Carp Festival

[Lost]

I went and hung out at the Carp Festival and fishing contest last year, took pictures. I had fun just walking around. Thinking this year I'll actually enter the contest. Anybody else gonna be there? It's on June 19th.

[deadeye]

I will probably be there. I'll have to bust out the secret carp bait if I go. Do you know what won it last year?
><>deadeye

[catmaster1557]

Where is this carp festival at?

[Lost]

Nope, no clue what the winning fish was won on. The largest fish of the day was caught by a 13 yr old. I was the one yelling that they should give the boat to the kid when they had the prize give-away.

The Carp Festival is at Coon Rapids Dam on the Anoka County side. I'm gonna try several different concoctions to see what gets the best bite. Watch out, I plan on getting me a boat.

[Mongro02]

I was there last year and very close to the guy who won it.

I had thought this asian kid was in the lead and then this old guy came in at the end and won it...maybe I have it the other way around...but all I have to say is...to me he cheated (not the asian guy, the old guy).

Well...that's just what I think.

He must be some kind of pro at fishing contests or something. He and another guy showed up in this van with all kinds of sophisticated looking equipment.

He showed up with these huge ocean fishing poles. With some kind of electronic device where he set his pole on it and when the fish bit then it would beep for him.

Also, I noticed for the first 3 hours or so, he had this circular tube like container, supposedly with corn (that's what the man watching our area told me it was) in it and he kept throwing it out into the water and reeling it back. According to the guy watching our area he told me that this guy would do that to "feed" the carp, at least make all the carp come his way. Then late in the afternoon he finally caught the big fish with about an hour or so to go.

I along with several others in the area didn't think what he was doing was too fair, and we told the person who watched our area, but he said that there are no rules against "feeding" the carp first so there's nothing we could do about it...so we just left it alone.

Just my perspective of what happened.

[This message has been edited by Mongro02 (edited 05-01-2004).]

[Lost]

"Feeding" the carp would be the same as chumming which is illegal here in Minnesota. The guy was from Chicago is what I heard. But still, he should have known better.

He didn't even keep the boat. He sold it to someone else before he left. I kinda feel sorry for the asian guy for winning the carp-mobile. I wouldn't want to win something with a carp airbrushed on the side.

[so haaad]

FYI- I spotted the carp mobile in St. Paul just two weeks ago. Appearently, he kept it!

haaad

[Guest]

I don't know it for sure, but I find it hard to believe it's illegal to throw corn in the water to "chum" for carp. This is a common practice for carp fisherman. I've seen this many times on fishing shows. If so, they need to change the law. Carp are fun to catch, but are a bigger pain in the butt than what they're worth. I think most people would eliminate them altogether if possible. After all, they are an introduced species.

P.S. What do they do with all of the fish caught?

[Lost]

Most of the fish are released. The largest of the fish weighed usually make their way to Underwater Adventures (they bring a tank to keep the winners on display at the weigh-in area).

Just went through the 2004 Regulations book and it doesn't say anything against chumming. I'll call the DNR and find out sometime.

[Lost]

Called the DNR today and they said that chumming is an absolute no-no. So the person who won last year was definitely breaking state law and should have to rescind his winnings.

[Mongro02]

Lost:

If that's the case, too bad those people who run the Carp Festival didn't know that.

I didn't think it was fair.

'Cause I remember when we first got there I caught three early in the morning really quickly within an hour.

Then as soon as that guy started doing that, the fish all left the area where I was fishing.

Tried to complain but the guy I complained to said there was nothing they could do about it.

Oh...well...it's in the past.

At least now I know...next year if it happens I'll know to make a bigger issue of it.

Thanks for the info.

[Lost]

So I'll probably see you there amongst the anglers? I'll be sure to get someone's attention if I ever see that happening. For now, I'm working on my secret weapon to catch them big guys.

[Guest]

Another stupid DNR law. Why restrict in any way the number of carp caught? If you can triple the number of nasty carp pulled from a lake or river by throwing out some corn or whatever, it should be legal. Are we trying to limit the carp harvest? That's a great idea. God knows there aren't enough of them!

[Lost]

Uncle Dave, you sure don't like any ideas that make it more difficult to catch fish, do you? If it isn't at least a little difficult, it wouldn't be called fishing, it would be called fish-catching.

[wounded minnow]

Lost,
Give Uncle Dave a break. If chumming is not noted in the MN regulations, then wouldn't a reasonable person assume it's legal? Why would anyone then waste the time to call. Based on my experience the answers given by the phone operators or game wardens usually varies greatly. I'm faithful the CO's would be enforcing possession violations, reckless boating, OMVI, and other behaviors rather than writing tickets for throwing corn at carp.

[This message has been edited by wounded minnow (edited 05-12-2004).]

[Guest]

Lost,

If this was a gamefish, I'd agree. We're talking about an introduced species that has done far more harm to lakes, rivers, streams, ponds, creeks, and a mud puddle if it didn't freeze over. I agree they're fun to catch, and 2% of the population even consume them on a regular basis, but if I had my choice they wouldn't be there to catch in the first place. Even the majority of folks who emigrate here from Asian countries (where they originated from) don't want carp for consumption. I know many Asians and not one I know will eat them.

[This message has been edited by Uncle Dave (edited 05-09-2004).]

[Mongro02]

I think this thread has gotten a little out of hand...

Just my thoughts...

I don't think it matters whether a person chooses to "Chum" or not in Minnesota for carp or whatever species.

Just to do it during a "fishing contest" to get an unfair advantage over everyone else I felt wasn't right and fair.

I mean yes, someone could say well he was smart and came up with the idea and it gave him the advantage...yes that may be true, but I guess to me, if it's a fishing contest then everyone should have equal opportunity. Just like in any other contest or sporting event, there should be rules that create fair play.

Maybe it's not that individuals fault for doing it but I felt the people running the Carp Festival should have had a better understanding and clearly stated rules on what can and cannot be used or done.

Again just my thoughts...so take it for what it's worth.

By the Way...

Uncle Dave,

You are right to a degree...most Asians don't like Carp but they love Buffalo...

I could never tell the difference...but that's what I hear. They have some really good buffalo dishes.

[Guest]

Buffalo are the "almost" game fish. They are actually nice looking fish. For whatever reason they have never caught on as a food source for most. I've never tried them. If caught from clean water I would give them a try though.

[Lost]

If the rule is that there's no chumming allowed for game fish then it should go for all fish.

In my thinking, wouldn't it be difficult to tell whether someone is chumming for carp or buffalo or catfish or some sort of game fish?

But you're right... they should have had more control over it. I'm guessing that since the guy was from Illinois that he probably didn't know about the "no chumming" law. Everybody else was following it. So yes, it would be the volunteers fault for not taking him out of the contest or letting him know about it.

[barnyard]

I was at CarpFest last year and the year before. We also use a spod (that's the device for feeding carp.) I did not buy a spod until we talked to several DNR folks and found out that it is legal to feed carp. The key, is to use small quantities, we were told that if there was so much that it rotted, made a mess or polluted the water, we would have a problem.

Since then, we have been checked by several enforcement folks and have always made sure that they knew we were using the spod and how we were using it and we have not been ticketed or warned.

We had also been under the assumption that when casting the spod, we had to take one of our lines out of the water. DNR Enforcement said that as long as the spod did not have hooks on it, we would not have to reel in any of our lines (in Minnesota, you can only have out one line per person.)

The 1st year we fished Carp Fest, I came in 2nd (won the van), the guy that beat me, weighed his fish 20 minutes before the end. My partner came in 3rd and my daughters placed in the youth division.

Last year, the group that I fished with caught 20-30 fish. Most were in the 8-10 pound range, so we did not bother weighing them. Had there been a total weight division, we would have won it EASILY.

So, did Paul (the guy from Chicago) have an unfair advantage?? I don't think so. He did what anyone else could have done, but spent way too much money on equipment to get the job done. Is that any different than someone that fishes a walleye tourney out of a 21 foot Ranger, with the newest electronics, trolling the newest, hottest baits???

We will be at Carp Fest again and are bringing a few more friends. It's a great family event and a great way to spend a day.

See ya there

Tom B