In 1879, common carp from the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington, D.C., rode a train to Denver, where they were dumped into the noxious waters of South Platte River just below its confluence with Cherry Creek. Next month, the 11th Annual Carp Slam celebrates the wary nature of those thriving fish with a pro-am fishing contest that benefits the continued rehabilitation of the river.
All funds raised will go toward establishing the Chatfield Environmental Pool, which will help get water into the Denver South Platte during low-flow, high-stress periods. “This is a big deal because our temperature studies show that the DSP through Denver can indeed support trout,” says tourney organizers at Denver Trout Unlimited.
Fishing kicks off on Sept. 23. The after-party will be held on the top floor of the DaVita building. It features live music, catered food, wine and beer, and a silent auction. Tickets are on sale now at Carpslam.org.
Carp Slam has so far has raised more than $80,000 to improve the 26 miles of aquatic habitat in the South Platte.
Tom Bie is the founder, editor, and publisher of The Drake. He started the magazine in 1998 as an annual newsprint publication based in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. He then moved it to Steamboat, Colorado (1999), Boulder, Colorado (2001), and San Clemente, California (2004), as he took jobs as managing editor at Paddler, Senior Editor at Skiing, and Editor-in-Chief at Powder, respectively. Tom and The Drake are now both based in Denver, Colorado, where The Drake is finally all grows up(Swingers, 1996) to a quarterly magazine.