The third annual Carp Tournament was a resounding success! On the morning of Saturday, May 30th, 14 teams raced out onto the waters of Prior and Springs lakes to compete for the trophies and bragging rights of bringing in the biggest fish and largest haul of the tournament. The teams all together pulled in 540 pounds of common carp over a nine-hour period. The Fern Bros team won the first place prize of $500 for largest haul for their catch of 121 pounds of carp. The Fern Bros team members included Ben Fern, Pete Fern and Benjamin Fern. Fern Bros also tied with Swamp Bucks for won the first place prize of $400 each for the biggest fish—both fish came in at whopping 39 pounds. Swamp Bucks team members included Kevin Kzaley, Chad Johnson and Jamie Vanthuyne.

Curt Hennes, President of the Board of Managers for the Prior Lake-Spring Lake Watershed District, stated “Our third annual Carp Tournament is another successful effort by the District to address carp infestations in Spring and Prior Lakes. Additionally, the District has recently been awarded a Minnesota Pollution Control Agency grant to locate and remove a significant amount of the carp population in our lakes to improve the water quality.” According to the Department of Natural Resources’ website, “Common carp are one of the most damaging aquatic invasive species due to their wide distribution and severe impacts in shallow lakes and wetlands. Their feeding disrupts shallowly-rooted plants muddying the water and releases phosphorus that increases algae abundance. Native aquatic plants diminish, along with waterfowl and fish who depend upon them.”

The District thanks Knotty Oar Marina, Buckingham Companies and the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community for their donations to help make this event a success.