patrick mapes

Our angler of the month for February is “Urban Anglers USA’ pioneer, Patrick Mapes, from Denver, Colorado. Patrick is one of the USA’s most avid multi-species fly anglers, who has really started targeting our beloved species, putting a lot of work into promoting the fish through Urban Anglers USA, and has recently also started pursuing them with a traditional ‘Euro approach.’ We will be talking together for a podcast over the next month to discuss the differences from his perspective. Many anglers who fish for Carp with the ‘Euro’ approach like to try their hand at targeting them on the fly, but we have seen fewer fly anglers try the ‘Euro’ approach after they have been fly fishing for awhile…so it should make for a great podcast!

The fish in the picture…is boilie caught!

Patrick is very active in the USA helping to support the Denver Carp Slam annual fly fishing tournament that many of our members love and support also. He does a lot for the profile of the fish in the USA, is a great angler and all around great bloke as well! Congratulations on this great capture and big thanks to Jason Paez for the great lens work!

Click the photos below to visit the Urban Anglers USA Instagram Page and be sure to give them a follow!

Click on the photo below to visit the Urban Anglers USA Webpage!

NOTABLE CAPTURES

With the weather across the USA in full ‘Winter mode”, it’s understandable that many of us are not able or willing to venture out into the harsher elements…However, we did want to specifically recognize those that do! Alex Perciuleac is a die hard Carp angler, longtime member, and friend of The American Carp Society. He has been out in the elements targeting the fish and achieving some lovely captures!

It is always a pleasure to see him at The Mill Creek Cup event each year, so we can all grab some attention from his beloved dog!

Congrats Alex on this lovely capture…and continue to do what you do bro!

By DON LOW

There hasn’t been a lot of fishing for me over the last few weeks. In the Northeast, and many other areas of the country, the ponds and most of the rivers are covered in a thick layer of ice. At this time of year, it’s all about pre-season preparations. If you’re lucky enough to live in a state that doesn’t get so cold, I hope you have had some “winter” action.

I always use a leader when carp fishing, and I only ever use two materials for these leaders. For rivers I use fluorocarbon in 20lbs because I’ll be fishing on a tight line with the rod tips up in the air, and I like the low visibility that fluoro offers. For fishing in ponds, I opt of a lead-free leader material. There are plenty of brands that offer this type of product. In my opinion this material is better than leadcore because its supple but still very heavy when wet. It will hug the bottom contours of the lakebed, whereas leadcore is much stiffer and will kick up if it is lying over any rocks or thick weed.

Whether you use lead-free or leadcore I recommend that you make your own leaders so you are going to need to know how to splice, and this can be tricky. The thicker the material the easier it’s going to be. Go with the heaviest break strain.

Take your splicing needle or fine gated baiting needle and measure two needle lengths. This will result in you splicing a full needles worth of material which is what you need to be sure its secure.

Getting started is the trickiest part. Take the hook at the end of the needle pull it back into the material. From there push the needle forward (make sure its straight against your finger to make it easier) up to the hilt before pushing through the wall of the leader. Now secure the free end of the leader into the hook and close the gate before gently teasing the free end through the center of the material.

One end you create a loop for attaching to your mainline, the other you can slice on swivels, quick clips or make another loop which gives you flexibility. Hope this tip helps. Tight lines everyone!

Don’t forget that all American Carp Society members now have free access to the DIGITAL AMERICAN CARPER VOL. 1 - ‘AMERICAN BORN AND BRED’ in their member’s portal.

This FEATURE was recently added for 2022 for all of our members and so if you haven’t yet had the chance to get your hands on one of the original hard copies to read, you now have access to Volume One from anywhere digitally. Going through the pictures on the pages, it took us back to those original anglers that were featured in the Volume One edition!

ERICK GRUBB
KEITH THOMPSON
AL ST. CYR
IVELIN PETROV
ERICK MAYBURY
JOEY AREVALO
BRADFORD THOMPSON
SEAN LEHRER
MATUS SOBOLIC
JOHN RYAN SLAYTON
JASON SCHWERMER
WAYNE BOON
SEAN MANNING

Some incredible talent and beautifully documented captures! Take a look in your Member’s Portal and you’ll have direct access to it!

Over 300 pages of everything Carpy in the USA!

new limited edition beanies

We will be launching a limited edition number of new beanies later this month. Incorporating some new European styles and ‘floppy’ beanies as well as some ‘fleece-lined’ numbers, they are sure to keep your noggin’ warm in the Winter months. We also have a few ‘Summer’ beanies as well…very light in weight so that you don’t have to bake in your beanie when the temperatures change!!

the american carper publications are digital

All American Carper publications are now available in digital form on the store and can be accessed by all smart devices - phones, tablets, laptops, PC’s, etc…and each volume features over 300 pages of US Carp Culture and the very best representation of the sport here in the USA!