INTERVIEWS

Sean Manning of ACS Interviews Stewart McKenzie

1. What did you do to prepare for the event prior to the commencement?
   
   Firstly Sean, I’d (we’d) like to congratulate ACS for doing a fine job of being hosts, and for putting the USA firmly on the carp fishing map, and secondly, thanks for the congratulations!! As far as preparation goes, I don’t honestly think that you can fully prepare for fishing the St. Lawrence River, other than to take every bit of gear you own with you, and to make sure you do plenty of research on the web for stories from other anglers’ experiences. The swims along the river can be so different from each other, that you could be fishing somewhere that resembles a lake - with calm water and shallows, or alternatively you could end up with a mega fast flowing section with drop-offs to over 60 feet deep! You really need to make sure that you have the tackle for all situations, and then make the best of it when you finally know the type of swim you are fishing.

2. Had you ever fished the St. Lawrence before the 2005WCC and if so what have been your experiences?
   
   I am fortunate enough to have fished in the pegged area before this years’ WCC. It was back in 2001 when I, along with friends and fellow Carp Anglers Group members, Dave Moore (now obviously a friend and business partner of yours!), Brian Nordberg, Jim West and Craig Clayton. We spent a week bivvied up on Ogden Island, and although we didn’t get into the bigger fish, due to an abnormally warm September (fish were out in the really deep water in the shipping lanes), we still ended up with around 400 carp between us, and had a fantastic time. Probably the best lessons I learnt from that trip was to keep your rod tips high in the air and spool up your reels with a good braid (I use 80lb Power Pro), because the zebra mussels can be a nightmare, and as soon as a fish takes you over the marginal shelf, you can be cut off instantly with mono due to the river being full of the tiny razor sharp mussels.

3. When you first arrived at your swim what were your initial thoughts?
   
   After the peg draw, (which was a very intense and stressful evening, I can tell you), we took a drive to our peg, which was #76. We did this because we were hugely disappointed after seeing it on the map, because it looked like we were in a small bay with really shallow water around the entrance to it (2 feet deep on the map!!). On arrival at the area we were to fish, we realized the bay was massive, and if it were in England would have about 50 carpers around it every weekend! We couldn’t tell where our peg actually was in the dark, so would have to wait till the morning for a proper look. When we did get down there in the morning, and found our peg marker, we were reasonably happy because we had the entire bay to our left to ourselves, and also access to some deeper water out in front of us, and to the right. It also boosted our confidence when a few fish head and shouldered just to let us know that they were there - Game on!!

4. In regards to baiting strategies: it’s a big river so how did you approach that?
   
   Baiting strategies? well, knowing that we could find ourselves with a huge shoal of hungry carp in front of us, we came well prepared!! We pushed John’s minivan to the limits, and it looked more like a low rider than a van designed to carry the kids around in! We had brought with us a huge array of bait, including; 40 odd kilos of boilies, countless buckets of pre-soaked maize, chick peas, peanuts and tiger nuts, 100lb of hemp, 250lb of maize, 350lb of cracked corn, mollasses and other goodies to make enough method mix to sink a ship and to keep us going for the next 5 days!! Our strategy was really to bait up a few promising looking areas in the margins, and in the clear patches between the numerous weed beds. John was going to fish the method with maize as a hookbait, and I was fishing boilies to try and catch the biggun! We didn’t want to put a massive amount of bait out there at first, just in case the fish had buggered off by the time our rods went in, but after catching a few, we religiously made sure that we kept working at it, and kept the swim topped up at all times.

5. What about tackle used?
   
   I’ll let John tell you about his tackle, but mine consisted of a pair of Nick Buss-built Century XTC’s in 3.25 TC and either my Daiwa Emblem reels or my new Shimano Thunnus 6000F’s (depending on the distance I’d need to cast). It turned out that we only really fished within 25 – 75 yards, so I chose to fish with the Thunnus’s (or Thunni as we call ‘em!). As I learnt from my previous St. Lawrence experience, all my reels were spooled with 80lb Power Pro, and I used 4oz Korda gripper leads and size 4 Fox Series 2XS hooks. Hooklength material was Fox 25lb Delude, and I also had around 2.5 feet of Fox leadcore to keep the business end nicely pinned down.

6. Bait?
   
   I think I already answered this question, but I would like to add that the boilies we were using were the new ones from Angling Lines Baits. These are the Angling Lines Specials, which are a blend of fish meals, robin red, ground bird food, amino acids and a highly attractive crab flavour. Used by one of the Angling Lines staff for the last 10 years this bait has a proven track record all over France, and was a great choice for the St. Lawrence! I fished boilies on one of my rods, and fished the method, with popped up maize on the other one.

7. Were you able to get any type of sponsorship for the event?
   
   Trying to get sponsorship for the event was my biggest headache, and ever since I heard about the WCC back in September last year, I have written and e-mailed probably every fishing and outdoor related company in England and the USA. Being an unknown ex-pat carper meant it was very difficult to get anyone to commit to anything, and also for the US companies, the slightest mention of carp, turned people off instantly! How they must be kicking themselves now!!! I did manage to get a few sponsors though, these were; Angling Lines Baits - who gave us a bunch of boilies, pop ups and dips; Hemp Oil Canada – who donated 100lb of hemp and some hemp oil; Petzl – gave us a pair of the new Tactikka headlamps; Power Pro – provided the braid; and the two people who gave us the much needed cash towards the $2500 entry fee were my good friend PJ who runs a Chiropractic office in the town I live in, ‘Blue Ridge Chiropractic’, and a printer that the company I work for, BRTRC, uses - ‘Colorcraft of Virginia’. Without all of these generous folks, we would have likely not been able to participate, so a HUGE THANK YOU to them!

8. What was your view on the WCC?
   
   My take on the WCC is this. Yes, there were a few minor problems, but for a massive undertaking such as this, not everything was going to be perfect, and I feel that yourself, together with Dave and Wayne, and also Kathy, did a fantastic job in putting the biggest Carp fishing tournament the world has ever seen together, and making a damn good job of it. The WCC will be back (I hope) and will be better the next time, and hopefully I’ll get the chance to bring the trophy back to the USA!! ;-)

9. What are your thoughts about the future of Carp Angling and the carp as a sport fish here in the USA?
   
   After being a past Director of the Carp Anglers Group, and also putting together their quarterly newsletter, the North American Carp Angler (NACA), I have seen things happen, and can honestly say that in the last 4 years or so, the sport has grown immensely in the US, and it’s popularity will continue to grow, when people like yourselves (ACS) and the other American carp tackle and bait providers continue to provide tackle and bait to the American carp angler. There has been a huge amount of publicity around this tournament and it’s only a matter of time before people start to realize that America offers some of the best (if not THE best) carp fishing in the world, and that the humble carp is without a doubt the WORLD’S GREATEST SPORTFISH!!
   
   Cheers mates, and keep up the good work!
   Stewart McKenzie.

Sean Manning of ACS Interviews John Tilbrook

Well guys, first off a big congratulations on your placing second at the 2005 WCC, excellent angling! 

Thanks Sean.

1. What did you do to prepare for the event prior to the commencement?
   
   Where do I start? Stewart invited me to be his partner back in January 2005 and I guess the preparation started right back then. Initially it centered around doing internet research into the river, swims, fish, going bait etc and trying to attract sponsorship for our team. I’d never fished from the USA side of the river and wanted to find out as much as I could. As time progressed I started thinking more about what sort of bait and tackle was going to be needed that was different to what I’d been using on other rivers/still waters. I invested in a set of Diawa Pro reels in the main because of the added line capacity and the fact that they have aluminum spools reducing the risk of spool collapse under the increased pressure I was expecting them to receive. I also stocked up on heavier leads, Power Pro line, heavy-duty hooks and stronger hook-links than I would normally use because of the big fish, heavy currents and snags I knew existed in the river. Expecting that I would be fishing with rod tips up and not wanting the rods to be pulled in by taking fish I also made some custom rod butt cups which screwed into my rear buzz bar. Then of course came the question of sacks for holding the fish between marshal weigh-in visits. Stewart and I (prompted by the ACS forum) had determined that we needed 20 sacks and between us at the time we had 2!!! We didn’t want to spent big $$$ on sacks that we probably wouldn’t have a need for after the competition, so I volunteered to make them. I became fairly proficient on the sowing machine in the end and managed to have 20 finished before the start of the competition. We also gave a fair amount of thought to the baiting question once we knew boats were not an option. I made up two baiting devices, one of which was a tin bucket with an eye bolt at the bottom which could be floated/drifted out to the feeding spot and inverted to drop 2.5 liters of bait in one go (needed flow or wind for that one to work) and the second was a huge catapult designed to shoot balls of method mix out into the swim. As the date drew closer I made up plenty of spare rigs with the intention of cutting one off and tying on another if I became in the least bit concerned about hooks being sharp, hook links being frayed etc. Also started soaking/boiling particles a week out from departure date so that we had 15 gallons of maize/chick peas/hemp/maple peas ready to go when we first arrived. We kept a close eye on the ACS forum page to glean as much information from fellow competitors/organizers as we could. We thought about and spoke regularly about speed fishing techniques that were adapted from match fishing ideas we’d seen/read about whilst in the UK. Packing and preparing food for the week had to be addressed in advance (a big thanks to our wives for helping out with that one). And finally for me at least, I wasn’t in the best of physical shape and I was convinced that stamina was going to play a big part. Consequently from February on I worked to get myself in better physical shape so I didn’t burn out half way through the week!

2. Had you ever fished the St. Lawrence before the 2005WCC and if so what have been your experiences?
   
   I have fished the St Lawrence on three previous occasions in 2002, 2003 and 2004 but only from the Canadian side. Time on these trips was very limited due to the fact that I was really there on a family holiday so I only fished a few hours early morning before the family got up and a few hours in the evening back at camp. The first year I was really ill prepared for the style of fishing and only managed a few fish to upper teens for the few hours I had available. The second year I knew what to expect and did much better catching perhaps 70 or so fish up to low 20’s. The problem was the time of year I fished was always during the spawn and consequently I was really only catching the smaller male fish. Third year I really wanted to try for a bigger fish so focused on the deeper areas but still only managed fish to upper teens again. Even so I fell in love with the place and learned a great deal in those sessions that prepared me well for the WCC.

3. When you first arrived at your swim what were your initial thoughts?
   
   When we drew the peg Saturday night and checked out the details on the map and realized we were pegged on the entrance to a shallow bay we knew our chances at the state record were slim. We felt that we had a shot at the championship if the fish were there in sufficient numbers prior to the spawn. I did predict (correctly) that we’d probably have a lower average sized fish to those pegged on the main river but felt we were well equipped for dealing with the sort of swim we’d drawn. We did actually go and take a quick look at the bay in which we were pegged on Saturday night after the draw just to get a scale of the place and because both of us felt we couldn’t sleep without having an idea of where we were going to spending the next week. When we actually arrived Sunday morning we both felt good about the swim. We had a great deal of scope in terms of depth and features plus we saw a fish head and shoulder shortly after we arrived which is always a huge confidence boost! The other thing that we liked was the fact that we felt we could fish very effectively at night since we had little or no flow to contend with so we knew our rigs would remain effective even if they were out for prolonged periods..

4. In regards to baiting strategies: it’s a big river so how did you approach that?
   
   Because we were on the entrance to a bay our baiting strategy didn’t have to contemplate heavy currents and shifting bait. Even so we did have to apply our watercraft to establish where it would be best to intercept passing fish. Prior to the 1 pm commencement of baiting we spent considerable time leading and plumbing to get an idea of bottom contours, make up and water depth. Stewart initially opted to fish to holes in the weed and I fished the edge of the weed line and the bottom of the marginal shelf. Consequently all three of these areas were fairly heavily baited with the afore mentioned particles as well as Angling Lines specials and balls of method mix. We knew from previous experience that it was difficult to overfeed the St Lawrence carp but even so we wanted to build the swim rather than filling it in from the off as we were not sure how many fish were in the bay and whether they were resident or transitory. As the week progressed and the fish started to build in numbers and/or confidence we increased the bait, introducing several spoons of particles & boilies and several balls of method mix after each fish.

5. What about tackle used?
   
   Stewart I’m sure will give you a breakdown of his gear. As for me I took virtually everything I owned since I wasn’t sure what sort of peg we would draw. Upon arriving at the peg I initially set up with two 12’ Greys Prodigy 2.75lb TC rods with Diawa Emblem Pros loaded with 14 lb Berkley XT, three feet of Fox lead core, 2oz Fox method feeder and 10 -12” of 20lb Fox Delude hook-link tied to size 4 Fox series 2 XS hooks. I also used line aligners and Kryston drop ‘em on the hook links to ensure maximum hooking efficiency and optimum concealment of terminal tackle. I know it was probably unnecessary with the St Larry carp but I totally believe in confidence and this was a World Championship after all and I didn’t want to cut corners. As my ‘spare’ rod I set up a 2.25lb TC float rod with Shimano Baitrunner, 12lb soft steel, 3AAA waggler and size 6 hook. I’m a big fan of float fishing and I felt I might be able to fish the near shelf more effectively with a float. In truth I had too many line bites with the float so abandoned it in favour of the lead core set up as it kept the terminal gear pinned down out of the way until I got a positive take. The only changes I made to my gear during the week were onto 50lb Power Pro line after a cut off early Tuesday morning and a move to popped up hook baits. Initially I did this to make sure my hook bait stood out amongst the saucer sized rocks I was fishing into in one marginal swim but it proved so successful that I adopted it on both rods for the last two days of the tournament.

6. Bait?
   
   Loose feed particles as detailed above. Bait on the hair varied between corn, giant maize, chick peas, Angling Lines special boilies and tigers. By far the most successful baits were the A.L. specials and the giant maize. All my fish were taken using method tactics where the main ingredient of the mix was boiled cracked corn but this was mixed with a blend of additives designed to stiffen the mix, give off a strong oily scent as well as put micro particles of varying buoyancy into the swim intended to attract fish down that might be cruising above the bottom.

7. Were you able to get any type of sponsorship for the event?
   
   Stewart did!! Angling Lines, Canada Hemp Oil, Power Pro, Petzl, Colorcraft of Virginia and ???Chiropractic (check Stewart’s response) all generously contributed towards our efforts. A also think a big thank you has to go to our wives Kristen (Stewart’s wife) and my wife Liz for their support and encouragement – particularly since they were both left at home to take care of our kids for a week by themselves! Although I didn’t do too well with the sponsorship I did manage to get my local paper interested enough to do a half page piece prior to the competition, daily updates during the week and a two-column follow up the Sunday after the competition concluded. All good publicity for ACS and carp fishing in the USA. We’re hoping our result gets enough interest that we can attract sponsorship for Stewart and I to go to next years WCC in South Africa.

8. What was your view on the WCC?
   
   Loved it! I’ve never fished a big tournament before, as I generally prefer to pit my wits against the fish and not other anglers but without doubt it was extremely exciting and a fantastic opportunity to meet some talented and dedicated anglers. Also thought the whole event organization was fantastic, from the web site right through to the award ceremony – kudos to you guys at the ACS. Also couldn’t let the opportunity go by to thank the volunteers that gave so generously of their time before, during and after the event.

9. What are your thoughts about the future of Carp Angling and the carp as a sport fish here in the USA?
   
   I think the future looks brighter but there are a lot of long held prejudices that still need to be overcome. As long as carp are extensively bow fished they will always be regarded as second-class, which is a shame because as a sport species there is little to rival them in the USA. I know that the Euro style of carp angling always attracts a lot of attention because it looks so vastly different to what most Americans are used to and those inquisitive enough to question and observe become sufficiently interested to want to know more. I think the CAG and ACS along with the publicity the WCC attracted can only be a good thing for the sport. I truly believe carp fishing is on the increase in the USA and in the coming years we will see greater numbers of Americans broadening their horizons beyond the much smaller species traditionally pursued. I think it’s very encouraging that a number of USA based teams finished in the top 10 at the WCC, it’s just a shame the US outdoor and angling publications don’t appear to have seized on this more to get such a patriotic nation behind the success. If America won a national title in almost any other sport I’m sure it would be front-page news!

Thanks so much for your time, really appreciate it.

Cheers,

Sean Manning

Sean Manning of ACS Interviews Louis Cook

Well guys, first off a big congratulations on your placing third at the 2005 WCC, excellent angling!

Thanks so much for your time, really appreciate it.

I appreciate the opportunity you provided us Sean. We’d have never made it out of the states for something like this, now we may have a chance to do it again in the future. If you want to read more about our trip I wrote a little story here:
http://www.temple.edu/tylerstudentlife/fishes/places/2005/wcc/index.html

If you would like any of the pictures on there just let me know- there are some really good ones.

Thanks again!
Louis A. Cook