After almost a year of planning, the first ever junior carp fishing tournament in the U.S.A. was upon us.
The event was formally opened by Karen St. Hilaire of the St. Lawrence County Chamber of Commerce, who has worked tirelessly to make this inaugural event a success. And what a success it turned out to be.
The first day saw over 100 kids turn up for the fishing school, with instruction being given on tying rigs, baits, casting and fish care. Each instructor took groups of 25 kids, and some adults who had also shown an interest in catching carp. Pete and Darren Henwood of Specialist Tackle, Essex put on a full tackle display and assisted Jerry Laramy, Martin James, Terry Fishlock and Joe Babbitt with the fishing classes.
By the end of the first day, the excitement and anticipation from the entrants was at fever pitch, and they could not wait to try out their new found skills.
7 am the following morning the entrants drew their swims and began to make their way to their designated areas, some having to travel up to 5 miles, the whole stretch had been pre-baited with over 3000 lb of corn by Jerry Laramy, and the expectation was high. Team Canada, who knew the river well, were pleased with their draw. Team Carpworld – Ronan Buczynski and Ashley Robertson, and Team Specialist Tackle – Warren Dolan and Elliot Scott, looked at the huge expanse of water and must have thought where on earth do we start. Other entrants from Spain, Italy and America made the event truly international., One family from North Carolina had a 23 hour drive across America to get to the event and have vowed to return next year.
9 am and the rods went in. Within 30 minutes Warren Dolan of Specialist Tackle was on the leader board, followed closely by Specialist Tackle’s Elliot Scott. Fish were being caught and lost along most of the 15 mile stretch, and by 2 o*clock Elliot had dropped to 3rd place and Brandon Elliot of Canada had moved into 2nd place. With only 2 oz. separating 1st and 2nd place and $10,000 dollars at stake, the tension was high. Warren held his nerve and fished his heart out taking further fish to again increase his lead by a comfortable margin. Meanwhile the instructors – David Moore of the CAG, Pete and Darren Henwood, Terry Fishlock, Jerry Laramy and Martin James were busy covering the 15 mile stretch, making sure the kids were ok. By the end of the first day, Warren had built a substantial lead and it was back to the town’s arena for a feast of food and drink provided by Jreck Subs and Pepsi, followed by an autograph session with the tournaments co-host and avid carp angler Tom Felton aka Draco Malfoy of the Harry Potter film. Tom spent a lot of time with the kids and visited every entrants’ swim, offering words of advice and encouragement along the way.
9 am on the second and last day of the tournament saw a huge change in conditions. A strong wind whipped up the vast river into almost sea like conditions, with 5 oz lead being used in some areas to try to hold bottom.
The fishing was hard, and loose feeding virtually impossible, with the strong wind blowing straight into most competitors faces. Then came news on the radio a 25 lb fish had been taken by local lad Conner Loomis and was the biggest fish of the tournament so far. A huge splash made everyone turn around and to their amazement a 16 year old girl competitor, who forgot to put on her baitrunner, saw her rod and reel fly into the river, the girl followed headlong into the river and surfaced with the rod, reel, and an ear to ear smile, but sadly lost the fish. Further along the river fish were being caught, but Warren Dolan was fishless but still hanging on to 1st place. Elliot Scott had dropped to 5th place and Brandon Elliot was still in second place. Fox news and CNN news cameramen were moving up and down the river and captured some excellent footage, which was shown on national TV, and reporters from several major newspapers were on hand to cover the event in great detail. The interest and curiosity generated by this event drew more spectators to the area and with an hour to go, news came on the radio that Ovid Reichelt, fishing 15 miles upriver, had caught a 31 lb 4 oz fish, putting him in line for biggest fish, Ovid then took another fish of 23 lb followed immediately by a 19 lb fish, putting him in 2nd place, with only 2 lb separating Warren Dolan and Ovid Reichelt. The last half hour was very tense, one fish would do it. Brandon Elliot from Canada took another fish to increase his weight in 3rd place, being only 11 lbs behind the leader. With 15 minutes left it was wide open, with any of the top 5 needing only 1 good fish to take the title. The winning weight was to be made up from the 4 biggest fish caught by each angler. You could feel the tension as news was relayed up and down the bank and just as the final whistle went, news reached us that 2 more fish had been caught, but the anglers names were unclear, so the journey back to the arena was nailbiting. Had Warren hung on or had one of the others in the top 5 clinched it.
Once everyone had assembled at the arena, the weights were checked by the marshals and it was confirmed that Warren Dolan, from Specialist Tackle, had held on and won the first ever junior carp tournament on the St. Lawrence river and also the $10,000 dollar prize, with his best 4 fish totalling 75 lb 13 oz. Ovid Reichelt from New York was second with 73 lb 4 oz and Brandon Elliot from Canada came in 3rd with 64 lb 3 oz.
The prizes were presented by Tom Felton at the ‘after event’ party. $10,000 dollars to Warren Dolan, 5,000 dollars to Ovid Reichelt, who also received an additional prize for the biggest fish at 31 lb 4 oz. Brandon Elliot’s 3rd place prize was $200 dollars in vouchers and $100 dollar cheque.
This event, the first of it’s kind in the States, was deemed an overwhelming success by all concerned, with many entrants already asking about next year’s dates. Work will start shortly on details for next year’s event, which is certain to become an annual event with carp fever catching on in the States – big time.
Several UK tackle companies supported this event – Fox, Kryston, Korda, Daiwa, Free Spirit Rods, Mainline Baits, Garnder Tackle, Mitchell, CJT Tackle and Specialist Tackle.
Warren’s winning set up was 12ft 3 lbs Free Spirit rod, Daiwa Emblem reel loaded with 18 lb Daiwa Sensor line, Kryston Snake Bite 25 lb, Korda leadclip and lead, Fox series 1 hook, Mainline essential opal bait.
The Top 5
Warren Dolan – UK
Ovid Reicdhelt – USA
Brandon Elliot – Canada
Stuart Saunders – USA
Elliot Scott – UK
Largest Fish caught by a boy – Ovid Reichelt, 31 lb 4 oz
Largest fish caught by a girl – Angela Patterson, 17 lb 6 oz
