August Edition
Tyson Vineyard
Our Angler of the Month for August is Tyson Vineyard, from Ogden, Utah! One of the USA’s most prolific Carp on the Fly anglers, he can often be found out scouting for bars of gold year round. He is one of our Official American Carp Society guides and really knows his stuff.
Tyson is a great guy, passionate angler, and true advocate of the species. He has an insta page full of some terrific captures as well. Drop by and give it a look HERE if you haven’t had the chance! Thanks always for all of the tags, bro!
NOTABLE CAPTURES
July was a hot one for many of our members across the USA. With the dog days of summer now officially upon us temperatures will be increasing through to the end of the month in many states. Please be mindful of the welfare of the fish when it’s really hot …the oxygen levels will be down on many of the smaller waters and their handling at this time of year is crucial. Please make sure that they are well and truly revived after capture before releasing them. These photos below certainly caught our attention in the month of July. Congratulations to everyone on the success of their angling sessions this past month…We appreciate all 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!
Congrats to Ricky and his sons!!! Starting them off young and creating memories together! Well done fella’s!
We loved this shot by Morgan Kane…A slab of gold right there caught on the fly!
Photo By: Morgan Kane
carpslam xvi
Registration for CARPSLAM XVI is now open! Amateur competitors, "Slamateurs," compete in fundraising efforts to benefit the Denver South Platte River, then spend the day teamed up with a pro targeting carp on the fly in Colorado's premier carp on the fly tournament!
We are working closely with our friends at Denver Trout Unlimited to bring some more exposure to the great ‘Carp Slam’ Fly fishing tournament that takes place later this year…and we are happy to announce that The American Carp Society will once again help to sponsor the event and bring awareness to the cause through raising funds
Simply click on the link below to donate to the cause…Please share this link on your social media pages and with your friends and fellow anglers…It’s a great cause!
SWAMP DONKEYS
BY: LUKE WILSON
Every summer, my siblings and I take a trip to the Mountains. It’s something I always look forward to. We brought along significant others and friends so in total we had nine people camping. It’s a lot of fun. On our trip this year, we visited the Green Mountains National Forest in Vermont. We took a day to fish for brookies and ended with quite a few, but we were looking for some monster trout. I was entirely satisfied except for the fact the the biggest ones we had take our flies managed to shake our hooks. Arguably one of the biggest brook trout I have ever seen was lost right at the net, but they all get bigger once you've lost them. It was like a slap in the face for my brother who had it at the end of the line. Another story to tell. It was one of those things you remember more than the rest of your time fishing, it kind of lingers in your mind. Despite landing some really gorgeous fish, all we could think about was the trophy that we lost. So we were hungry for some more action. We began plotting and planning our next trip at camp, but our time in the mountains was coming to an end. That trip would have to be our welcome home trip.
The day we got back we already wanted to take a quick trip for some golden bones. My girlfriend plays in a summer softball league and there just so happens to be a creek that runs along the park she plays at. We got home around midday. We hardly unpacked before me and my brother, Josh, headed for the park. The game started at 6 and we got there around 3 o’clock. We had plenty of time to walk the creek around the park and make the game. We started off eager but our energy slowly drained as chance by chance ended in failure to persuade a carp to take our fly. It’s a huge difference when you just fished with a 3wt and start back up with an 8wt. My casting was atrocious. Excuses, excuses. We had walked nearly the whole creek without landing a fish. The irksome part, which I’m sure many carp anglers have encountered, was how many we saw, and how little we could catch. They were all buried deep in underbrush and weeds in the water. We were unable to cast most of them, and when we did it was after a substantial amount of time waiting for the right moment to break our stillness. We had plenty of sniffs and hooked on to a few carp who broke lines or unhooked themselves. Because of our eagerness, we hooked even more trees than both of those stats combined. After what felt like only an hour, my girlfriend had called me and let us know that the game had already started and we were now late. Luckily for us the softball field was right above the section of creek we had just walked by. We emerged from the brush like wild men, carrying nine foot rods, a uniquely large net, with full brim hats on top of our heads and mud covered crocs on our feet. Dirt and defeat covered us as we found our seats.
After our loss that night we needed to redeem ourselves. The memory of the big trout we lost and our lack of fish from that night fueled our determination for a good day of fishing. We started planning our trip that night deciding where we should go. We decided to go to the heart of the swamps. There are some big fish in the swamps, but it’s a very long, rough walk so it’s not often that it gets done. The weather had called for thunderstorms nearly the whole day when we checked the night before. Luckily for us the chances were still low. When we left in the morning the weather held out for us, but the clouds still came in and out of the sky as the day progressed. The clouds affected our sighting of the fish. One moment we could see into the water, and when the clouds covered the sun, vision would be lost for a few seconds until our eyes adjusted once more.
Right off the bat we saw fish but couldn’t get any to take our flies. The carp we were seeing held similarities to the ones the day before. Almost all the golden bones we had been seeing were close to cover. The few stragglers we saw in the open refused to eat what we had thrown. Before we could net a carp, we had unbelievable luck for nearly every other fish in the creek. On our carp flies we caught creek chubs, sunfish, rock bass, the occasional crappie, and even a premature pike. With hindsight I understand how exceptional this was, but in the moment only carp were on my mind, and that was becoming the demise of our trip. Like the clouds in the sky covering up the sun's light, there were clouds in my own mind obstructing any logical judgment I had. Eagerness was getting to me, and that led to me rushing casts, and spooking away several fish that if I had taken my time I could have at least put my fly in front of.
The time had come where me and Josh came across a spot where there were several carp to cast at. Following the trend that had been set, these carp were right near cover. There was a boneyard of dead trees and branches they came in and out of. My first cast got the attention of one, but my rushed cast wasn't quite on target. I picked up my line and recasted quickly. This time the carp moved to the fly and picked it up within seconds. Within a few more seconds it took me straight to the boneyard and wrapped my line around a submerged branch. Just as quick as the golden ghost had taken the fly, it was gone and living up to his reputational name. This nearly set me over the edge, it was time to tie a new leader and recoup. Josh watched the carp and most of them remained in the hole instead of spooking. He saw one that was beneath and headed towards the spot we had just fished. A beautiful cast with a subtle landing hit the water a few feet in front of the moving fish. The carp made his way up to his fly and the take was nearly undetectable. The fight on the other hand wasn’t. He was going straight for the boneyard, but with a change of luck he turned and went the other way. It was a fairly large fish, and our once pessimist view of the day became once more optimistic.
Just a bit after that catch, I had seen another carp near the underbrush. Josh had spotted an opening for me and I took my time on the cast. Although it wasn't a beauty of a cast, the time I took to really consider how I should go about it really made a difference compared to chucking one out in a hurry. Much like the trout we had been fishing for, making sure you have a good cast is one of the biggest factors. Taking your time to make a good cast, is entirely necessary when fishing for both of these fish. I hooked on and like the last fish had, he was going straight for the brush. Unlike the trout we had fished for, there is no manhandling carp when they decide to run. Side pressure must be used to keep the fish out of the sticks. Thinking clearly, I kept my line parallel to the fish's side. I was able to steer him away from the same entanglement I had fallen victim to before. Trout are erratic fighters, jumping, twisting, flopping. Carp on the other hand fight like trains. They get going, and keep going. Keeping your line parallel to the fish's side while he's on a run allows the angler to guide the fish, and works the fish’s own strength against him. Because of this tactic I was able to land the fish and keep him out of the wreck that had beaten me before.
Further down, we came along a section of creek that was really wide and open. We saw tons of carp but the clouds covered the light once more. The visibility of the water vanished. We waited to see clues of feeding carp. Josh spotted one quite the distance away as his shoulder was protruding from the shallow water he was in. I was focused on the couple that I had seen to the right a few moments before the sun was hidden. Josh decided to let out a long cast to the carp he saw further down. He made a sharp noise and I saw the fly hurtling towards us. The carp had gone for the fly but he missed the hookset. He was still visible, he hadn't left the area yet, even after getting pricked. Another long cast came out and when his fly landed a short distance away from the carp, it produced a wake. I thought he’d spooked away after seeing what had pricked him but instead he barreled towards the fly and sucked it up without hesitation. This was the most impressive cast and hook I had ever seen in the creek. It's not very often you get let out a cast that's more than fifteen feet in the creek, but this was probably double that distance, and right on target. Once the carp had been hooked, he did the most dreadful thing. Instead of taking the line out and swimming away, he came full speed right towards us. This is possibly one of the hardest ways a fish can fight. And there are lots of ways he can come unbuttoned, slack line being the main culprit in these incidents. I was shouting, “Reel, reel, reel faster!” and within moments he was at Josh's feet. Josh was able to keep the fish on and keep pace with his reeling. I jumped in with the net but the fight wasn't over. He started peeling drag still going the same way as he started and went right past us. After a minute of fighting, Josh was able to lift his head and we landed him in the net. It was a beautiful start to finish. In my opinion it was the highlight of the trip.
We finally made it to the last section of the creek before we hit town. The current was slow and there was now a channel 3-4 feet deep in place of the shallow rocky creek in the beginning. Spotting carp in this section was virtually impossible. At first, we walked down the middle of the creek to keep an eye out for fish along the banks. There wasn’t much of a bank for the fish to be seen on though. The visibility was poor and the lack of sun added to the hindrance of being unable to spot fish. We knew there were carp in there. We just couldn't figure out our best approach to catch them. We talked about “If we had the boat I betcha’ we’d catch some.” We fantasized about floating down the creek looking into the water, and continued along the middle. It wasn’t long before we decided that it wasn’t the best route to take. The lack of flow had caused an absurd amount of sediment to build up along the floor. The mud swallowed our every step, sometimes refusing to let go of our feet. We still journeyed along because at this point it was far closer to walk through rather than turn back. We spotted a trail of bubbles about 10 feet in front of us and headed to the middle. We waited to see what would happen and a head poked up from the water. It was a snapper, and let me you when your waist deep in the swamp, with water that's stained brown, that's not what you want to see come up in front of you. We stopped for a bit and continued walking once our nerves settled. We saw another trail of bubbles headed across the creek, from left to right. This time it was a smaller snapping turtle, but he was much closer. I could have patted him on the head with my rod. This was when we decided that walking through the brush was better than the creek. At least we could see where our feet were going. The feeling didn't last long though. The plants that grew along the banks were the not-so-friendly kind. The first layer was cut-grass. Behind the cut-grass was nettle. And where there wasn't nettle and cut-grass there was an abundance of poison ivy. The cut-grass lived up to its name and ravaged my uncovered legs, and when I made it through that, my legs were itching from the stinging nettles. Looking back on it, I find our misfortune quite humorous. I felt another feeling at the time though. We made it through our journey and all of our hardships made catching those fish quite the memory. It was a very hard day of fishing, but that made every fish we caught mean that much more.
After the day was over, I realized that there are more similarities between trout and carp, and these two distant types of fishing than I had previously thought. Rushing into casts or juicy spots because of a flustered and unclear mind causes more downfall than any other factor. Take your time. Also, be grateful for what you're given. Although we never managed to catch the monteres, we still had great times. I think these two things are something all anglers happen to get caught up in. We often go fishing to get away from the clouds in our head but fall victim to them still, in rash decisions. Not every trip will you manage to leave with a monster too. Take away from a trip based on the time and effort you put into catching the fish. Whether you only catch a few, or miss all the big ones. If you had to work hard for the bite that day, any fish should be rewarding. When fishing becomes irritable, or we become ungrateful, remember what we fish for.
the 2022 mill creek cup
The 2022 Mill Creek Cup registrations are nearly full! A big thanks to those that have already reserved their spots….We will be opening registration to non members in August so please get in contact with us and let us know your plans if you are interested in attending the event!
We already have outside sponsors that we will be adding to the event festivities this year and more are coming onboard.
Treaty Oak will be donating some Whiskey for prizes!
This year will see $3,000 in cash prizes as well as a set of ACS MK 3 rods for the biggest fish caught ($1,000 value) . A complete set of American Carper Volumes 1-3 ($195 value) will be awarded for both the largest mirror and also the most unique fish, as judged by the ACS judges.
Each contestant will receive the following :
• NEW UNRELEASED 2023 bait spray from the Barnaby’s Revenge bait range.
• NEW 4KG BARNABY’s REVENGE GROUNDBAIT.
• SWAG BAG and EVENT STICKER.
Other exclusive items to be announced.
More details will follow, but mark your calendars as this will be the US Carp Angling event of the year…We are looking forward to seeing everyone!
More details will follow, but mark your calendars as this will be the US Carp Angling event of the year…We are looking forward to seeing everyone!
CONTESTANTS SO FAR…
Member
Iulian Ghintu
Dean Holland
John Mihal
Paul Dewaardt
Zach Van Fleet
Phil Saunders
Rita Brown
Andy Klocek
Donovan Rolaff
Pieter Oberholzer
Simon Hodge
Martyn Mayhead
Partner
Mike Bold
ST. LAWRENCE JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS
From Bill Markle of The Wild Carp Club of Central NY.
Huge congrats to Cameron Fuller Grand Champ and Gavin Thompson 2nd place at the St Lawrence Jr tournament. Both boys fished in this year's Take a Kid Karpin' Tournament.
Official results for the 19th Annual Tournament. Congratulations to all the winners and thank you to all the sponsors, volunteers, families and friends who supported us and the kids.
A special thanks to Jaron Belmore and Abby McNamara, who worked tirelessly to ensure that each catch was logged quickly and accurately.
And, to Cole Murray and Jordan Gilbert, our Grand Marshals, who traveled to each location to offer their guidance, advice and assistance to all participants and marshals. Great job guys!
132 ... # of carp caught and released. (60) Day 1, (72) Day 2
2,116 lbs... total weight
First fish
11-14 Girls... Hayley Cota, at 7:11 a.m. Friday, 14 lbs. 12 oz.
11-14 Boys... Alex Shepard, at 7:32 a.m. Friday, 14 lbs. 1 oz.
15-18 Girls... MacKenzie Cota, at 7:14 a.m. Friday, 9 lbs. 5 oz.
15-18 Girls... Tarron Colbert, at 7:39 a.m. Friday, 8 lbs. 7 oz.
Last Fish
Note: We were notified last night there may have been a fish unreported, which looks to be the actual last fish of the tournament. We take the accuracy of our stats very seriously, and apologize if this happened in the craziness of those last minutes. We are heading to Waddington shortly to look at the Marshal sheets from the location, and have left a message for the Marshal at that location to confirm. We will update everyone when confirmed and award a prize to that person as would have been last night. Following is what was awarded last night prior to that notification.
11-14 Girls... Josephine Hill, at 4:04 p.m. Saturday, 13 lbs. 5 oz.
11-14 Boys... Quint Brothers, at 5:03 p.m. Saturday, 14 lbs. 5 oz.
15-18 Girls... MacKenzie Cota, at 4:50 p.m. Saturday, 15 oz. 6 oz.
15-18 Boys... Tanner Smith, at 5:02 p.m. Saturday, 17 lbs. 14 oz.
Smallest Fish
11-14 Girls... Samantha Milburn, 11 lbs. 8 oz.
11-14 Boys... Ryan Mitchell, 8 lbs. 9 oz.
15-18 Girls... MacKenzie Cota, 9 lbs. 5 oz.
15-18 Boys... Tarron Colbert, 8 lbs. 7 oz.
Biggest Fish
11-14 Girls... Danika Sheffield, 24 lbs. 10 oz.
15-18 Girls... Anisia Bogdan, 22 lbs. 8 oz.
15-18 Boys... Dylan LaMora, 27 lbs. 14 oz.
*** Overall Big Fish, 11-14 Boys... Cameron Fuller, 28 lbs. 4 oz.
Most Fish,,, Cameron Fuller, with (7), totaling 137 lbs. 6 oz.
Special Catch... Nigel Spahn with a goby
Riley Basford Memorial Sportsmanship Award... Olivia Caldwell
Team Competition
3rd Place... Cornerstone Services, with 217 lbs. 7 oz.
2nd Place... The Dream Team, with 235 lbs. 12 oz.
1st Place... One on Baits, with 245 lbs. 13 oz.
Adult Competition
1st Place... Terry Debiew, with 60 lbs. 2 oz
*** Individual Awards***
Girls 11-14
3rd Place... Hayley Cota with 30 lbs. 13 oz.
2nd Place... Josephine Hill with 37 lbs. 13 oz.
1st Place... Danika Sheffield with 59 lbs.
Boys 15-18
3rd Place... Tanner Smith, with 69 lbs. 5 oz.
2nd Place... Lowen Sero, with 69 lbs. 15 oz.
1st Place... Matthew Nolan, with 76 lbs.
Girls 15-18
3rd Place... Olivia Caldwell, with 62 lbs. 15 oz.
2nd Place... Kaylee Green, with 68 lbs. 12 oz.
1st Place... Anisia Bogdan, with 75 lbs. 12 oz.
Boys 11-14
3rd Place... Ryan Mitchell, with 63 lbs. 4 oz.
2nd Place... Gavin Thompson, with 68 lbs. 13 oz.
**** 1st Place & Tournament Grand Champion ***
Cameron Fuller, sponsored by Brenda Seguin & MaryEllen Casselman, with 91 lbs. 6 oz.
Congratulations, Cameron!
See you all in 2023 at our 20th Annual!
Photo: (right to left)
Abby McNamara, Tournament Organizer; Cameron Fuller, 19th Annual Grand Champion; Cole Murray & Jordan Gilbert, 19th Annual Grand Marshals.
fly fishers international
Big congrats to Dave Blair for his wonderful article in the summer edition of Fly Fishers International magazine. A great deal of work was done for this piece with our very own Kelcey Combs spearheading the project.
Congratulations to all involved who put in the work and time to make this happen!
new barnaby’s revenge 2023 flavor
We will be debuting the new 2023 Barnaby’s Revenge Mapex™ flavor of products at the 2022 Mill Creek Cup event in Canton, Texas. If you like Scopex…you will LOVE Mapex!
camping sets are on sale!
We have just five sets left of the ACS Camping set and are reducing them from $29.95 to $19.95 for our members! This is everything you’ll need in a very convenient size on the bank!