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Carpe Carpium-- Seize the Carp Can it be that Carp is the Uncrowned King of Illinois' fishery? STORY AND PHOTOS BY GARY THOMAS "Carp? All you folks are fishing for carp? What do you do with them?"
The speaker was a bicyclist who had paused his morning ride along the Chicago River to talk with two anglers. "Yep, just carp," an angler said. "We weigh them and then put them back in the river." The bicyclist nodded, smiled and continued on his way, past dozens of anglers lining the Chicago River between Michigan Ave. and Lake Michigan. The anglers were fishing in the Carp Anglers Group (CAG) annual Carp Classic tournament last September. More than 100 anglers participated. "This was a good turn out," said Bud Yancey, Peoria. "We have anglers from a dozen different states, plus four anglers from England, two from South Africa and one from Scotland." With anglers traveling that far, you would think there was a lot of prize money for the winner. That wasn't the case. There is a $30 entry fee to participate, but no cash prizes. Anglers were fishing for trophies and prizes—rods, reels and other fishing equipment. "Some tournaments are for money, but these anglers are fishing because they have an intense interest in carp fishing," said Mike Keyes, former newsletter editor for the organization. "This is a social event. This is for fun. If we started giving prize money, people might take it too seriously, and we might stop having fun." Anglers are assigned places to fish by a drawing, and they're required to stay in their area while fishing. But if an angler is there with family or friends, arrangements can be made for them to fish together. Nick Leno, a Chicago fireman, saw a story announcing the event in
"We had no idea of all the specialized equipment these guys used to catch carp when we showed up that first year," Leno said. "But we had a good time, and we've been coming back every year since. It's a great family activity." The Lenos' equipment has improved, too. They now have several carp rods, plus rod pods and bite sensors. Brian Nordberg came from Mesa, Ariz., to fish, but he wasn't too concerned about winning the tournament. His goal was to catch more carp than his friend, Craig Clayton, who lives in London, England. The two were fishing side-by-side near the Columbus Ave. bridge. This was their second year of fishing the tournament. Nordberg liked his chances. "I think fishing near the bridge will be good," he said. He pointed to some pilings on the other side of he river. "There isn't a lot of structure in the river, but those pilings could hold some carp. I think this is a good place to fish." Those pilings might hold carp, but they were 80 yards away. How would they help him on this side of the river? It wasn't long until the answer was clear. Nordberg picked up a 12-foot rod and made an 80-yard cast, his bait landing about three feet from the left side of the piling. A few seconds later, Clayton made a similar cast—leaving his bait just to the right of the piling. "Eighty yard casts are nothing where I come from," said Scott VanBreda, fishing closer to the Michigan Ave. bridge. "Back home, the best carp fishing is in 10 to 12 feet of water, but we have real shallow lakes and streams, so we might have to cast out 120 yards to get to that depth." "Back home" to VanBreda is South Africa. The 32-year-old Johannesburg native has been fishing for carp since he was 4, and he and his friend Nick VanderWalt had traveled to Chicago for a week of fishing. "We take carp fishing very serious in South Africa," VanderWalt said. "It's the number-one recreational sport. Hunting is second, but it isn't even close to carp fishing." The Pretoria native said they tend to keep carp fishing as simple as possible in South Africa.
"We're not as much into the high-tech items as European anglers," VanderWalt said. "We came over here to meet other carp anglers and share our fishing methods. We'd like to see some Americans come to South Africa to fish." The two have also traveled to Europe and Australia to fish. Will they be coming back to the United States for this activity? "Probably," VanBreda said. "I was in Chicago two years ago, but it was November and it was snowing. I fished the river and managed to catch one carp. I know everyone who passed thought I was crazy, but it was fun. I knew I wanted to return to fish when the weather was better." According to the anglers, the secret to catching carp is to chum the fishing area with food to attract fish. Each angler has his own secret—or not so secret—chum. Some were slinging canned corn, while others used boiled field corn.
Live maggots were favored by some, while others were using secret ingredient doughballs. How the anglers were getting the chum to the carp was as interesting as what they were using. Some anglers threw the chum, while others used slingshots and throwing tubes to send the chum out into the river. But the most unusual method was the spod, a torpedo-shaped carrier anglers filled with chum, then slung across the water with a large rod and reel. The spod is designed to flip over and deposit the chum once it hits the water. The bait of choice seemed to be boilies—small, marble-sized doughballs flavored with everything from anise to strawberry and attached to a hook via a hair-rig (see sidebar). Ten of the 108 anglers competing in the tournament were women, and most of them take the fishing very seriously. "None of the women are here with their husbands," said Bob Williamson, a retired DNR fisheries biologist. "Their husbands tend to be here with them." Becky Byla is from Whitewater, Wis., and she has a simple criteria for whether or not she fishes a carp tournament. "If I can fish more hours than it takes me to get there, I go," she said. "There aren't too many women who are serious about this sport, but the ones who are tend to be very serious. I like the sport, and once you have your equipment, it's very inexpensive. You meet lots of nice people and make friends all over the world."
The angler having the most success was Max Cottis, from Essex, England, who was fishing alongside the two South African anglers. Cottis is the director of product development for Fox International, the world's largest manufacturer of carp fishing equipment. He was there to stake out the marketplace with English-style fishing equipment. "When this type of fishing catches on here, we want to be ready to sell our products," he said. "Without question, the carp is the No. 1 fish in Europe. You have a marvelous fishery in Illinois, but you don't appreciate it yet. But when things get tough for other species, the carp will still be there."
Cottis made cast after cast 80 yards across the river, leaving his bait within two feet of the wall. His pod was equipped with sensors that beeped when the line was disturbed, enabling him to concentrate on matters other than his line. While most anglers were chatting, Cottis was throwing chum across the river using a sling device. And it paid off. He was the winner of the tournament, catching 6 fish totaling 631/2 pounds. Actually, the fishing was not good. Cicero angler Tom Brandenburg fishes the river regularly. He normally catches 10 or more carp per day. On this day, he didn't have a bite. "We normally average somewhere from 600 to 1,000 pounds of fish on a tournament day here," Yancey said. "This has been a slow tournament. We only had about 300 to 400 pounds this year." Stewards patrolled each section during the tournament, weighing and releasing the fish throughout the day. The idea is to get them out of the water, weighed and back into the water quickly, so as not to stress them. While Illinois anglers tend to have little use for this fish, the Carp Anglers Group holds tournaments in Illinois to enhance this hard-fighting fish's reputation. No enhancement is needed in the rest of the world. The carp is king, and so respected overseas that most fishing magazines won't publish photos of anglers holding carp unless they are kneeling and have a pad below the fish so it wouldn't be hurt if it were dropped. This is a fish that demands a little more respect from Illinoisans.
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