May Edition
Tim Marshall
Our Angler of the Month for May is Tim Marshall from North Carolina! An all around great angler, advocate of the sport and friend and member of the American Carp Society, Tim has been angling for Carp for many years, specializing in targeting his beloved species from a boat. We think this picture pretty much sums it all up…After many years of hard work scouting lakes, locating fish and doing whatever is necessary to find the big girls, he was rewarded with this stunning mirror…With rain lashing down, it all comes together…the hard work and hours of dedication paying off. Well done Tim!
We are looking forward to the podcast with Sean in the next few weeks!
With the quality of photography rising amongst our members, we thought it only right to acknowledge some of the cool shots coming across our feed! Keep tagging us with the great lens work everyone…We love to see this from our members…Always leading the way in the US Carp World by pushing the boundaries of creativity and excellence!
NOTABLE CAPTURES
We’re fortunate that we get to see the best carpy pictures from all over the USA from our members and friends. These photos below certainly caught our attention in the month of April. 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 you guys and gals catch in the upcoming Summer season! Don’t forget to tag us: #americancarpsociety #jointheguiltyones and tag us in your stories: @american_carp_society
We would like to congratulate Bogdan Bucur on his new position as the Director of the USAngling Carp Program for the next five years. Bogdan has been a competitor and team member, representing the USA for a number of years and is keen to take on this new role.
Congratulations Bogdan!
COMING THIS MONTH
Our 2022 Membership long & short sleeved shirts in Grey or Olive Green with a choice of back logos! Made from recycled plastic these are the very softest shirts we have ever sourced and 100% environmentally friendly! Pre-Orders happening for members only this month Tuesday May 24th…Mark Your Calendars!
one rod captures….
By
I’ve always wondered why anglers use three rods (or more) when carp fishing. I presume it stems from UK fishing regulations that allow for three and the industry grew from there, but I’m not completely sure.
When I first started fishing for Carp and Smallmouth Buffalo in the mid 2010’s I began with one set up, then went to two after several months.
As a novice at the sport, I would often get tangled up with my second line when playing a fish or worse, double run then losing one or both of fish. A dramatic day for me occurred where, long story short, I had about 100b’s of Buffalo on my two rods at once and lost them both. Since then I almost exclusively fish with one rod.
Over a number of sessions in around a couple year span of only fishing one rod I noticed something very interesting. I started catching bigger fish on average and I was landing almost every fish I hooked.
My bite rate dropped a little, but not by much either.
Don’t get me wrong, I definitely blank but it doesn’t seem to be any more than other anglers fishing multiple rods.
My best guess for successfully catching with one rod is that all of my bait is going into the same spot time after time after time. I think that does a couple of things; cleans the bottom of weed and debris in an isolated area making my rig present every time and causes competition from the bigger fish.
The latter is probably the most important reason, especially when I’m doing a “campaign” in a swim over a few months. My biggest common, buff and grasser have all come after several weeks of baiting and fishing the same 10x10ft section of lake bed.
If you are a ‘more rods are better angler’, I encourage you to try a few sessions using just one rod and you may just find that the average size fish you land is bigger than before.
Tight lines and good luck.
Registration for Carp Slam XVI is now open!
Sign up at www.carpslam.org 🤘
NOTABLE CAPTURES
Our Carp on the Fly members and friends have been anxious for the weather to get a bit warmer…and in some states it’s already happening! 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 you guys and gals catch this coming Summer season! Don’t forget to tag us: #americancarpsociety #jointheguiltyones and tag us in your stories: @american_carp_society
the sound of spring according to a carp angler…
by
Spring has finally arrived in Western New York. Despite Father Winter extending his welcome, and Mother Nature being too polite to kick his ass out for good, temperatures have been on the rise as well as the positioning of the sun in the sky. Like a switch that has been flipped, there has been an explosion of life. The dull, gray skies are beginning to clear, and when clouds still do take control of the skies, rain falls instead of snow. The robins and red-wing blackbirds are just about everywhere. Toads, peepers, and other early amphibians are heard calling for mates, but still remain out of sight for the time being. Unlike the amphibians, plant life has nothing to hide, and are ecstatic about coming back into sight. Small white and purple crocuses push through first. They are followed by the pussy willows, larger yellow flowers, and small shrubbery beginning to turn green. The arrival of the birds, the amphibians, and the plants mean one thing. The clasp of the wintery cold has loosened, and the warmth of the spring has come to take its place.
Much like the other animals, and the people in my small town, the carp also enjoy the changing of the seasons. The carp become much more active in the new warmth of the sun. There is a flourish of forage and new meals for the carp to enjoy. Worms, grubs, hellgrammites, and craws are all becoming a food source once again. I decided to hit the main body of water for the first time this year after we had a few consistent warm days. The spot I chose is a familiar favorite. A shallow, murky, still-water in the back end of a cove in the lake. I spent my few previous trips in the creek beneath the lake. I had seen plenty of fish but the warm days had not come yet, and with temps only in the upper 30’s and the low 40’s it was hard to produce. The cold days made the fish lethargic. I would cast into a crowd and not a single one would even bother to look. I had to spend hours at a time to select and single out the carp that strayed from the pack in search of a meal, and that allowed me to catch a few here and there. But when I had the opportunity to go out on a particularly nice day in mid April, I wanted to switch up my spots and try somewhere I hadn't been this year. When I arrived I was, and wasn’t, surprised at what I saw. Again, much like the people in my little town, and all the other animals, the carp were out and about with spring’s call to action. It is innate in all creatures to start moving around a bit more when the weather breaks. Perched on my trail to the hole, I saw roughly a dozen carp spread much thinner than what I had seen before in the creek. Instead of all the fish grouping together, they were each feeding, cruising, tailing, and moseying around by themselves or in a group of two or three. As a fly angler that targets carp, it was truly exciting to see them back in action like this after such a long time. The rest of my walk I continued with a deadly silence, to refrain from spooking any of these fish, unaware that my eyes were glued onto their backs.
There is a very small stream that runs into the back end of this cove. It flows from a park that sits lower than its surrounding areas, collecting rainfall as it comes and transports it from the park through the little ditch and into the lake. It can be heard trickling and mixing into the still water long before it is seen. It is a constant sound, still very quiet and yet nevertheless always in your ear. The sun shined through the bright blue skies, and as I hit the opening of the trail I could feel its warmth on the back of my neck. The sunlight made my sight into the water brilliant. The silty mud bottom was decorated by maze-like patterns from worms moving about. They were interrupted by holes where hungry carp buried their faces into the bottom in search of food. The carp left the bottom like a battlefield, battered by mortars.
Both robins and red-winged blackbirds sang from the branches and the ground. The birds had seen me, but instead of fleeing they had just distanced themselves, and my presence didn’t once interrupt their tunes. The toads and the peepers however were more concerned with me being there. Their trills and peeps immediately stopped as I grew nearer, but did continue as they felt I was no longer a threat. As I positioned myself for my first cast, scanning the waters for indications of a feeding fish, I saw one only a couple feet away from shore.
I was using a fly that was a very simple pattern. A small fly I tied, called a Gypsy Bug. It was similar enough to look like a small crayfish, but could represent a number of things, which is why I love tossing them out so much. I waited until after a cool April breeze pushed past the trees to throw in the Gypsy Bug. The sound of the wind died off and a quick bow and arrow cast did the trick. My fly landed around eight to ten inches away from the carp’s face. Instead of the apathetic reaction I was used to getting, the golden ghost began to charge my fly. His orange rubber lips poked in and out and a small cloud of dust spread immediately afterwards. I knew my luck had already begun to change, as well as the behavior of the spring fish. I was on, and in a matter of seconds the first fish was taking my line out. My reel was screaming. It was my first day of the year where I began catching multiple feeding carp. My reel told me how big each fish was, singing for longer intervals the bigger the fish. Each fish I hooked up on took me for a ride. I would make excited whoops and hollers to myself. I spoke in sentence fragments and cuss words as I tried to net the fish. I'm sure my speech would sound like complete gibberish to anyone listening in at the time. As the day passed I rotated between craw, worm, and grub imitations. Each pattern did the job.
After a while of fishing I couldn't help but notice how quiet the world felt, but how that really wasn't the case. There is a universal sound we only hear when we really listen. A sound we can easily, and often do, ignore until we find ourselves tapping along. The lyrics tell us what we need to hear. They don’t care about what we want to hear. I listened to the amphibians and the birds sing the loudest and most alluring tunes. I listened to the April breeze that whooshes in the trees and the soft trickle of water from the park going into the backwaters of the lake. I listened to the carp splash and thrash as they were hooked and my drag sing loudly as it entered into the backing. It is always followed by excited hollering from a boy buried within me and again more splashing when the net gets near. They all conduct a symphony, a universal song. At this moment, time became a product of the tempo of this song, not of the clock. The song of a change in weather, and it reverberates in all of us. These are the sounds of spring, according to a carp angler.
Coming up in May we have some wonderful interviews on The American Carper Podcast…
patrick mapes
Founder of ‘Urban Anglers USA’, Pioneer Patrick Mapes from Denver, Colorado will be joining us. 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 Angler’s USA…and has recently also started pursuing them with a traditional ‘Euro approach’…we will be discussing 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 a while…and so it should make for a great podcast!
dave blair
Dave Blair is probably one of the most experienced Carp on the Fly Angler’s in the USA Today…having fished in multiple countries…for multiple species, he still loves to target the Carp. A rod builder as well as educator on the topic, Dave joins Sean for an incredible interview that will be presented in two parts…If you love this fish, don’t miss this incredible interview!
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DAVE BLAIR
Coming Soon…
what do we all have in common?
In over 50% of the States in the USA we ALL have to be killed to be certified as a State Record…Hmmmm?
Hmmmmmm?
We are having a sale on our Maroon Members Mug from $7.99 to $4.99!
If you have ever struggled with getting a clean line cut…Fly or Traditional Angler, you will know the frustration involved…these awesome nippers are on sale from $4.99 to $1.99!