Two seasons into the Quest, thoughts and future plans ...

CarpQuest was originally created early in 2012 as a video blog series to demonstrate to Colorado’s anglers that fishing for carp can be challenging, fun and very rewarding. I wanted to get the word out about carp and showcase the species to the local masses in a positive light.

I had never intended for the videos to contain in-depth carping educational content, be that on rigs, mechanics, tackle or baits. There are plenty of other good people publishing that style of content. Also, given that I had only just returned to the sport after a 25+ year hiatus, I still had much to learn about modern carp fishing, especially in a different country with very different attitudes on carp as a species.

What you may not realize is that initially, filming myself talking into a camera made me very self-conscious. It was never easy in those early episodes. There were many retakes and a lot of editing required afterwards just to get something I could release to the you, the viewers. However, no matter how hard I tried, I felt as though the energy and passion I have for carp fishing was was not coming across on content when released.

Over the first year of CarpQuest the technology used in production improved. My brother created the highly popular opening title sequence for the video blog series. I think I finally got over my nerves talking into a camera.

The local angler attention for CarpQuest increased and my message was certainly getting out there to the masses. I started to be flooded with requests for information regarding carp fishing, the tactics and tackle I used in their pursuit. Most of all, requests to take others out with me on my bank side adventures. I was humbled for sure at the attention!

A few weeks ago I had some time on my hands and spent a morning watching all the old CarpQuest episodes. As I watched the content I could see where a change in theme and content occurred. The context changed from a pure blog, into entertainment with a carp theme. My energy and passion for the sport finally started to break through.

So, when did this change occur ? It was when I began to take others with me on the CarpQuest.

A shout out to those who have accompanied me on the quest so far, Chris “C-Dog”, Patrick, James, Roland, the guys at Fish Explorer, Casey, Brittany, Brayden, Ron “Alty” Altman and finally Daris, Marty and the cat fishing crew.

Another quick shout out to David Moore (Big Carp Tackle / Big Carp News), Brian Wingard (Carp Fishing Lifestyle) and the community at FishExplorer.COM. Their help, support and advice have helped me reach out to the masses and provided opportunities for others to accompany me to the bank side which otherwise simply would not have happened.

Over the past two seasons CarpQuest has now taken on life all of it’s own. It has morphed into far more than simply one anglers fishing video blog about catching carp. It’s popularity, especially with social media, has been remarkable!

So, what plans do I have for 2015.

I intend to continue producing foremost entertaining content for my viewers and fans, showcasing carp as the World’s Greatest Sportsfish, which I truly believe they are. As my own knowledge, and confidence in the mechanics and tactics of carp fishing grow, I will begin to share this information more with the viewers, tackle reviews, products, rigs – how-to videos, basically.

New faces are certain to join me upon the bank side, as well as new tackle, baits and rigs. Different venues will be researched and targeted, hopefully in a few other states as well as Colorado.

I hope starting in 2015 to expand the reach of CarpQuest across the nation and help others come to see that carp can not only be a challenging species to target, but a whole lot of fun to catch. As a consequence you may start to see local chapter pages of CarpQuest appearing on Facebook as I setup the infrastructure in advance to support this endeavor. I am already in the process of working with another passionate angler to setup a trial program for CarpQuest in his local state.

Of course, it would not CarpQuest without tremendous amounts of coffee being consumed on my never ending Quest for Carp!