Carp contest

[Luvevolution]

just wondering if you guys & gals would be interested in a Carp contest. at the moment, I cannot guarantee that it will happen, but I want to know how many would be interested in doing this if I can set it up. the pond is a private pond, with most fish in the 20-30 pound range. the pond is roughly a few acres and so the admission to the event would be very limited. if I can set it up with the owner to have this event, I would be interested in not only knowing how many would like to get involved, but also your ideas on how to run the event. I was thinking prizes for the top 3, plus biggest fish. perhaps some raffle prizes. it is also my intention to tell the owner that we charge an admission fee to the event and that all proceeds go to the charity of his (the owners) choice. I'm open to suggestion of what the admission price would/should be and ask that the owner match whatever we add to the pot. I'm thinking that this could be a great way for the Carpers on here to get together, but also give money to a worthy (local) charity while having some fun. I will not pitch this idea to the owner, untill I get some sort of idea about how many would attend. ASAP would be a great start to get some numbers and ideas involved, so I can pitch the idea. let me know what ideas you have and if you would like to be involved. the date can be pretty much anytime you like.............whatever fits everyone's schedule the best, but it would have to be a Saturday or a Sunday. let me know guys & gals.

Rich

[Luvevolution]

we would deffinitely need one of the group's avid carpers to supply minimal stress weighing gear and any other gear that would be needed that I just can't think of right now. LOL. I'm also thinking that the owner would only go for the idea if it was barbless fishing. it would probably be advisable that everyone check in with their gear before the event, so we can be assured that everyone is indeed fishing barbless. this would put the least amount of stress and damage on fish. :^)

[hammercarp]

Sounds interesting to me. How can I help?

[Luvevolution]

to be honest, I have no idea. LOL. I fish for Carp with everyday fishing gear and you are the Carp guru around here. I can tell you this much, the pond is at Marineland and the fish in there are in the 20-30 pound range for the most part. the pond is a couple of acres in size and so I'm not sure how many anglers that will hold and still allow everyone to have some fun. any ideas you may have will be mcuh appreciated.

Rich

[denis]

I'm in

[shadow]

sign me up!

[marth11]

I guess Im in

[The Ketchican Kid]

sounds cool but maybee next time, ive got something going on this weekend

[FishingAddict]

I'll pay one golden doubloon for a chance at dem der fishes.

[ontariocarper]

Depending where this is happening, I could help out. These tourneys usually have this:

- Weigh scale, with tripod, weigh sling and landing mat.

- Pegs/markers around the pond with a "pick out of a hat" system to get a spot, makes it fair.

- Top 3, big fish and golden peg (if you win the tourney at the peg you got)

- This is only an idea on entry and payout. Big fish pool optional $$$ 100% payout, entry to tourney $$$ at ??% payout between 3 places, golden peg $$$ at 100% payout.

These are just recommendations to help give you an idea how these tourneys usually work. There's more, so if you need any help let me know.

[Luvevolution]

KK, no worries, cause it wouldn't be this weekend anyway. LOL. I'll try and set it up and we'll make a date in October, as long as the owner of the park is ok with it. I'm gonna hit him up tomorrow when I go to the park and see what he has to say.

so here's what I'm thinking..................

we are probably going to require a way to weigh the fish. I saw guys catching and weighing fish at Charles Daley Park and it looked like a bag of sorts, or some kind of blanket that you wrap around the fish to weigh it. I don't have anything like that, so if someone has that, it would probably be the best way to weigh those fish. like I said, there's some HUGE fish in that pond and we aren't going to be able to handle them, like you would handle a Bass. LOL. I admit that I know next to nothing about Carping, so I'm looking to you experienced guys to offer advice and perhaps the use of your stuff. basically, just have a great day out fishing and catch some huge fish. I would imagine we would have to fish barbless, but my question is, can you catch fish that large fishing barbless? I have no idea, cause I've never caught a fish that big before. all I know is, I saw those big fishies and I just wanna catch a few of them. LOL. I'm sure the park owner would be concerned that we don't injur his fish and that we are C&R, which is a no brainer anyway. we just want a simple contest, where we weigh and take pics, then release the fish. the top 3 weights would win prizes and the biggest fish would win a prize................or however many prizes we can get, is how many people would win something. I don't want to complicate things, so that's basically the skinny of it, so to speak. whatever you guys have as suggestions, I would appreciate any of those suggestions and/or advice. I think simple is the best way to do it, as we jsut want to catch some fish and have fun doing it. I'm also open to suggestion as to what would be a fair entry fee, as all the money would go either to the owner for letting us fish there, or to a charity of his choice. afterall, we would be using his pond for his fish. so again, I'm open to suggestion here. it's nice to see so many people interested to get involved though. I'm sure there will be a lot more over the next few weeks that will want to get involved. I will meet with the owner tomorrow and see what he has to say about it.

Rich

[Luvevolution]

thanks for the advice OC, that's another direction we can take. I'll have to see how open the owner is to suggestion about fishing there and what he would require of us to fish there. as I said, I'm sure he will want very limited stress, etc, put on his fish. I do like all of those suggestions on how to run the contest, so we'll see how this goes with him tomorrow. the location will be the Marineland Carp pond, which of course is in Niagara Falls on McLeod Rd. the park closes on thanksgiving weekend to the public, so I'm hoping he will let us fish in there on one of the weekends after the park closes.

how much distance between pegs is there narmally? I know most of these Carp hang around the bridges, since that's where they are fed by the public, so guys who get close to the bridges are going to have more success than guys who are nowhere close. I do like the idea of drawing for pegs though, as it's a more fair way to do things.

[Luvevolution]

so, so far it looks like we've got 9 guys interested in this thing. keep adding to that list guys. if you've got anything you don't use anymore that you would be willing to donate, let me know. I've got a baitcaster or two I could throw in to the pot. they aren't anything special, but they are reels, nonetheless. LOL.

[Guest LockedInTheTrunkOfACar]

depending on my days off i would be interested in that event.

Would this be the pond where you can walk accross the pond on the carp (where people can feed them) or elsewhere?

[xBrianx]

if this is the pond i am thinking, you basically can throw some bread in the water, walk up and pull the fish out of the water.

[DarkEdge]

so, so far it looks like we've got 9 guys interested in this thing. keep adding to that list guys. if you've got anything you don't use anymore that you would be willing to donate, let me know. I've got a baitcaster or two I could throw in to the pot. they aren't anything special, but they are reels, nonetheless. LOL.

A baitcaster or two, Rich? LMOA! I'll put my name down as a maybe. Depends on what happens in the next few weeks, I might be out of the country. So until I know for sure, I have to say that.

[Luvevolution]

yeah Scott, you've seen my baitcaster supply in the trunk of my car. hahahahahaha. hopefully you can make it out. are you being kicked out of the country for something you did? LOL.

this is the pond in the park where you could walk across the bridges, literally throw bread in there and lift out the fish. LOL. this is the fishing version of a "sure thing". LMAO.

[hammercarp]

ontariocarper pretty much has it covered. as far as what you need for the event.

So you would need to go there the day before and place the numbered peg markers around the pond. You should keep them a minimum of 10 yards apart. The further apart the better.

You can either have a draw for a numbered peg. The angler draws the #4 out of the hat , he fishes peg # 4 or you can draw their names and the angler whose name gets picked chooses what peg he wants to fish.

You will need a scale that goes to 50 lbs. A 25 lb scale is no good.

You will need a volunteer to weigh the fish. Two is even better.

I have some carp baits I can donate.

[smerchly]

This all sounds like a great idea......but the first hurdle is , will the owner go for it ? He may not want his fish "molested" Carp are tough fighters & I don't know if carpers use a special barbless hooks for certain events .....maybe a circle hook with pinched barbs would work . If the pond owner goes for the idea , he may want certain rules to apply and then we can plan the number of 10 meter spaces available to get an idea how many anglers can take part . I will avail myself for either a fisher or a weigh in volunteer .

[Dan Andrews]

I'll be in IF we can live release the fish into the killawhaletank.

[Luvevolution]

I'll be in IF we can live release the fish into the killawhaletank.

LMAO. I don't think that is pollitically correct and I'm sure the protesters out front would have something to say about it. not to mention the Carp lovers on this forum. hahahahaha. the other thing is, I'm not sure how well Carp will manage in a salt water tank.............not like they'de last very long anyway. LOL. on the flip side of the coin, I'm sure Ike and Kiska would both greatly appreciate the meal. beats the fish flavoured jello they get fed all the time.

I will let you guys know how the meeting goes with the owner tomorrow. I will also measure the perimeter of the pond if he says yes, so we've got an idea of how many guys we can accomodate.

[denis]

I can contact Macoman and I know he can help and surely a few members from our club will go if there's room.

[Paulie Tigernuts]

I'm definetly interested in this, and I'm sure a few of the Team 4:39 guys would come as well.

We also have the tri-pods, scales, slings and unhooking mats to safeguard the fish while out of the water. Depending on the # of anglers attending, and the distance between pegs, you will need a couple of volunteers to run the weigh stations

As for barbless hooks, it comes down to personal preference. I'm confident that barbed hooks don't damage the carp's mouth. I'd be more concerned about the type of nets used to land the carp. A fine, soft mesh net is best for carp. Salmon type nylon nets with large mesh can really damage carp. I've seen scales pop off, and even eyes get dislocated on carp when landed in a nylon net.

Unhooking mats and weigh slings should also be mandatory to appease any concerns the owner might have. Keep in mind, an unhooking mat can be any type of soft padded cushion. Even a $5 exercise or yoga mat will do the trick.

For the tournament fees, you could consider a $20-$30 entry fee, with optional pots 100% payout of $10 for biggest carp, and $10 for total weight.

Peg draw out of a hat is generally how it's done and is IMO the fairest way to run it.

Sounds like a great idea, hopefully the owner goes for it.

[Dan Andrews]

Tell the marineland folks that we hate NAFA here. Luv this will be your derby but I'm glad your utilizing NFN membership for participants.

[Luvevolution]

if others want to join from other clubs, that's alway a bonus, but the idea was to involve guys here from this site that enjoy catching Carp. a kind of meet and greet and have fun fishing, since I know very few members on here. I don't personally belong to any Carp clubs or sites, but I would like to see as many people out as we can fit around the pond.

I didn't get a chance to see the owner today, because the park was closed due to weather. I will be going up there tomorrow though, so we'll see what happens.