Head Hunting and the CAG Big Four

Some folks take a negative view on fly fishing tournaments. I guess the idea is that there is something impure about competition that sullies the sport.   As long as people don't take things too seriously I view it in a positive light.  For me competition is a good way to add a fun wrinkle to a fun activity. It enriches the experience, socializes what is frequently a loner activity and provides a different context for learning.

At the beginning of May I entered the Carp Anglers Group Big 4 competition.  The competition adds up the participants four biggest carp by weight in the month of May and is really for euro-style carpers.  My only goals were to not come in last and generate motivation to focus on targeting big fish.  Looking back on May, the competition had an interesting effect on my fishing habits.

I am usually a shot slut.  I take any and every shot I get in the order I see them. If there are multiple shots I don't expend a sliver of thought on which fish is the biggest but rather go for certainty.  This past month I put allot of effort into trying to pick my shots.  I was weak at times but if I saw a small fish tailing I would try to check out the immediate area for bigger fish before taking the shot and even occasionally skip the shot altogether.  If I saw a group of positive fish I would take the time to try and target the largest of the bunch. 

The end result is not what I expected.  I adhere to the John Montana 15 pound criteria and by that measure I did not catch any big carp this May while I caught several last year.  I guess I probably got a few more shots at big fish that just didn't work out, but mostly I found that I became more observant.  Although I caught the exact same number of carp this May as last, I somehow feel that the quality of my shots increased significantly.  I really think I generally got more exciting shots than usual.  I also caught two mirror carp that I may have otherwise missed.

So here we are at the end of May, at least for McTage's fly-carpin adventures.  How did I do in the Big Four?  I think I will take the fifth on principle.  I wouldn't want to sully the sport with any impurities.  You know, stuff like "shit" and "shitty".  Nope, wouldn't want that at all.  At least I have some pride left though.  I am not going to log this awful picture of a very small carp.  Unless I move out of second to last place by 7lb 1ounce of course! 

Is it my imagination or does lack of focus add a couple of pounds?