Syracuse.com - Indianapolis duo leads at midway point of the Wild Carp Classic on the Seneca River

[HuntingNY-News]

One angler said the bite has been slow so far in the 50-hour tournament. "With this heat, it's kind of like fishing during the dog days of summer." David Figura/The Post-StandardJustin Keaton and Christine Stout hold up a couple of nice ones. Mid-way through the tournament, a coed team from Indianapolis has jumped into the lead of the Wild Carp Classic on the Seneca River near Baldwinsville.As of 10:30 a.m. today, Christine Stout and Justin Keaton, were in the lead with 25 fish, the biggest one going 23 pounds, 5 ounces. Their total weight was 411 pounds, 14 ounces.I stopped by their fishing site at 11 a.m. at the southern end of Duke Strache's property and they were still going strong. In fact, while I was there, they landed and were measuring six more fish."We're doing well now, but you never now in this kind of thing," Stout said. "By tomorrow, we could be in last place."David Figura/The Post-StandardChristine Stout caught this bad boy at about 11 a.m. today.I doubt that.Meanwhile, anglers up and down the river this morning were talking about how slow the fishing has been so far. Some blame the heat. Others said it had something to do with the spawn -- either that the fish hadn't spawned yet, or had just finished. "I wish someone would do a study on this," said Eric Ames, of Constantia, who is fishing with Steven Ware, of Fayetteville."These fish move back and forth from the lake (Onondaga) to the dam in Baldwinsville," he said. "I'm not seeing the big groupings of fish .. we're just picking off the resident stranglers. I doubt that they've spawned yet."Nevertheless, Ames has the biggest mirror carp so far in the tournament, weighing 18 pounds, 15 ounces. It was his first fish, caught shortly after noon Sunday. If it holds, he'll get $1,080.The biggest fish overall so far, a common carp, was caught by the team of Chris Jackson and Scott Russell, of Pennsylvania and Texas, respectively. It weighed 34 pounds, 13 ounces. If it holds, they'll win $1,080.A total of 45 two-person teams are the in the competition, stretched out a various locations along the river from Baldwinsville down to the Wegman's Good Dog Park. The team with largest total weight of fish after the competition ends at noon Tuesday will earn $5,400. Each team paid $600 to enter."Things started off slow, but the bite is starting to pick up," said tournamment co-director Jason Bernhardt.Kent Appleby, who's fishing with Bill Markle, said the bite could be better, but was optimistic that things will improve by the end of the competition. They're both from Pulaski."With this heat, it's kind of like fishing in the dog days of summer," Appleby said.For more, go to the Wild Carp Week Web site.On Facebook, to the event's page by searching for Wild Carp Week.David Figura/The Post-StandardAt one point the anglers were lining up the fish to be weighed.

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