Carp Slam Rules

South Platte Pro-Am Carp Slam Official Rules 

1.  INTRODUCTION

  • These are the rules for the South Platte Pro-Am Carp Slam hosted by Denver Trout Unlimited.
  • The South Platte Pro-Am Carp Slam randomly pairs professional and amateur anglers in a fly-fishing tournament for Carp and other species on the South Platte River in the Denver area. A “pro” collects fees for guiding fly fishing clients.
  • All proceeds go to benefit restoration efforts taking place on the South Platte River and DTU’s Trout-in-the-Classroom projects.
  • Disputes regarding competition rules will be resolved by the Tournament Chairman and/or his appointed representatives.
  • Special Note – NO FISHING FROM BRIDGE DECKS. See 4.9 below.

2.  DURATION / LOCATION OF EVENTS

2.1 HEADQUARTERS

  • Event officials will communicate headquarters location to participants prior to the event.

2.2 ORIENTATION

  • A meeting will be held prior to the event to draw teams and beats.
  • Event officials will communicate the date and time for the orientation in advance.
  • All competitors are strongly encouraged to attend.  Event officials will draw for any competitors who cannot attend.

2.3 EVENT SCHEDULE

  • A detailed schedule of the event will be communicated to participants in advance of the competition. Check carpslam.org

2.4 FISHING SESSIONS

  • The fishing competition will consist of a morning and afternoon session.  The morning session is 3 hours. The afternoon session will be 4 hours.
  • The beat controllers will be responsible for keeping time for each session.
  • All efforts will be made to start each session on time but teams will not be penalized for slightly late starts and minor delays.  Allowance of extra time is at the discretion of the controllers.
  • MORNING SESSION (NEW FOR 2024):
    The 3 hour morning session (9am – 12pm) will broken up into two 1.5 hour sessions.
    – During the first  1.5 hour session, the amateur will be fishing, led/guided by the pro.
    – As soon as a carp is landed by the amateur, BOTH competitors can fish for the remainder of the morning session.
    – If no fish is caught by the amateur in the first hour and a half, BOTH competitors fish the second 1.5 hour session (10:30am – 12pm).
    – Technically the amateur fishes the ENTIRE morning session.
  • AFTERNOON SESSION (1pm – 5pm) Classic Format:
    – For each session pro and amateur anglers will alternate fishing for 30 minutes segments or until a carp has been caught, similar to drift boat customs. The Pro will fish first. During the last hour both team members may fish at the same time.

3.  FISHING BEATS

3.2 BEAT DEFINITION

  • A Fishing Beat is a section of river assigned to a team as their available fishing waters.
  • Beats will be established with the prime objective of providing all competitors with equal fishing opportunities.
  • Beats will be clearly defined on maps provided. Map is available on the FREE OnWater app or through the CarpSlam.org website.
  • In order to provide equal fishing opportunities beats may also include nearby ponds, lakes, and tributaries in addition to a section of the South Platte.  Due to difficulty in marking these features the officials may verbally communicate the boundaries to participants and controllers as necessary.
  • A competitor may only cast or fish his flies within the boundaries of his beat and he must remain within the boundaries of the beat during the whole competition session.
  • If a hooked fish swims into a buffer zone, or another beat, the competitor may play the fish from inside their own beat, and it must also be landed within their beat.  If the fish is landed outside of the beat, or the competitor leaves the beat while playing the fish, the fish shall not be counted.

3.3 BEAT ASSIGNMENTS

  • Each team will be assigned a different morning and afternoon beat by random selection at orientation.
  • Once beats have been assigned, no alterations or re-assignments of any beat shall be permitted.
  • Teams will select beats by a blind draw at orientation.  Any team not represented at orientation shall have their beat randomly drawn for them by tournament officials.
  • Pros are responsible for knowing their assigned beat boundaries, and notifying their teammates of where to park and where to fish. Controllers enforce these boundaries.
    A team fishing the wrong beat with will be disqualified.

4.  TEAMS / COMPETITORS

4.1 GENERAL REQUIREMENTS

  • Teams will consist of a pro and amateur angler.
  • Amateur anglers will be registered on a first come first serve basis and must pay the set entry fee in order to officially register.
  • Pro anglers will be selected by tournament officials on an invite-only basis and will not pay an entry fee.

4.2 TEAM ASSIGNMENTS

  • Teams & Beats are assigned by random draw the night before the tournament, at the Team & Beat Draw Party.
  • Any competitors not present at the tournament orientation shall have their beat randomly drawn for them by tournament officials.

4.3 FLY RODS

  • The Carp Slam is a fly fishing only tournament.
  • Only one rod can be in use at one time.
  • Rods may be rigged and ready to fish in advance.
  • Competitors may have spare fly rods & reels with them.

4.5 COMPETITION LEADERS

  • A single leader may be used of any length, taper and construction.

4.6 COMPETITION FLIES

  • Artificial Flies only.
  • Each fly must be dressed on a single hook
  • No restriction on fly size, weight or buoyancy.
  • Anglers may use a maximum of three flies at one time.
  • No scent or bait may be applied to flies.

4.7 LANDING NETS

  • The material of the landing net must be non-abrasive material and preferably of knotless construction.

4.8 LANDING / MEASURING FISH

  • The team member responsible for hooking the fish must land it.  The other team member may assist the angler by netting the fish.
  • If landed in a net the team must then transfer it to the official fish cradle for measurement.  The team must allow controller to clearly execute and approve official measurement.
  • If the fish is lost while in full possession of the controller, before it is officially measured, it will be counted as a the South Platte Average of 26″

4.9 PROHIBITED BEHAVIOR

  • FISHING FROM BRIDGE DECKS IS NOT PERMITTED
    to eliminate the risks of clotheslining walkers, bikers, or other users of the paths under the bridges.
  • Boats, Float Tubes, Paddle Boards, or any other watercraft are prohibited from use by competitors.
  • Any use of Drones or real-time aerial photography during competition is prohibited by both tournament rules and Local and State Laws.
  • Any action producing fraudulent or biased results.
  • Poor sportsmanship towards other competitors or competition officials.
  • Competitors may not fish competition waters within 7 days of the competition.  Violation will result in disqualification from the event.
  • Beats will be provided to competitors well in advance of tournament date. Check carpslam.org.

4.10 ENCOURAGED BEHAVIOR

  • Teams may communicate with cell-phones or walkie-talkies.
  • Pro anglers should give the controller guidance on how to best monitor the team without interfering.

4.11 PENALTIES FOR INFRACTIONS OF THE RULES

  • Any official will provide one warning for any infraction.
  • Any fish caught while breaking a rule will not be scored.
  • Repeat infractions of any rule will result in disqualification for the current session.

5.  CONTROLLERS

5.1 GENERAL REQUIREMENTS

  • There will be a Controller for each beat.
  • An official measuring cradle and measurement device will be provided to each Controller. Controllers will also receive a spray bottle of dilute copper sulfate to soak competitors and their own boots when leaving any beat.

5.2 DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

  • Monitor the competition conduct within their beat.
  • Contact Tournament Chairman and/or his appointed representatives to resolve any disputes regarding rules, scoring or logistics.
  • New Zealand Mudsnails are present in some of the Carp Slam Beats. Since  they were discovered here in 2018,  DTU has been using spray bottles of a dilute solution of Copper Sulfate to mitigate spread by boots to other beats. Controllers will encourage all to wash off mud at streamside and then once back in the parking lot, will soak spray all boots to kill any tiny mudsnails in boot tongues, soles or boot body. The spray is not harmful to boots, should not get in your eyes, and not sprayed in the river.  For more info google : DTU mud snails. 

5.3 LANDING FISH

  • Controllers may not land, net, or transfer a fish to the cradle.
  • Competitors are permitted to assist in measurement if requested by controllers.
  • The controller must record the accurate measurement, and record the following details of each eligible fish on the team scorecard and sent by text message to CarpSlam Central. Communications checks will take place prior to the event with all controllers and competitors.
  1. The species.
  2. The length to the nearest ¼ inch.
  3. Angler Name, Beat, & time of capture.

5.4 RULE ENFORCEMENT

  • Enforcement is the responsibility of the Tournament Chairman and/or his appointed representatives, not the controllers.  The controller’s role is to monitor and report possible infractions.
  • If a possible infraction of the rules occurs while hooking and landing a fish the controller will score the fish but record the infraction and report this information to the Tournament Chairman and/or his appointed representatives for possible enforcement.
  • If the possible infraction does not result directly in hooking and landing a fish, controllers will provide one warning to the team.  If the team continues or repeats the behavior controllers will record the infraction(s) and report this information to the Tournament Chairman for possible enforcement.

5.5 PROHIBITED BEHAVIOR

  • Any action which would produce fraudulent or biased results.
  • Divulging detailed information on how other teams caught fish including the fly and technique.

5.6 ENCOURAGED BEHAVIOR

  • Divulging general information about where other teams located fish in a specific beat.
  • Controllers should make every effort to not spook fish or otherwise interfere with the anglers.  The controller should solicit and accept guidance from the pro angler in this area.

6.  FISH 

6.1 ELIGIBLE FISH

  • Carp that are at least 10 inches in length qualify for the CARP COMPETITION.
  • All other fish species qualify for the LARGEST EXOTIC SPECIES COMPETITION with NO minimum length requirement.
  • Fish hooked at the end of a fishing session must be landed within 10 minutes after the session ends to be eligible.
  • Only fish hooked in the lips or inside the mouth are eligible. Intentional snagging of fish is prohibited.
  • Any fish reported by the controller to the Tournament Chairman to have been caught while breaking a rule will be declared ineligible and removed from the scorecard.

6.2 FISH MEASUREMENTS

  • Fish length will be measured from the tip of the nose to tip of the tail in ¼ inch increments.

7.  SCORING

7.1 CARP COMPETITION SCORING:

  • Total length of valid carp caught by each team.
  • Tie Breakers in ranked order:
  1. Longest single Carp as recorded.
  2. Largest number of recorded Carp.
  3. Coin toss (very unlikely).

7.2 LARGEST EXOTIC SPECIES COMPETITION SCORING:

  • Largest exotic species landed and measured nose to tip of tail to nearest ¼ inch.
  • Exotic species include all non-carp fish species.
  • Tie Breakers:
  1. Most inches of exotic species combined.
  2. Number of different exotic species caught.
  3. Coin toss (very unlikely).

7.3 $1000 Carp – Largest Carp over 30″ by a Slamateur:

  • Largest carp landed and measured over 30″ – nose to tip of tail to nearest ¼ inch.
  • Only Slamatuer competitors eliglible.
  • Tie Breakers:
  1. No tiebreakers. If multiple Slamatuers catch exactly the same size carp over 30″, prize will be split evenly among competitors.
  2. Coin toss (only if both competitors agree to a coin toss).

8. Prizes 

8.1 CARP COMPETITION:

  • CARP CUP (1ST PRIZE)

The winning pro and amateur team will individually receive pro and amateur Carp Cup trophies plus other fly fishing related prizes.

  • 2nd Prize: 2nd place team shall receive fly fishing related prizes.
  • 3rd Prize: 3rd place team shall receive fly fishing related prizes.
  • Largest Carp 30 inches or over  caught by an Amateur shall be awarded a cash prize.

8.2 LARGEST EXOTIC SPECIES COMPETITION:

  • Prize to be awarded to competitor who wins Largest Exotic Species Competition.
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