david oliver

Our Angler of the Month for October is David Oliver from the great state of Michigan! We wanted to congratulate David for his captures so far this season….he has been putting in a lot of work at some un-fished venues, pioneering and searching fro some very elusive fish along with some close friends. The hard work paying off with a new PB! Big congrats bro’….incredible angling and a great representation of what U.S Carp Angling can be!

Click the photos below to check out his insta page!

NOTABLE CAPTURES

September was a banner month for many of our members across the USA and with the Summer coming to an end we are seeing some glorious fish being captured! These photos below caught our attention in the month of September and so we thought that some extra recognition was warranted. Congratulations to everyone on the success of their angling sessions this past month…We appreciate all of your tags and mentions, and can’t wait to see what everyone is catching over this next month! Don’t forget to tag us #americancarpsociety #jointheguiltyones and tag @american_carp_society in your stories!

4 TEAM SLOTS NOW OPEN!!

AMERICAN CARP ANGLERS -- We've just opened up 4 new pegs on Mill Creek into new, never before fished parts of the lake. If you wanted in, but we filled up, now is your chance to get in!

Act fast to secure your spot in this Cash Prize event!

Please join us November 10th – 13th for four days (Thursday - Sunday) of Carpy goodness where America’s finest carp anglers from around this great country will converge once again on Mill Creek Lake in Canton, TX for a carp fishing battle-royal in this 2-person Team Fishing Event.

Admission is $250 per angler. This year we will have a limit of 56 anglers (28 teams).

Click HERE for the 2022 Mill Creek Cup registration!

AMERICAN CARP SOCIETY WEARABLES:

The American Carp Society will be filming and documenting the entire event of both Anglers and their catches, as well as all social aspects of ‘American Carp Culture’ as seen on the bank. Photographic and video content captured during the event will be used to create future American Carp Society media content, films and marketing materials to help promote the sport. Anglers wearing American Carp Society gear will be more apt to be included in this material. Other organizations and brands may be excluded to maintain our 'Commercial-Free' stance. Please keep this in mind as you pack for the event as you may be interviewed on Camera.

Mill Creek Lake is the American Carp Society’s officially sanctioned ‘No Bow Fishing’ lake in the United States and holds a stock of incredible specimen fish, with both Commons and Mirrors to 40+ pounds. Mill Creek Lake is no push-over and will require your Team’s best efforts and skills to draw its golden treasures to your landing net. We applaud and support Canton for its exemplary leadership in protecting our beloved species.

This year’s event will be over 2.5 days of pure fishing with a catered lunch event at a local venue prior to the Peg Draw. Since all Pegs provide the same challenge and opportunity to anglers, we will be using a “Draw and Go” format. Teams will draw a random peg at the end of the social and then go straight to their swims to begin fishing.

We understand the carp anglers pack a lot of gear, so to lighten your load we’re delivering breakfast to you at your peg each morning (Friday, Sat & Sun) of the event. You will need to bring your own supplies for lunch and dinner each day.

Event Itinerary:

Thursday 1 pm

• Check in and registration at designated restaurant / venue for the Catered Lunch, and Social event, Information and Peg Draw

Thursday 3- 4 pm

• Peg Draw – Anglers released to their drawn Pegs

Thursday Evening

• Fishing officially starts

Friday, All Day

• Breakfast delivered to Peg

• Fishing

Saturday, All Day

• Breakfast delivered to Peg

• Fishing

Sunday Morning

• Breakfast delivered to Peg

• Fishing

Sunday 9AM

• Fishing ends -- Break Camp

Sunday 10AM

• Gather at Base Camp

Sunday 11AM

• Awards Ceremony and Farewells

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS

A massive thanks to all of our incredible sponsors that support the event each year. We couldn’t do this without you all!

With your continued support, along with the great City of Canton, we will continue to care for this incredible lake and its inhabitants, bringing more people from across the USA to the great city of Canton, TX

2022 MCC HELP NEEDED

With the expansion of the Mill Creek Cup tournament this year, we are reaching out to you for an opportunity to be part of our team for the duration of the tournament. We need some help with marshaling, setting up and weighing fish from Thursday 10th November at 10am until Sunday 13th November at 12 noon. We will compensate you for your time and also provide meals each day as well. You will have to bivvy up/camp on the lake with us during the event. A working vehicle is needed.

Compensation choice as follows:

3 bags of groundbait
3 bags hemp oil pellets
1 Hemp oil
1 Asterbury Spray
1 Mandala Spray
1 Desert Fruit Spray

Retail Value - $175 plus $100 cash plus all meals.

OR

$250 cash, plus all meals.

PLEASE SEND ENQUIRIES TO INFO@AMERICANCARPSOCIETY.COM FOR CONSIDERATION. THANK YOU!

NEW 2023 MEMBERSHIP PACKAGES

We are happy to announce that the new 2023 Membership Packages for our Euro Carpers will be shipping out at the beginning of October! Featuring more products, stickers and our new boosted bait samples for the 2023 line of bait ‘MAPEX’.

2023 Membership packages include:

• New members beanie.

• ACS Hooks.

• ACS Terminal Tackle items.

• ACS Pop - Up Corn.

• ACS Lens cloth.

• ACS Sticker Pack.

• Access to the digital American Carper Volume 1.

• New ‘MAPEX’ boosted corn.

DTU CARP SLAM

This years DTU Carp slam was by all accounts a very successful event! Over $22,000.00 was raised for the future of the river!

1st Place – Russ Miller & Addison Price – 99.25″

2nd Place – Chris Galvin & Sam Agnew – 85.25″

3rd Place – Luis Bejarano & James Ryan – 79″

430.75” of total Carp caught.

210.75” of total smallmouth caught.

Plus Crappie, White Sucker, Rainbow and cut bow all caught at the event!

Congratulations to all of the participants who support this incredible and worthy cause each year.

Click HERE for a full write up of the event!

Here are a few shots from the event:

NOTABLE FLY CAPTURES

September was a banner month for many of our Carp on the fly members across the USA. With Summer now coming to a close, we are seeing some glorious fish being captured and these photos below certainly caught our attention in the month of September. Congratulations to everyone on the success of their angling sessions this past month…We appreciate all of your tags and mentions and can’t wait to see what everyone is catching over this next month! Don’t forget to tag us and spread the word! #americancarpsociety #jointheguiltyones and tag @american_carp_society in your stories!

CARP IN AUTUMN
BY: LUKE WILSON

Inevitable as time itself, Fall takes the place of Summer. First, the change is hardly noticeable. The harsh sun of Summer now has a gentle touch, and the breeze carries with it a cooler air. Slowly, yet surely, the temperatures of both water and air drop after less hours of daylight and a constant breeze that blows from the North West. But, it is not time to hang up the gear and stay inside. Fishing still flourishes yet, before the wandering hands of a Northern winter clutches us for the remainder of the year. It's a great time to fish baitfish patterns for fattening predators, like bass. Trout and salmon begin their run from the Great Lakes and into her tributaries. But, we are all here for carp. Don’t think that since summer is leaving, and bringing the warm temps with it, that carp fishing dies down at all. I've had some of my best luck in the spring and fall. We associate carp with being resilient to the heat, which is the case, but that is because the carp is a very resilient fish. The colder weather may mean less active fish, but it doesn't even come close to meaning inactive fish.

I first noticed the advances of autumn not by the changing of leaves, but through fishing. The rains that we have missed most of late summer have come back all at once. Multiple days a week, rain has fallen into the lands, and made their way as all water does, back to itself whether it be creek, lake, or ocean. The rain is cool from the colder winds that have pushed them here, so although the temperature of air has hardly dropped, the water was cooling. The rain has also reinforced the depleted streams, raising the water levels substantially. Wet wading is doable at the moment, but as soon as my feet hit the water it was questionable how much longer it can go on. It chilled me despite the air temp being in the low seventies. The wind and clouds on top of that made it feel even cooler. But that didn't disrupt the fish as much as it did me.

In summer, the carp tend to be spread out a little more, either in small groups or in solidarity. That day in the creek, I saw a massive school of about two dozen, circulating in and out of a deep hole into the shallows. It's hard to control your excitement when you see so many fish to target, but it is a key to understanding how to catch them while they are like this. When carp group up, it is essential to pick one target from the rest rather than casting into the middle of them. Too many times have I casted into a large group like this and spooked only one, which in turn had spooked the rest ruining the shot of catching any. They all become weary if one has sounded the alarm. I walked around the edges, like a heron searching for prey, and began picking out strays that were closer to me than they were to the rest of the carp. By doing this I was able to pull quite a few out from one group. As any fisherman can tell you, patience plays a big role while you're out. While I waited for the water to settle after picking off stragglers, I listened to the local classic rock station playing from someone's nearby house. Twisted Sister, Motley Crue, and ZZ Top kept me company while I was zeroing in on my next target. The wind carried a message for me as well. The smell of authentic Oaxacan food drifted downstream and reminds me that it is supper time. I had hardly moved from my spot since I had walked there, and I had no idea that time had passed so quickly. My stomach told me, grumbling and rumbling, that it was time to go.

A week or so later, I went to check in on the lake. As I was driving I noticed it was a busy day for the village. There were many hands at work, throwing brush piles that lay along the road into the chipper. I got to my destination at a leisurely pace and made my way through the thick brush that I hadn't been through in a while. Despite it being half past ten, the dew still was on the vegetation that I had passed, dampening my shirt. The sun has grown much weaker than its summer self. As I was pushing through the overgrown trail, I grabbed a bush and received a handful of thorns. I plucked each one out, wincing at some but not others, and watched the edge of the water that could hardly be seen. The sun was shining down on the water, and I caught a glimpse of gold. There was nervous water right along the shore. I began tying a fly on, watching carefully where the ripples went when two noisy kingfishers came to the end of the inlet and immediately turned back around. There seemed to be a lot of action here and I felt like I made the right choice by coming to this spot. The sun had yet to dry anything in the shade, but its presence was warm still in open view. I knew that this spot was muddy, shallow, and the edges had overhangs and undercuts. This time wearing waders, I prowled along the edge, and I could see many fish from the edges and inward. I again had to pick out stranglers, but again luck was in my favor. They were easy to spot with their backs poking out of the water, they went as far towards shore as the depth would allow. I caught three or maybe four, and none of great size, before I decided that I had to get some work done that day. I was satisfied though, it had been a good day of fishing.

Keys for fishing fall carp are very similar to finding carp in spring. The temperature of early fall and late spring are very much alike, along with water levels. If you have a favorite spring spot, try checking back on it, for they have proved rather productive to me. The rain brings the water level back up again, much like the late spring spots. These carp often get very explorative and push the edges hard looking for food. Check those late spring spots where there's a foot or two of water that stretches inland into brush, reeds, grass, and the banks. If you don’t have a favorite spring spot, try looking for a shallow plain that has the ability to warm up quickly. Thick, dark mud along the bottom, weeds, and oftentimes rocks have the ability to capture and retain heat faster than deeper parts where carp can be spotted in summer. How the sun sits on the water is something else to be aware of. Check out spots that are in the most direct sight of sunlight, and see which side of the lake gets the most sunlight through the shortening days. There is no rush to get out early either. Give the sun a chance to warm up the water. As for what flies to throw, I use twoextremes. I start out with big, chunky carp flies that scream, “Eat me! I'm highly nutritious for just one meal.`` These fish, like many others, need to fatten up before the icy waters make them lethargic. So, use large profile flies to “fatten them up.” If my bold presentations aren't working, I tie on the complete opposite and use the smallest, lightest flies I have. These small flies are usually unweighted, but not floating, so it is easier for a slow moving fish to suck down. With little to no weight, that first pucker-up intake usually lifts it into the carp's mouth. On top of that, you become less likely to spook a shallow water fish that isn’t in the mood for eating, or does not spook away a group of them. Don't be afraid of the changing of seasons, and don't shy away because you think it's getting too cold. Carp are tough fish, and they are always full of surprises.