Carp Tourney

The 7th annual carp tournament got kicked off last weekend on Blackfoot Reservoir in Idaho.  Having never done much carp fishing, team "Kung Fu Carpin", comprised of teammate Josh Gallivan and I, had no idea what to expect.  It didn't help that Josh had undergone knee surgery and was still sore, as well as the fact that I just had an abdominal hernia surgically removed and wasn't really supposed to lift anything over 10 lbs.  Regardless, team gimp showed up Thursday at camp to the welcome of Trey Scharp, Ben Smith, and Jeff Currier who comprised team "Could be Worse."  Conditions were cold and rainy - not the best for carpin' or camping but it was all good; we put on some crunchy jams and partied late.

The gimp boat

The following day brought windy and chilly conditions, but after some much needed pancakes we were set.  Being that Josh and I were both in little condition to row across the lake, we were lucky to meet solo angler Phil the night before and add him to the Kung Fu cause.  We got to a carpy looking hole on the opposite side of our camp and posted up to scope for some cruising fish.  After hours of walking and searching the boys had little to show for their efforts and I had been no help after passing out on the bank for about 2 hours.  However well rested we were, the day yielded no fish and with the murky water, blasting wind, and just general tough fishing conditions, finding fish seemed like a snowball's chance in hell.  We got back to camp with no fish, yet that seemed the story for about 16 other teams as well.  Besides the few teams that felt the mojo, the other 16 remained tied for last place. It was still up for grabs.

That night brought more crap conditions and after fashioning a makeshift kitchen, we grubbed out and partied some more.  Hank Williams Jr kept spirits high.



Next day, it was on.  The weather was better and with a new strategy Josh and I set off to a flat we could wade with Phil coming to meet us shortly.  We walked and blind casted for hours to no avail; we could find no fish.......or Phil.  Our teammate had straight up bailed and we figured  Phil was back up in MT floating the Madison, laughing at our dumbasses for keeping at these crap carp.  


We drove down further and put the boat on near the north bank of the lake.  After seeing some carp jumping and doing some more blind casting we still hadn't hooked up.  The next 2 hours were spend aimlessly drifting around the lake with no clue where the fish were and it seemed the other boats had no idea either.  We had almost given up and chalked it up as nothing more than a good booze cruise until we noticed the far bank and some anglers wading.  Upon closer inspection, the bank had a warm spring flowing into it and those anglers turned out to be Currier's team!


We hopped out and on my 4th cast hooked up with a pig carp right near the warm springs!  Josh took a crack at it and unfortunately, after foul hooking four, couldn't stick one in the mouth; not a score-able fish.  Time ran out and we commissioned Trey to row us all the way back and in return, we carried their team's hefty catch back in the boat.  


After the official weigh in for my fish at 15lbs, team Kung Fu stood, well, somewhere right in the middle.  And Phil didn't bail after all!  He came back with an 18lber and we were stoked.  This was a great weekend and the fishing turned out to not be a total bust. 


Carping is different but so much fun once you can figure them out.  The mirror carp in Blackfoot can be absolutely huge and while some think they're a trash fish, I'll take a 20lb ugly carp any day.  Carp might be the Rodney Dangerfield of fish, but these guys run, fight hard and are the closest thing a landlocked trout guy's got to a bone fish.


The 7th annual Fin Chaser's Carp Tourney was fun as hell, and we'll be back next year fo sho.  I love carpin'.