RI CAGers Take 8th and 9th Place in National Big 4

Todd Richer (right) holds up a 30 lber to match his partner,
Dave Dakin's 30 lber.  Todd finished the Big 4 in 9th place. 

Once again, RI Carpers made their presence known in the national CAG Big 4 Tournament that just concluded.  This year's event was the most competitive I have ever fished in as their were 80 experienced carp fishermen entered from all over the country who competed for three months competing to finish in the top ten (prize categories). The idea was to log in your biggest 4 carp.  The total weight would be your points.
I have competed for many years in this tournament and this was my biggest total I have ever had.  I ended up putting up four thirty pound fish (30/8, 31/4, 32/0 and 33/0).  My 126 lb., 12 oz. total for my four largest fish was good for 8th place.  It won me a thirty dollar gift certificate to Big Carp Tackle.

Here is my second biggest carp at 32 lbs. My total of 126 lbs.,
12 oz. was good for 8th place

Todd Richer, one of our most consistent big carp hunters from the RI CAG, also had some great success.  Todd put up four fish with a total weight of 122 lbs., 11 oz., good for ninth place.  He had fish of 34/14, 32/11, 28/11 and 26/7.  For his ninth place finish, Todd also won a thirty dollar gift certificate to Big Carp Tackle.
Just to give you some idea of the competition here, Kody Clayton of PA was the overall winner with 153 lbs. for four fish.  Kody's biggest was a 51 lber. (YIKES!).

Photo of the Day....Beautiful Common Comes Ashore

The light was just right and the fish was just right as I landed this chunky common yesterday.
For me, fishing has been good lately.

Best Color? Depends Where You're Fishing

This combo bait of maize
and a pink artificial corn
has been deadly at the CT River.

I landed this mirror today on
a single white artificial corn
fished on the hair rig. Overall,
white is your best color.

I'm now using a plastic, pop-up artificial corn whenever I fish.  Sometimes I'm going with just the plastic; sometimes I'm fishing a combination bait of  maize and plastic. Color becomes an important consideration whenever using plastics.
Personally, I feel there are only three colors that I need.  White, overall, is the best.  Pink comes in second and orange is a distant third. Keep in mind, though, it often depends on where you are fishing that determines your best color.  I fished a lot in the last month at the CT River.  By far, the best colored pop-up artificial corn was a pink color. When I matched that pink color with a couple of kernels of maize it really produced some big fish for me.  I don't know why....maybe the muddy color of the water caused the pink to stand out more? Sometimes orange worked also at the CT River. Here in  RI and nearby MA, white pop-ups rule overall.  I've been killing it recent days with a combo bait of a white pop-up matched with a single kernel of maize on the hair rig. At times, I have also done well in the last few weeks with a color called "pale pink".  This is a washed out pink/white color and tends to work well in places where white produces.
Just a reminder that one other advantage to using plastics is that the turtles tend to leave it alone, a big plus in places where you find a lot of these shelled pests.

I really like this artificial pop-up sweet corn from enterprise tackle. My best
colors have been white, pink, pale pink and orange.

Photo of the Day....."Gotta Love Those Mirrors"

A beautiful mirror comes ashore. Gotta love our New England mirrors!

Latest Results for RI CAG Spring Big 3 Tournament

Brandon Dee becomes our new leader with this beautiful
28 lb., 9 oz. mirror. He leads by a mere 5 ounces over Sean Reed.
One more month to go in the Tournament!

Here are the latest standings for our RI CAG Spring Big 3 Tournament. The guys and gals got some serious fish again this month.  One more month to go! Here are the April and May entries and the total so far (weights for April and May added together) for all RI CAG members who entered 2 fish:
1. Brandon Dee- 25/12 +28/9= 54/5
2. Sean Reed- 26/3 + 27/13=54/0
3. Brian Savage- 27/3 + 23= 50/3
4. Tony Carvalho- 20/8+ 19= 39/8
5. Laura Mitchell- 20/15+ 17= 37/15

6. Tom Perron- 15/6+ 19/6=34/12