Colorado, as do many other states here in the USA, have a Master Angler Award program. The goal of these programs is promote fishing in the state, the catch and release of trophy sports species and to recognize anglers for their achievements. In Colorado, their are two MA categories. By length for catch and release and by weight for fish which are kept. Given I am only interested in the C&R category, carp need to be 30″ or greater to qualify.
Once an angler catches a MA trophy sized fish, they take a picture, fill out a form with information, witness verification and send these both off to Colorado Parks & Wildlife for confirmation. The whole process takes about 4 weeks after sending in the entry. Once verified the anglers name appears on the Colorado Master Angler Award program website and the angler receives a sew-on badge (only one badge per year) and certificate for their efforts.
http://cpw.state.co.us/learn/pages/masterangler.aspxI highly recommend you check with your local Department of Wildlife to see what programs are available in your state. The more anglers that submit their C&R carp captures to these programs, the more awareness these local departments will receive that US anglers really do love catch & release carp fishing! It takes but a few minutes to submit an entry – lets ALL get involved – do your bit for the promotion of catch & release carp fishing in the USA.
In this weeks episode Ron and I have a great session at Kingfisher, Chatfield Reservoir and land 6 MA carp between us !
Hope you enjoy !
Records are kept and currently the State Record, by length in Colorado stands at 42″. Best I have caught, since my return to fishing is but 37″. One day, perhaps ? By weight, the Colorado State record is 35 lb’s 5 oz. Best I have caught is 37 lb 5 oz, however given the weight category requires the fish to perish in Colorado, not a record I think I will ever care to have my name in the books for. I do know of a stunning 38″ common was caught just recently in Colorado and released – that fish topped the scales at over 30 lb’s.
Perhaps one day, the requirements for record by weight will change and allow for witness verification with certified scales, rather than having to take & hand over the fish to CPW for verification?
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Tight-Lines,
John
CarpQuest
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24th August, 2015