Fully Scaled Mirror caught during the tournament.

And the magic bait for the mirror carp was?????

Nightcrawler worm!

Edited September 1, 2010 by Silurus_glanis

[FJR1]

TEN SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE ILLINOIS CARP CHAMPIONSHIPS

Whether or not it is solicited and having had the chance to reflect on the recent tournament, I offer my suggestions for future Fighting Roughfish Illinois Carp Championships. Just my 2¢. I look forward to seeing other suggestions.—Frank

I think Lee Young has it right, and I would, therefore, suggest a format that emulates the Wisconsin Carp Championships:

1. Change the format to two ten hour days during daylight hours. Beginning and ending times would be subject to the organizer, but 8 to 6 on the first day and 6 to 4 on the second day might work well.

2. I would prefer an individual event, but, cognizant of the limited bank space, I see why a team event was scheduled.

3. Increase the entry fee to make the tournament more enticing.

4. Schedule a new peg draw at the beginning of the 2nd day to eliminate some of the peg advantages (note that most of the winners this year were at or near an end peg).

5. The overnight session was fine, but I saw inconsistencies in work ethic. Some worked hard all night, some slept through it, and some partied. I have no problem with any of those activities, but I think two ten-hour days would result in a more consistent outcome (and more fish caught).

6. Ask the city fathers to allow the park to be used for camping overnight for those who wish to stay at Lowell Park and save a few bucks.

7. With potential for greater use of hotels, bars, and restaurants in the evening hours due to the daytime sessions, ask the city fathers for more “seed-money” to either increase the pot or to better cover the organizer’s costs.

8. Despite the small fish and relatively low numbers this year, Lowell Park is a beautiful venue. If Lowell Park remains as the venue, increase the distance between pegs.

9. With two ten hour days, the family event would be over on Sunday earlier than the “pro” event . The awards ceremony for the CAG anglers could be held at Lowell Park and in closer proximity, time-wise and location-wise, to the actual fishing.

10. Make sure any literature, entry forms, and rules are free of typographical errors, misspellings, and grammatical miscues. Carp anglers already have enough negative public perceptions to overcome.

This is not intended to detract from or criticize a wonderful first time event (kudos to Larry K.), but rather to make suggestions for improvement should there be an interest in continuing the Illinois Carp Championships. Good luck.

[Guest Carpseeker]

i vote for frank to run all the tournaments from now on

[FJR1]

i vote for frank to run all the tournaments from now on

Sorry, Carpseeker, my post is intended to supplement, not supplant, the fine work that tourney organizers demonstrate. Your post is an expected response, but I was hoping that perhaps, just maybe, more meaningful ideas with real substance might be forthcoming.

[Guest Carpseeker]

you broke my heart

[FJR1]

you broke my heart

Here's an 11th suggestion about the tourney, just for you and your broken heart (maybe Michigan organizers will consider this also ):

11. If someone has to leave the tournament early, another competitor may not take his peg or use his leftover bait.

[Larry H]

Frank,

Very well thought out post. You make some valid points. I'm sure that a few more folks helping Larry K next year would make things much easier for him. He was streched pretty thin trying to run both events and do all of the work by himself. This event has a lot of potential and just might need a bit of tweaking.

[FJR1]

Frank,

Very well thought out post. You make some valid points. I'm sure that a few more folks helping Larry K next year would make things much easier for him. He was streched pretty thin trying to run both events and do all of the work by himself. This event has a lot of potential and just might need a bit of tweaking.

Good point, Larry. More help always makes things easier. However, my suggestions are all strategic; they have nothing to do with the logistics of extra help. (Well, maybe the documents (entries, publicity, etc.) would benefit from extra help).

Edited September 2, 2010 by FJR1

[Guest Carpseeker]

there you whining again about the past like usual.

[Slimy]

Frank,

IMO you are being a bit too picky. This event was set up very well. The only complaint I have heard from others was the size of the fish.

The overnight fishing was an opportunity and part of the draw to this event. Overnight fishing gives participants an opportunity to seed an area and bring fish into their swim (European style). Otherwise you would be relying totally on the luck of the draw each day. Yes; end pegs are usually a factor in most tournaments (some more than others, i.e. Joliet), but in this tournament there were pegs in the center of the field that became competitive overnight.

The cost of the tournament at $100 per person, I also feel, is quite enough. There are other expenses involved that easily double that number; no need to add hotel rooms to that sum total.... Or if we were to camp, we might as well be fishing overnight.