GREENS AND STREAMS BLOG
First Annual Midwest Golden Bones
Artwork by Jeff Kennedy
In what was a whirlwind, the first annual Midwest Golden Bones Tournament has come and gone.
This past weekend, 40 anglers took the suburbs by storm for the first time to target the Midwest's hidden gem - the carp. From first time carp fishermen, to local carp ninjas, all skill levels were well represented. It was a very well run event, from Justin Carfagnini's Iron Fly Midwest event, to the layout of local fishing spots, addition of new bodies of water for the day - everything was well run and seemed to go off without a glitch.
Bill and Kurt did a great job putting together the format and River's Edge Bar and Grill did a great job hosting the festivities. Big thank you's go out to all the sponsors - they're really the ones that helped make it happen. They had some really big sponsors step up with big prizes, including DuPage Fly, Yeti, Costa Del Mar, Sage, Hatch, Rio, Towee, Sweetwater Brewing Co., Simms, Fly2Frame, Temple Fork Outfitters, Flymen Fishing Co., Skinny Water Culture, Catch Fly Fishing, Crooked Creek Holler, Looper Flies and Urban Anglers, and any others I may have forgotten.
The weekend started with Justin, "Carf" as many of you may know him, getting together with Pig Farm Ink to bring us Iron Fly Midwest and other fun tying games on Friday night. We sat under the lights outside at River's Edge, pulling Sweetwater IPA's from the gunwale of a Towee parked inside the bar, whipping up creations that may or may not ever see the water. The big prize winners were Chris Robins, taking home a Yeti Hopper 30, and Alex Carbonara, taking home his choice of Costa Del Mar sunglasses. Be sure to ask Alex what fly he whipped up for most creative.
Things started early on Saturday, with anglers checking in at DuPage Fly Fishing Co. in Naperville starting at 6am. The weather report looked gloomy and the decision was made to open the fisheries in the city (Chicago). With the focus being on the DuPage, Des Plaines and Fox river systems, this had the potential to open the door to some really big fish.
I hit the water with my good buddy Keith, with probably about 6 days of carp fishing experience between us. I knew of a spot I had scouted the weekend before. It held a good amount of carp, and we had a lot of spit and vinegar to throw at them. We knew it would be tough, but with a box of freshly tied flies, and a slight idea of what might get the job done (by that I mean I watched some YouTube videos), we had high hopes.
As we popped out of the brush, we stumbled upon what looked like the mother load - tailing carp, carp eating on the surface, and a few cruisers. But the next 6 hours would be bouts of confusion, frustration, seconds of hope dashed by a boil and a cloud, and general bewilderment. A couple of brief hookups for each of us, but nothing to hand that counted. A few bass totaling all of about ten inches kept the skunk off. Even without fish, we had a good time and enjoyed catching up. We'd normally be chasing trout, but didn't mind the change. We walked away with an education on what doesn't work and hopes of returning next year and making it count.
Overall there were a total of 43 carp caught, which is a testament to the fishery, as the weather really only gave us a half of solid fishing conditions. Local legend Mike Allen, the winner, landed 11 carp, adding up to 222 points. Dane Schumucker brought home second place and Big Fish honors with a nice 29” carp and a total of 129 points. Joe Hofmann brought home third place. All three and many others had very respectable days. Mike took home an awesome piece of art from Matt Stockton of Fish2Frame, a new Sage Pulse and some other goodies. Dane took home Redington Rise reel, some Rio lines, TFO BVK rod, and a pair of Costa sunglasses for biggest fish. Joe took home a Simms kit, featuring a Sling Pack and other accessories. Austin Adduci took home the Yeti prize pack featuring the Hopper 20, Sidekick and Ramblers, and many others took home some great prizes including another pair of Costas. Each angler took home a sweet swag bag featuring tying products from Flymen, Simms Solarshirts, and hats. So needless to say, everyone came out ahead. The sponsors offered some phenomenal prizes and their participation was key in making this a success. Please be sure to go out and support them.
All in all I would say that this was a great success and hope to be included in the Second Annual Midwest Golden Bones tournament, and hope you have the chance as well.
Here's a bit of what you might have missed:
Midwest Golden Bones Fly Tournament
It's finally happened. A fly fishing tournament has come to Chicago. And it looks like it's going to be a dandy!
I'm proud to announce we've partnered with the first annual Midwest Golden Bones Fly Tournament.
When: September 9 and 10, 2016
Where: DuPage River, DesPlaines River and Fox River systems
Event HQ: Rivers Edge Bar and Grill, Batavia, IL
Official Press Release is below:
The first annual M.G.B. tournament will be held on September 9th and 10th. The event will be based out of Rivers Edge Bar and Grill in Batavia, IL.
Entrance fee is $70.00 per angler. Every angler will receive an event Simms Solarshirt, poster, SWAG bag, drinks, and food. Great prizes will be handed out to tournament winners. Live music both nights. Raffle prizes will also be handed out.
Registration is now open. There will be a limit of 35 slots available for the tournament.
BASIC RULES ARE AS FOLLOWS:
Fishing Area: DuPage, Des Plaines, and Fox River Systems (with Bonus water being added the morning off).
Wading, kayaks, and boats are all welcome to fish. This will be an individual angler scoring system. No combined points between anglers in a boat.
All carp must be taken on fly, photographed/measured, and released. Pictures must be taken of the angler holding the fish and of the fish with the tournament supplied measuring stick/bumpboard. Pics must be texted to tournament staff by 6:00 PM Saturday.
Phone numbers to text pictures to will be provided on angler rules sheet given out at the meet and greet Friday night at Rivers Edge Bar and Grill and at check in at Dupage Fly Co. Saturday morning.
Tournament staff will provide anglers with individual measuring tapes the morning of tournament.
Anglers must be back at Rivers Edge Bar and Grille in Batavia, IL by 6:30 PM Saturday for awards.
SCORING SYSTEM:
The point totals will be based on total length from the day, with additional prizes for biggest and smallest carp. There will also be 1/2 points given to smallmouth bass that measure over 12 inches.
Example Scoring:
30" Carp = 30 points
18" Carp = 18 points
12" Smallmouth Bass = 6 points
18" Smallmouth Bass = 9 ponts
Total Points = 63 points
Payment Options:
1.Send check payable to:
Kurt Nelson
midwestwatersflyfishing@gmail.com
call at 630-429-0419 or email for address to send checks to.
2. Registration fee can also be paid at DuPage Fly Fishing Co.
3. Also accepting entry fees through paypal. Send entry fee payment to Knkirby1@gmail.com
Contact Kurt Nelson for details or email Midwestwatersflyfishing@gmail.com for questions.
www.paypal.com/us/webapps/mpp/send-money-online
*A confirmation email will be sent to you upon receiving your entrance fee. It will include details about the event, when and where to be, and other event giveaways.
Cozad's Driftless 1 Fly
As many of you know last year was a tough spring for me, nursing a broken ankle and then having the needed recovery period. I don't like having to sit still and not being able to skate and play hockey, missing the Early Season opener, and especially missing Pete Cozad's First Annual Driftless 1 Fly tournament, drove me slightly insane. Just ask my wife.
So when Pete Cozad threw the details out and began to gather names for a team drawing, I didn't hesitate to get my name in there as a captain. I was confident the rest would fall in to place.
Our four anglers came together quickly. Led by Jonathan Marquardt of BadAxe Designs and Yeti Cooler folk lore, he was joined by Bill Kazenberger of Skinny Water Culture and DuPage Fly Fishing, Jason Puls, the man, the myth, the legend, and myself, the dead weight.
We began to develop our plan - where to fish, what fly to fish, what beer to bring along etc. Everything seemed to be looking great. Things got knocked off track on a trip up to Iowa County as Jason and I worked on solving all the worlds problems. Turns out he finally got the call he was waiting for, and the job he was praying for finally opened up. Unfortunately that meant he was moving to Portland in three weeks and the 1 Fly was out of the question. Turns out he was destined to be a spey guy, I guess. (Jay - can't wait to swing up some steel with ya bud!)
With a spot open, I called my ace in the hole, Keith Webster, the Great White Ninja of Bettinardi lore. I wasn't 100% sure he'd be off the IR, after recent reconstructive surgery to his ankle, but he was riddled with cabin fever and quickly said he'd find a way to make it happen.
Back to a team of four, we tossed around all kinds of ideas in the days leading up. But with a lack of direction from our team captain (I guess that was me), we decided a day of prefishing would do us all some good, and hopefully help us uncover some keys to finding fish.
Our merry band of Anglers - (from left) Bill, Keith, Jonathan, and I'm the tall one on the end.
We got up Friday morning, meeting up with Pete to do a bit of work with the drone, while Keith ran off with Zach and Jan, from Team Longshots to hit the water. We all headed up to the Coulees and throughout the day, everyone found a few willing fish. Well that is everyone but me. Getting skunked on your prefishing day doesn't exactly leave your hopes high. I didn't even get to test the flies I tied just for the tourney. I was quite frustrated and unsure of what to do. But I knew at the very least it was going to be fun and as we called an end to day at the Driftless Cafe, we laughed and drank our beers discussing the excitement that was to come.
As we broke for bed, we made our decision on where to fish, and I tied on a new leader, some fresh tippet, and a fly I whipped up Thursday night - jig hook, black pheasant tail nymph with a big ol' bead.
As we woke and packed up the truck, the parking lot came to life. Stream judges, competitors, fly shop reps, license plates from four different states - it seemed there were quite a few people heading to the Driftless Angler, HQ for the Driftless 1 Fly.
We arrived at the shop to a whirl of activity and familiar faces. It's always great when an event like this can bring people together from so many places to raise money for such a great cause. As everyone milled about, chatting and sipping coffee out of their Yeti tumblers, Pete and his team worked quickly to catalog and interview the teams and gather everyone's flies to be donated to local teaching efforts for youths. At eight am we'd have a shot gun start, with everyone leaving the shop and heading to their streams of choice.
We got lucky and found our chosen spot empty. Our stream judges were Curt Rees and John Porter, two local guys who were kind enough to volunteer, but were unlucky enough to pull our team. (Curt and John were both great guys and excellent fisherman. I got to spend some time with them after we broke off and hope to get to spend some more time on the water with them again. It's guys like them that make events like this a real success.) I'm sure they had no idea they were in for the craziness we had in store.
We chose to break up, and fish in two man teams, with one group working upstream, and the other walking down and working back upstream. Jonathan and I would go downstream and walk back up, while Keith and Bill started at the car and worked up. When we scouted the night before, we saw two anglers working their way up, which led me to thinking it might be a bit challenging, but confident in both our skills to get things done.
Laughing, busting some serious chops and joking all morning, Jonathan and I worked a few holes and were able to produce about thirty fish between us, with Bill and Keith coming up with around ten. We got in to a rhythm that at one point had us catching fish every three or four casts. As we laughed and kidded each other, it became apparent we were secretly trying to outfish each other, recasting after releasing a fish before the other could get a line wet. As Jonathan played up his celebrity status, I could only relent and allow him to keep fishing. His three consecutive fish over 14" made it pretty easy.
We met back at the car and chowed down on some sandwiches and regrouped. With lots of good water still to fish from the morning, it was agreed Keith and Jonathan would head upstream to a beaver dam and try to entice some players with his "meat", and Bill and I would head back down and see if we can find some more players and then finish working our way upstream.
As Bill and I found a few more fish willing to eat, Keith and Jonathan did the same and then made their way down towards us. As we each broke off, Jonathan found himself the last man standing, fishing what barely resembled a Slumpbuster, with pretty much only the rabbit strip tail remaining behind the bead. We all watched intently as Jonathan continued to work different holes, as if we were all huddled around the 18th green of a major, watching someone putt out, not knowing how the scoring would work out.
At the end of the day, for a team that just wanted to have fun, I couldn't be more proud. We finished with 50 fish total as a team, finishing third as a team, and with Jonathan finishing sixth overall and myself in seventh overall individually.
Pete ran an awesome tournament that brought in some great people, raised a lot of money for the local youth fishing efforts, and I had an absolute blast. My hat goes of to Team AZN - Jerry Khang, Ger Moua, Jacob Khang and Mitchell Khang. Their team managed to double the score of the second place team, and from what I heard, Jerry, the individual winner, caught something in the range of 75+ fish on the day. That's truly impressive! To all the new people I got to meet, fish with (Jan, we need to do it again ASAP!), and ran in to at the Driftless Angler, thanks for coming out and helping to make this a tremendous weekend.
Thanks Pete for putting together a great event and I hope we can be a part of it, in some way, next year as well!
