Carp Tournament – Canada Carp Cup
The Canada Carp Cup. The Biggest Carp Fishing Tournament in Canada, or more aptly “was” The Biggest Carp Fishing Tournament in Canada. The event was cancelled in 2020 due to covid restrictions and no news or announcements have been heard since.
What is the Canada Carp Cup?
The Canada Carp Cup was the biggest carp fishing event (in Canada) that would qualify the winning team for the World Carp Classic. Starting in 2017 and sponsored by Shimano, the Canada Carp Cup was hosted on the St. Lawrence River. In 2018 Fishn’ Canada took the lead sponsor role for the next five years.
I decided to write a brief article on the Canada Carp Cup to further educate anyone looking for unofficial basic information on this exciting competition. For the official rules and updates, please visit the Fishn Canada Website.
Canada Carp Cup Event Rules
Visit the Canada Carp Cup Facebook Page for the full list of official rules.
- All Ontario Fishing Regulations must be obeyed.
- All Ontario residents and non-residents must possess a valid fishing licence.
- The winning team will be determined by the combined weight of their top 4 fish caught over the duration of the tournament.
- Only Common or Mirror Carp over 10 lb. will be counted towards the total weight.
- Each team member is allowed only 1 rod to actively fish with as per Ontario Fishing Regulations. A 2nd rod may be used to check depth or bait runs.
- Tournament Marshalls will be available 6:00 AM – 9:00 PM daily.
- Tournament Marshalls will weigh only the top 4 fish per team per day.
- It is the team’s responsibility to keep all fish alive and in healthy condition until weighed.
- Teams are responsible for weighing and keeping their top 4 fish.
- Teams will incur a 10 lb. penalty for any fish injured due to participant negligence.
- Teams will incur a 25 lb. penalty and possibly disqualification from the event for any perished/dead fish.
- If ANY peg location is left in an unfit state (damage to the environment or garbage left behind) a 50 lb. penalty may be possible or even disqualification from the event.
- Each participant must be a Canadian resident and must have lived in Canada for the past 3 months.
Canada Carp Cup Required Gear
Some equipment is considered “required” to ensure carp health and safety are one of the top priorities for the Canada Carp Cup. Each team MUST have the following:
- 1 landing net per team. (Carp friendly.) 2 landing nets are strongly recommended due to the amount of carp that can be caught at some of the locations.
- 1 proper carp landing mat. 2 are strongly recommended once again due to the amount of carp that can be caught within small periods of time.
- At least four proper carp sacks or recovery slings. These are required to keep the fish alive and healthy while waiting for marshals to arrive and weigh the fish.
Location of the Canada Carp Cup
For the past three years, the Canada Carp Cup has been held at the Long Sault Parkway on the shores of the St. Lawrence River.
During the last event, it was expressed that other venues would be taken into consideration to aid in growing the size of the event. As of now, the location of the next event has yet to be determined.
Canada Carp Cup 2017
In 2017, the event was sponsored by Shimano; out of 13 teams, the winning team caught an astonishing 105 carp in 53 hours. (1877 lb. in total weight.) This proves that Canada has an amazing carp fishery that is severely underestimated.
The Angler Files YouTube channel put together a thorough recap of the event. This is where I first discovered that there was an event and actual carp fishing community of this kind in Canada.
The event winners were determined by the total weight of all fish caught. I missed the first year of the Canada Carp Cup and can only imagine how busy the marshalls were weighing all those fish.
Canada Carp Cup 2018
In 2018 the team at Fishn’ Canada took the lead sponsor role for the Canada Carp Cup. Excitingly the event was broadcasted for the first time on a global scale. Once again, the event was hosted on the shores of the St. Lawrence River, but this year’s event winner was determined by the total weight of a team’s top 4 fish.
In 2018, I competed in the event, and although our team caught the biggest overall carp, we still placed 8th out of 16 teams. Canada doesn’t have as many carp anglers as other countries around the world, but there are still some excellent anglers that target the species here. It was a tight race over the entire duration of the event, and the fish kept coming in right down until the last minutes of the tournament.
Canada Carp Cup 2019
I attended the Canada Carp Sup again in 2019. Although we drew a difficult swim in the peg draw we managed to put quite a few fish on the bank. Due to health reasons, I had to leave the event on the final evening and missed the awards ceremony.
Here is a quick recap from Peg #1 at the event from The Angler Files YouTube Channel that shows the outlook from Dave and Clint’s perspective.
Canada Carp Cup 2020
Unfortunately, due to Covid-19 and the Government shutdown of social gatherings across the county, the Canada Carp Cup was officially postponed indefinitely.
This was a disappointing announcement as I and many others look forward to the event every year.
The Future of the Canada Carp Cup
With Covid restrictions lifting across Canada, many hope that the Canada Carp Cup will make a return in the near future. Carp Angling has grown quite considerably since the last event. The Province of Ontario has also amended the Regulations to allow Carp Anglers to use up to three rods to target carp.
I can only imagine the amount of fish that teams would be able to put on the bank with three rods instead of only one each. Exciting times are ahead, and those that have participated in prior events can only hope that it will one day return.
