RESULTS - 14th Annual White River Invitational Carp Tournament - June 17, 2017 - Indianapolis, Indiana

[FJR1]

Frank Rink, Tay Clay, Adam Tomlin place 1-2-3 at 44 angler White River Invitational Carp Tournament in Indianapolis on June 17, 2017

(Jim Donlan's annual White River Invitational Carp Tournament is an Indiana event, but it is typically attended by several anglers from Illinois.  This year, Illinoisans Chad Bettisch, Bill Hodge (3rd from left, below), Dave Moran (left), Paul Scott (right), Jim Snyder, and Frank Rink were among the 44 angler field.  Indiana events haven't been summarized on the CAG forum recently, so I offer a partial summary of the June 17, 2017 Indiana tournament here as part of the Illinois Carp Fishing NEWS summaries of tournaments and events.)


Jim Donlan, owner of Westside Bait and Tackle in Indianapolis, Indiana and the top tournament organizer around, once again pulled off an outstanding event with his 14th annual White River Invitational Carp Tournament held on Saturday, June 17, 2017!

This year, 44 anglers, representing four or five different states, participated in the weekend event. As always, Mr. Donlan provided lots of pre-tournament, Friday night food and entertainment as well as lots of food and door prizes for Saturday participants.

As far as the actual fishing is concerned, the White River never yields huge fish at the event, but lots of carp were caught in 2017 with the final outcome not determined until the last hour of the tournament.

For 2017, anglers were able to choose their pegs in the order of their names drawn. Of course, end pegs and bridge pegs always seem to be the favorites.

Having won the total-weight event in 2011 from an end-peg, Frank Rink became the first two-time champion of the White River Invitational Tournament after choosing lucky peg 33, immediately downstream of the Michigan Street Bridge. His 11 fish were small, but they weighed 62.46 pounds, good enough for the 2017 tournament championship. Frank also won some additional cash for weighing the biggest Buffalo of the event at 9.08 pounds.

Tay Clay chose the upstream peg 34 at the Michigan Street Bridge. Tay and Frank Rink had a back and forth bridge battle for event leadership all day, and Tay caught several bigger carp than Frank. At the 4:00 p.m. ending bell, Tay took home the runner-up trophy and related cash with eight carp weighing 55.08 pounds. Tay also took the prize for first fish of the day, caught shortly after 8:00 a.m. Well done. Tay!

Adam Tomlin was in contention all day and finished in third place with four carp and 42.71 pounds. Way to go, Adam (Adam pictured second from left)!

Ryan Barger (2nd from right, above) finished fourth with four fish and 33.08 pounds while Dylan Shipley (right) rounded out the top 5 with four carp and 31.78 pounds.  Congratulations to Ryan and Dylan for their accomplishments and their graciousness during the awards ceremony!

There were prizes, trophies, and/or medals awarded for the top ten in the total weight event and additional prizes for those catching the ten biggest carp of the tournament. 

Anglers placing 6th through 10th in the overall tournament (total weight) are pictured left to right, below:
6. Adam Vasaloff, 31.34 lbs., 4 fish
7. Jake Basler, 26.54 lbs., 3 fish
8. Steve Brandenburg, 22.62 lbs., 4 fish
9. Shane Brown, 20.14 lbs., 3 fish
10. Tyrus Clay, 18.18 lbs., 4 fish
Congratulations!

Jake Basler (left, below) took first in the Big Carp competition with a 13.78 pounder.  Congrats, Jake!   In addition, Ryan Barger, 2nd (2nd from left), Dylan Shipley, 3rd (center), Tay Clay, 4th (2nd from right), and Dave Moran, 5th (right) achieved top 5 status in the Big Carp competition.  Good work, gentlemen!

Congratulations, also, to  (left to right) Dick Laubscher, Justin Keaton, Dylan Shipley, Adam Vasaloff, and Ryan Barger for being among the group of anglers placing 6th through 10th in the Big Carp standings.  

Thanks, again, to . . .

. . . Jim Donlan (kneeling, below) and his Westside Bait and Tackle crew for all their outstanding organizational efforts.


. . . James Sanders and his Team Fish Fighters Group for clearing pegs in preparation for the event.


. . . FatBoy Dan and his Outdoors Youtube Channel for providing some entertaining, informational coverage.

. . . Jeff Skelton representing Carp Anglers Magazine for traveling from South Carolina to cover the event.

. . . sponsors and individuals who donated prizes and/or talents to help make the event a big success.
 
Thanks also to Jeff Skelton, James Sanders, and Jim Snyder (pictured below with a catch from the event) for the photos posted here.

Overall statistics for the June 17, 2017 White River Invitational Tournament at Indianapolis, Indiana:
Total fish caught: 72
Total anglers: 44
Total payout: $1,750 cash
Total weight: 549 pounds

The White River Invitational is always a well-run, enjoyable event and Jim Donlan (kneeling, above) is a host extraordinaire!  I look forward to a return in 2018!  --Frank Rink

[FJR1]

Big thanks, also, to Amos and Paige Behanna, my peg mates to the south, for their generous help with netting fish and to Spencer, who was visiting from Rochester, Indiana for his help with netting fish. --Frank Rink

[FJR1]

More coverage, photos, and videos of Jim Donlan's June 17, 2017 White River Invitational Carp Tournament can be found on "FatBoy Dan's Great Outdoors" Facebook page:  https://www.facebook.com/FatBoyDansGreatOutdoors

[FJR1]

Lots more photos and coverage of Jim Donlan's June 17, 2017 White River Carp Tournament can be found on Jeff Skelton's "Carp Anglers Magazine" Facebook page:  https://www.facebook.com/CAMCarpAnglersMagazine

[carpdogg]

On 6/20/2017 at 5:50 AM, FJR1 said:

Big thanks, also, to Amos and Paige Behanna, my peg mates to the south, for their generous help with netting fish and to Spencer, who was visiting from Rochester, Indiana for his help with netting fish. --Frank Rink

It was my pleasure to help out Frank nice job congrats