Syracuse.com - Wild Carp Week Triathlon kicks off Sunday with 70-hour team tournament

[HuntingNY-News]

Tournament organizers are expecting record-breaking catches this year.

The Wild Carp Week Triathlon kicks off at 7 a.m. Sunday along the Seneca River in an area stretching from Lions Park in Baldwinsville down to the Good Dog Park near Onondaga Lake.

This is the seventh year in a row that big-time competitive, catch-and-release carp fishing has come to the river, which has earned the reputation of being one of the top carp fishing venues in the country. This year's competition has gotten smaller in some respects and larger in others.

"There are so many variables in these carp fishing tournments," said tournament director Jason Bernhardt, of JGB Enterprises. "The idea this year is for the fishermen to have a more satisfying carp angling experience."

Last year's winner of the 50-hour team challenge -- cousins Jason Long, of Batavia, and Dan Kelsey,of Attica -- are returning to fish again this year.Ellen Blalock | [email protected] 

This year's event, which includes a team competition, (it begins today and ends at 10 a.m. Wednesday), a Big Fish competition on Thursday and a Big Four (weight of four biggest fish) competition on Friday. The team competition is based on the total weight of fish caugh. Each competition will have individual prizes and a point system will determine the overall winner of all three contests. Bernhardt said more than $25,000 in cash will be awarded this week.

A total of 31, two-person teams will be fishing, down from more than 40 last year. Anglers are coming from across the country, Canada and Europe to compete. The decision to limit entries, Berhardt said, was made to give anglers more space between their respective fishing areas, which are called "pegs."

"This way they'll be less conflicts between neighboring teams," he said, adding the tournament roster was filled "10 days after registration opened at the end of last year."

The past six years, the team competition lasted 50 straight hours. This year's decision to extend it to 75 hours will be more taxing on the anglers, but hopefully will produce more fish.

During the past two years, the combined total catch by anglers has been around 1,300 pounds each year. "That's been the two lowest hauls on record," he said.

The top local team in this year's competition is expected to be Kent Appleby and Bill Markle, of Pulaski.Ellen Blalock | [email protected] 

Bernhardt said that one of the big complaints from anglers has been that "lots of times with carp fishing Day 1 is slow, Day 2 you're just starting to catch up and by Day 3 things start getting hot and the tournament is over."

In addition to increasing the fishing time, Bernhardt also allowed anglers from 4 to 6 p.m. Saturday afternoon to throw bait to attract more carp beforehand at their assigned locations.

"Hopefully, this year we'll get some record-breaking numbers as far as total haul," he said.

Two-person teams are paying $700 to compete in the Team Challenge and individual anglers are paying $175 each to compete in the Big Carp and Big 4 challenges.

Last year's winner of the 50-hour team challenge -- cousins Jason Long, of Batavia, and Dan Kelsey,of Attica -- are returning to fish again this year, he said. The top local team this year, he said, is expected to be Kent Appleby and Bill Markle, of Pulaski.

Winners of the 75-hour team competition will get $3,000, with second place receiving $2,000 and third, $1,500. Winners of the Big Carp tournament will win $1,000 ($500 for the biggest mirror carp) and $2,000 for the Big Four.

"If a team won all three competitions, they'll walk away with $6,500," Bernhardt said.

The past two years, the tournament has featured a $10,000 celebrity carp challenge with local personalities (including this writer) competing against each other and donating their winnings to the charity of their choice. The event was eliminated this year and Bernhardt decided instead to donate the money to Team U.S. Carp Angling, which is participating in the World Championships this September in Portugal.

"The U.S. team will have JGB Enterprises on their jerseys," Bernhardt said. "Our intent is to our name and location out there and into the European market of carp angling."

For more on Wild Carp Week, see www.wildcarpcompanies.com, the "Wild CarpWeek" page on Facebook or email Bernhardt at [email protected].

View the full article on The Syracuse Outdoors Blog