Carp Fishing Across New York
Looking to break the thirty pound barrier
Mar-e and I set out from Rockland ,Massachusetts on a beautiful Saturday morning. Destination, Waddington, New York and the World Junior Carp Tournament. The plan was to fish our way there and hopefully catching a fish over 30 pounds. There are quite a few lakes and rivers that hold fish of this size in New York State and spirits were high. A half hour into the journey I realized the bait did not make the truck and it was back home. Oh well, so we were delayed an hour, it wasn't to be the last problem we encountered. First stop was a small impoundment along the Hudson River near Albany. It wasn't long before we had a hookup and an 18 pound 5 ounce common carp. Weeds were definitely a problem but we managed to pull some carp through to the net. Though they were good fish, none came close to the big lumps we were looking for.
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Mar-e got into the action with a 9 pound 11 ounce fish that tried to bury itself in the thick weeds, but she persevered and brought the fish to the net. We met a few other carp anglers along the way who said fishing was slow and had caught only one fish over 20 pounds. One of the boys hailed from Baldwinsville, and told us where to meet him near Dog Park on the Seneca River.
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Baldwinsville was the next stop and we found our way to the swim but missed him by minutes. A couple of his buddies were there and they also said things were slow. We did manage to pull out one nice fish but still not what we were looking for. Weed and grass beds can be an issue here too.
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This area is very well kept and there are many pegs in the
parks and surrounding Lakes.
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So we changed our plans and with a nice tip from a good friend it was off to Oswego and the mouth of the Oswego River. We had plenty of runs but lost quite a few fish and rigs to the Zebra Mussels. Still we got 3 to the net as passersby stopped to watch the action.
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Zebra mussels are a big problem throughout the great Lakes and the St. Lawrence Seaway.
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Port of Oswego and the Oswego River Carp
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Elmer talked a giant swallowtail into a picture as we stopped for lunch near Stoney Point Lighthouse.
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Alexandria Bay was next on the tour and though we saw big fish in the water we did not hook into any.
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Alexandria Bay is a great spot to spend a summer vacation!
On to Ogdensburg, New York
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Kayaking is one the many things a family can do along the St. Lawrence River.
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Plenty of lighthouses to see along the way. And the one on the right is in Ogdensburg.
The Junior Tournament was a good time, then it came was our time.
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I have a nice 22 and Eric Muse shows off a 28 and 18 on the mat. Eric always gets big fish. Also he and Vinny Jeffreys made it into the local newspaper for being in Ogdensburg, Carp fishing.
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Andrew Labeau nets another one for Eric who had a hot peg. Mar-e shows her new PB common.
Andrew had the best 4 fish at 70 pounds during the tournament. Great Job and a good father/son combination.
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Telfish holds court with the youngins. And David & his son Andrew haul another lump. This one was 18lbs
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Tagging went smoothly from my perspective. Some others had less success according to some I interviewed. The correct way to tag the fish was to expand the pectoral fin and clamp the tag in between the "veins" of the fin.
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Last years Champ, Steve, almost made a run at a repeat but it wasn't meant to be. The net man looks on as the fish let's go. One last fish for me and a respectable 24+ common.
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Meanwhile back at the motel the night before I found what I came looking for. My first 30+ fish. As most of the others were at Cole's Creek fishing, I wet a line waiting for Mar-e to take a shower and go back to the Awards Ceremony. But minutes later off went the alarm and the fight was on. I had to recruit a net man from a wedding group next door and he did a fine job bringing the big lump to the mat. At first when I weighed the fish the scale went to 42 pounds. Then I remembered I hadn't zeroed the scale to the mat. I had to deduct 2 pounds and 4 ounces and a final weight of thirty nine pounds and twelve ounces. I couldn't believe it! I had to pinch myself to make sure I hadn't just passed out in my chair from running my butt off at the tournament. I was floored when word came out off Cole's Creek that Louis, the president of CAG, declared my fish was in the running for the trophy. The New York trip exceeded our wildest dreams and we look forward to a chance to increase that to over forty pounds next year.
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Thanks to all of the folks that made this trip and the Junior Tournament a success. Thanks to Mary for putting up with all the fishing and a special thanks to my new best buddy. Netman!
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Thanks to the World Junior Tournament and Tom Felton. Also the American Carp Society, Carp Anglers Group, and the people of Waddington, Messina, and Ogdensburg, New York.
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Elmer Mudguaard