DZEMAL DZALIC
Our Angler of the Month for October is Dzemal Dzalic from Louisville Kentucky! We wanted to congratulate Dzemal for his captures so far this season and for his incredible pictures that he’s been posting with his son. Clearly dad has been a great influence here and we have a young star in the making! Dzemal, never stop being the wonderful dude you have always been! Rock On!!!!
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 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!
There was some great lens work coming across the social feed in September! These shots particularly stood out for us….Great job guys, keep up that creative lens-work!
Photo By: Dan Swartout
Photo By: Mitch Kempe
Photo By: Hunter
Photo By: Jeff Kramer
Photo By: Jeff Kramer
Photo By: Yuriy Nesterov
Photo By: Yuriy Nesterov
membership benefits
As we continue to grow, it is our desire to bring you, our members, more benefits as a thank you for supporting The American Carp Society. Along with additional ‘Members Only’ products in the works, that will be available in the new MEMBERS ONLY STORE (underneath the official Store on the website), we will be reaching out to companies across the USA to extend special accommodations to our members. We start this month with Big Carp Tackle extending free shipping to ACS members between October 20 - 31st on any orders over $250.
NEW ACS MEMBERS SUBMISSION CONTEST
We are excited to launch a new monthly members only photography contest, the winners of which will receive 1kg of ACS Bait, 1 tub of Tigers and a Bait Spray.
To qualify, the angler has to be wearing ACS merchandise (with a visible ACS logo) in the photograph. We are looking for great images that capture all angles of this great sport. The preparation, the capture, the wildlife. It’s not just about the largest fish or weight… which will open the contest up to all ACS members in all states.
Submissions MUST be tagged on your personal social media to feeds qualify #americancarpsociety and #jointheguiltyones on instagram or @american_carp_society on FB.
You will also need to send an email to info@americancarpsociety.com with your full name and link to your post so that we can make sure we catalogue it for the judges!
Use the below comment on your social media accounts:
“ I’m an American Carp Society Member - The future of carp fishing in the USA. “
We are looking for some interesting pics that convey the very best of the sport. The ACS team will pick the winner at the end of each month and announce them in the Angler’s Insider as well as in the members FB Group. Below are some examples of what we’re looking for.
The first official submission timeline will start from Monday October 9th and run until 30th November. After that it will run each calendar month starting on the 1st of each month!
So if you’re posting fish on your social feeds and you are an ACS member…this is just another opportunity with a few tags and a shout out to the organization to add to your personal monthly baiting inventory at no cost!
ACS FLUORO BOBBINS
We are happy to announce that our new ACS Fluoro Bobbins are now available exclusively to ACS members for pre-order in the new MEMBER’S ONLY STORE. The green floor bobbins are of the highest quality and are all handmade in conjunction with Solar Tackle products meaning they will fit all SOLAR TACKLE chains, hangers and accessories that you already own.
They represent the compact and classic bobbin design, made out of a bright translucent material giving these bobbins a genuine vintage look. This design can also house an isotope for increased visibility in the dark which can be purchased at Big Carp Tackle (Solar IPRO indicator heads (size 15mm x 3mm).
We are also offering our members both ACS Stainless and Black anodized chain sets with hockey sticks and hangaball line clips, as well as additional counterweights in both 10g and 20g sizes.
A huge thanks to Geert Ooms from Germany for his amazing skills and attention to detail!
PRE-ORDERS CLOSE MONDAY OCTOBER 23rd at 5pm CST and we will need 6 weeks for manufacturing and delivery. THIS IS A ONE OFF CUSTOM PRE-ORDER for MEMBERS ONLY.
AVAILABLE FROM $14
Click HERE to pre-order yours!
new barnaby’s revenge flavor
NUTRABERRY is the new Barnaby’s Revenge flavor and bait range of products that will be available to the public starting March 1st, 2024 however, ACS members will have access to the entire range by mid November 2023 for use throughout the winter months. We will also be including some new products within the range in 2024 including our new paste.
We release just one new flavor per year. This is by choice for us, as we field test our products throughout the USA in multiple bodies of water from lakes, reservoirs and rivers, before determining the final blend. Some of the flavors will remind you of more familiar carp flavors, but with a twist….and some are completely unique in their overtones and base. We also handmake all of our baits from scratch, using only the very highest quality US products. We made a conscious decision to support US based manufacturers and farmers in the sourcing of our raw materials and have turned down multiple opportunities to cut corners. We won’t lower our quality, as our experience has shown us that would not be in the best interest of the fish or the bait itself, long term.
We are happy to announce that moving forward we will have a constant supply of bait products as we have moved to a larger manufacturing facility in order to supply our members more effectively with consistent product. We have faced challenges in the past with product availability due to our hands on approach overseeing quality control, manufacturing everything ourselves on a part time basis and having limited time availability. That will no longer be a factor for our members.
Moving forward in 2024 we will also be taking bulk custom rolled orders in our flavors for those that fish the seasonal tournaments here in the USA. We will also be looking to include both 16mm and 24mm sizes of bottom baits in conjunction with the currently available 20mm size.
We have a team of some of the very best Angler’s in the United States, behind the scenes, that use our products both quietly and consistently, catching specimen carp on a monthly basis.
The American Carp Society looks at the USA Carp Industry as one big family. There are numerous bait companies as well as other organizations, tackle retailers and those wanting to get involved. We are all investing our time, effort and money into trying to build a better future for carp and US Carp Anglers, and we have made some true friends amongst many of the companies out there. We will continue to support any U.S company that has the best interest of the fish at heart and who are also supportive of others in the same industry here in the USA.
USA FILM PAUL CIOCA
Paul Cioca released the second part in his epic film of ‘Drive & Survive’ in the USA last month…Brilliantly done and as always the very best in representing film and photography in the USA & Canada. Big congrats Paul on another fine effort and for all of those involved! If you haven’t seen it yet…CHECK IT OUT!
BCT is looking for a warehouse manager!
NEW 2024 MEMBERSHIP PACKAGES
We are happy to announce that the new 2024 Traditional Membership Packages will be shipping out this week! Featuring more products, stickers and our new boosted bait samples for the 2024 line of bait ‘NUTRABERRY’. A sweet and creamy fruit blend with carpy overtones, the NUTRABERRY flavor has quietly been catching fish across the USA over the past few years and we are now ready to bring it to our members!
2024 Membership packages include:
• New members beanie.
• ACS Hooks.
• ACS Terminal Tackle items.
• ACS Pop-Up Corn.
• ACS Squatch Lens cloth.
• ACS Sticker Pack.
• Access to the digital American Carper Volume 1.
• New ‘NUTRABERRY’ boosted corn.
ACS SOCIAL MEDIA MEMBERSHIP COORDINATOR NEEDED
With the expansion of our membership we are looking to include a social media membership coordinator as part of our team. Responsibilities would be to actively manage our FB membership group, coordinate our new monthly members competitions, membership reach out and other duties. Two hourly zoom meetings per month. Instagram and FB knowledge a must. This would be a part time position for someone working who wants to be a part of our growing team.
Compensation: Yearly membership, wholesale discount on all ACS bait and products.
PLEASE SEND ENQUIRIES TO INFO@AMERICANCARPSOCIETY.COM FOR CONSIDERATION. THANK YOU!
DTU CARP SLAM
This years DTU Carp slam was by all accounts a very successful event…Over $38,000 was raised for the future of the river.
1st Place – Russ Miller & Matt Malloy – 56.50″
2nd Place – Mike Medina & Sunny Sundgaard – 50.25″
3rd Place – Daryl Eakins & Bill Bianco – 29.00″
244.25” of total Carp caught
10 total Smallmouth caught
Walleyes & Rainbows caught also.
Congratulations to all of the participants who support this incredible and worthy cause each year.
A full write up of the event can be found by clicking HERE.
A few shots from the event:
Ain’t Over Yet
By: Luke Wilson
Fall has officially begun and summer has ended, seemingly much faster than it had come. The weather has started cooling, although summer is still lingering in the air. Now the mornings are brisk and dew ridden, the sun has fallen lower in the sky giving us less time in our day, and the greenness of nature is becoming paler everyday until a warm palette of red and orange leaves has taken control. My brother, Josh, came back for a weekend to visit and tell us about how school had been going since his departure not long ago. To pass the cool morning we took the dog for a walk and talked about how things were going. In his spare time at college Josh had been fishing and tying flies, not much had changed. Hopefully his schoolwork is getting as much attention as his new fishing spots. He told me about a couple flies he tied, but left back at school on his desk. He also briefed me on a couple stories on how fishing was in his new town. The coolest was his story about catching tiger trout. He was looking for a new spot for carp, he said, and there were three ponds nearby he spotted on the map. Two had been stocked. Two were warm water and one was a cooler spring fed pond. One warm water pond was stocked full of the norm. Bluegill, bass, and carp. The fish hatchery had stocked the cool water pond full of tiger trout. He said you could see them cruising around just about everywhere and that it seemed unreal. We had never had the chance to catch one and here he stands looking into the water with dozens swimming about. He wasn’t able to find a good area to spot carp just yet, but the tiger trout should do just fine. He had also gone blue-lining in the nearby state lands to catch beautiful specs.
Once we had gotten back the sun was up higher in the sky and the chill of the morning had left. It was now warm where the sun had been keeping its watchful eye. The previous week had been in the mid to low 60’s. It was a bit of a cooler stretch. This day was going to be right in the middle. The temperature when we left was 72, and wasn’t going to get much higher. It was a gorgeous day; bluebird skies and a slight breeze. The trees are just beginning to show signs of change. When we went to the lake we were surprised it was almost completely empty. It was a beautiful Saturday. There was no struggle to load or unload the boat, no waiting for anybody else to take their turn unloading. There were only a few kayakers and one brave jet skier. Even though it was a nice day, it was still a little too cold for me to be on a jet ski.
The water was high, and the banks were pushed up further than normal. That seemed to be the case much more than usual this year. The water was somewhat clear along the banks for being so high, but still remained a relatively dirty, murky water that the lake is known for. When we were gearing up the decision was made to use bright pink flies, like Josh’s pink crab he tied that we had used in our last outing and the classic wiggle worm. Both looked and could be presented naturally and not stand out too harshly, but still popped and cut through the tainted water.
We positioned ourselves to where the sun came down behind our backs. Even in the earlier hours of the day you could tell the sun had been slowly changing its position in the sky over the last month or two. It sat lower to the south as it crossed the sky, but this held our drawn out shadows off of the unexploited bank we had yet to fish as we went south down the waters eastern edge. The sun had been working with us that day, as it was illuminating the banks, and seemed to cut deep into the darker water.
Our first fish came fairly quickly. We came around a peninsula, and there was one of the few other people on the lake that day. He was fishing out of a kayak, perhaps jigging for some bass. We went past him, exchanged a nod that, although no words were said, expressed a form of “good luck Pal '' that only fishermen could understand. As we rolled past, we saw a smaller carp, and it was spotted from a decent distance. I pointed at the carp near the shore and Josh had understood his assignment. He laid out a beautiful cast and the fish grabbed the fly a few moments after it hit bottom. The anticipation of the fish taking the fly is one of the best things about this enterprise of carp angling. The seconds between the laying of the cast, the carp turning its head and moving over, and the fly being taken are void of noise. Or at least the noise becomes blocked out, like everything else in the world. It’s just two fingers holding onto a bright line, waiting for the slack to become tight and your heart thumping in your chest. Once we are hooked onto our fish, it all comes back in a jolt of adrenaline as the sound of splashing and peeling drag becomes too loud to ignore.
Before we had even landed the fish, the kayaker paddled over to talk to us. He didn’t say a word until we had put our fish in the net. He asked politely, “What’d you get?”
He was surprised to see that we caught a carp. Even more so that it was done on the fly rod. He seemed perplexed, and I couldn’t tell if it was in a positive or negative light, but intrigued he was nevertheless. We started talking a bit more and told him all about our golden bone antics. After a short while he paddled off again. I could only imagine what he was thinking at the time, or if I was in his shoes. Here he was sitting in the boat, casting over and over again, hoping that he might get a bite. Along come two guys in a 12 foot Jon boat with casting deck, they start pointing at the water like they can see a fish, cast to the fish, and miraculously pull one out of the water. I just hope that another fellow will be joining the guilty ones shortly.
The day continued and with the sun shining along the banks we could see clearly along the high shallow waters. We could spot carp from 30 to 40 feet, and on top of that cast onto them. Some ended successfully while others did not, but being able to drop that much line out and on target is a goal in itself. Being able to see the carp that far away isn’t always the case but it is a blessing that must be taken advantage of. That was mostly along the eastern bank, with the sun giving us a hand, but the western bank had almost gone dark as the sun had hardly enough angle to come over the mutable tree line where some leaves had begun to appear yellow and a few here and there orange. We caught plenty of fish and before we knew it it was dinner time. We struggled to leave a day that felt like it could last forever.
Get out while you still can. It will be winter before we know it. Take advantage of the weather and the sunshine. It may take a little longer for the carping to warm up during the morning, but listen to the sun. Use it to your advantage. Watch for the angles in which it penetrates the water. See which side gets more daylight, that will often be the side that you will have more luck. You may have to try a few new things to get the bite going and to spot some carp, but the carping ain’t over yet.
SALE!!!
BAIT PRODUCTS ON SALE - WHILE SUPPLIES LAST! Click HERE to head over to the store!
“ I have to say I’m thankful for ACS! I was looking for an organization that I could take seriously as I’m just getting into the sport and I wasn’t impressed with anything until I found you guys…Thank you for all of the great work that you do and providing invaluable resources for a noob like me! “ - Tim S, South Carolina.