Donald Miley presents his Common Carp for the organizers of a carp tournament at Richwood Lake for measurement and weight on Saturday. Miley’s carp was five pounds, four ounces. Four carp were caught during the four-hour tournament. The largest carp of the tournament was seven pounds, three ounces.
(Journal-Tribune photo by Sam Dillon)
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The morning air was unseasonably cool on Saturday morning. The temperatures were barely able to stay into the 50’s as the sun started to rise over the horizon. That, however, didn’t stop anglers from heading out to the waters of Richwood Lake to try their hand at catching what could be a cash-prize fish.
A total of 40 fishing enthusiasts showed up on the banks of Richwood Lake to pen their name and enter a contest to see who could catch the biggest and most carp from the former rock quarry.
“This is a pretty good turnout,” said George Showalter, one of the organizers of the tournament.
The tournament was to help with the overpopulation of Common Carp that patrol the waters of the lake.
According to Showalter, a fish study group conducted a survey of the lake and said there are too many carp in the lake. In an effort to help reduce the population and help the lake thrive, the Village of Richwood decided to host the carp tournament where all the fish caught would not be returned to the lake.
“I looked at the almanac once we decided to have the tournament today (Saturday) and it said it was going to be the worst fishing day of the month,” said Showalter.
Unfortunately for the anglers, the almanac – a book that is published every year with dates about predicted weather for the year and agriculture planting information – was right. Out of the potential 80 different lines in the water (anglers were permitted to use two rods during the tournament) only four carp were brought in on the day.
The first two carp came in to the weighing station within the first hour of the tournament, but the fishing remained slow through out the four-hour long tournament. Once the final bell rang, only four fish were brought to the weighing station by four different anglers. The largest of the four was a seven-pound, three- ounce golden bronze bruiser that took the title for the top fish caught by Michael Zent.
“We were using corn,” said Zent. “We lost one and my partner lost a reel.”
The turnout for the tournament was such a surprise for the organizers that they decided to host another carp tournament on Sept. 9, starting at 8:30 a.m.
“We didn’t get as many carp as we would have liked, but we got a lot of fishermen, so we are going to do it again,” said Showalter.