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Carping Around the Democratic National Convention
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photo: Tim Romano
Carping Around the Democratic National Convention: Story and photos by Tim Romano

It's not Cheesman Canyon, but downtown Denver has some outstanding fishing right through town on the South Platte River. There are smallmouth, rainbows, brown trout, and even the occasional walleye. Personally, we're out for the bruiser carp.

My friends and I had been eyeing the water flows all summer and they finally stabilized about two weeks ago. One little problem: the Democratic National Convention. It didn't take long to find out that law enforcement isn't too fond of people with backpacks full of "suspicious" fishing gear, rod tubes and cameras poking around sensitive areas. Who would've thought?

But there are truly big carp, a stones throw from the Pepsi Center. You get a lot of weird looks when you tell people you're fly fishing for them downtown. Mostly they ask one question: Why?
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Comment on This Article

At 9:25 PM, 2008-09-22, jrod said:
adadadadad adaaada Mark comment offensive

At 3:24 PM, 2008-09-09, Fred said:
You all should be aware of the Denver Chapter of Colorado Trout Unlimited's second annual Pro-Am Carp Slam to be held on September 26 and 27th this month. There's still room to enter and win big. Check out www.DenverTU.org Mark comment offensive

At 1:32 AM, 2008-09-09, dave preston said:
tont,john, you both reconize these waters, downtown. just placed a message,just thought ide remind ya theres some big fish just 1-2 miles from are work, lets go cach some of these guys. your friend dave preston Mark comment offensive

At 1:20 AM, 2008-09-09, david preston said:
fished just south of there 8-9 years ago 1-25 and sante fe drive.just past some falls.water slowed down a bit used a egg weight so it would roll into the slow pools, crawler hooked laying straight on the hook, me and my wife had a field day, caught 5-8 about 5-9 pounds it was alot of fun, great place to take kids or beginner fisherman or women. thank you david preston. Mark comment offensive

At 2:54 PM, 2008-09-08, Cody said:
texasflycaster. That is the best commment on the list. Thanks for bringing the humor in and ignoring all of the politically charged stuff. Mark comment offensive

At 3:05 PM, 2008-09-06, HogHunter4life said:
Man them carp are as big as hogzilla. But i bet they don't taste as yum! WOO! Mark comment offensive

At 2:52 PM, 2008-09-05, Ricky said:
That "Me" dude is WAY too serious. Give me a break. He couldn't even figure out that the guy in the hanky was probably the anarchist he should actually be afraid of. The moment we are sooo afraid that we require everyone hanging out in a public area to be unpropitiously searched and checked is the moment we've become a Police State. Oops....We may already be there. Anyway, great work on an entertaining article. Mark comment offensive

At 8:33 PM, 2008-09-04, fat mack said:
glad to see that f&s is writeing about the greatest sport fish ever us carpers are glad keep the articles coming for us carp anglers to have something to read about Mark comment offensive

At 8:26 PM, 2008-09-04, mack neal said:
well every were i go carp fishing i get someone following me around wanting to know y i am fishing for carp i tell them go to "carpanglersgroup.com" and read y i fish for carp Mark comment offensive

At 2:42 PM, 2008-09-04, NClement said:
Tim...sweet article and great pictures, I live right down there and fish it once in a while...but need to fish it more! Thanks for the story Mark comment offensive

At 2:31 PM, 2008-09-04, charlie said:
Typical of the wonderful, off-the-rocks stuff we've come to expect from TR. Who'd have ever thought of carp as a political animal? Mark comment offensive

At 6:16 AM, 2008-09-04, Mariner said:
This is one of the best pieces on fishing even in F&S. Mark comment offensive

At 8:30 AM, 2008-09-02, tim romano said:
R, That's funny, I never even thought about it that way. No one ever checked my fishing license. Hilarious... Mark comment offensive

At 7:41 PM, 2008-09-01, Big B said:
It is a great place to fish if you live in Denver and don't want to take the drive up to the mountains. Mark comment offensive

At 2:53 PM, 2008-09-01, R said:
They wanted to search your property and look at your driver's license/do a background check. Did anyone ever stop and look at your fishing license? Mark comment offensive

At 2:24 AM, 2008-09-01, tim romano said:
Denver eye, Nope. Born in Boulder. Yeah, I'm a bit sick of trout and pretty excited about Carp on the platte. Cat of the bag, though? Give me a break man... If you think this is a secret you're a bit slow. There's miles and miles and miles of carp for you to hit up. If you think me talking about bloated rats, sewage and trash has people flocking to the big nasty you're out of your mind. PS - when did you get here? Let me guess, about eight years ago? A wee bit self righeous eh? Mark comment offensive

At 10:15 PM, 2008-08-31, MF said:
Timbo - great work dude. Might even say its some of your best work. Nice pics - great commentary - hillarious. Mark comment offensive

At 9:45 PM, 2008-08-31, Denver Eye said:
After all of the rumors and cached equipment we found your lucky they only took your picture. But now the convention is over and we can all go back to our normal lives. P.S. why did you let the cat out of the bag on our carp, they are a real hoot and very accessible by bike, are you just finding this out? I gather your another transplant from back east. Mark comment offensive

At 11:43 AM, 2008-08-31, tim romano said:
you don't have to twist my arm... Mark comment offensive

At 11:04 PM, 2008-08-30, texasflycaster said:
So, who's fishing the Republican National Convention? I demand equal fish time! texasflycaster Mark comment offensive

At 4:37 PM, 2008-08-29, anonymous said:
Me, I think the dude wearing the hankerchief was a protester, not a cop. Mark comment offensive

At 3:05 PM, 2008-08-29, TMauck said:
The Denver Chapter of Trout Unlimited will be hosting the 2nd Annual Pro-Am Carp Slam on the South Platte on September 27th. Goto www.denvertu.org for more info! Our Chapter is working to continue to enhance this stretch of river as a fishery. We've caught bass, walleye and there is even a famous photo of one of our anglers with a trout in front of Mile High! Mark comment offensive

At 2:36 PM, 2008-08-29, PEE said:
Hey me, screw you! You suck more than these carp! Mark comment offensive

At 2:06 PM, 2008-08-29, Bad Chad said:
Nice Read, Tim! I felt like I was with you every step of the way. I'm ready to get a nice Carp on the Fly- May have to Road Trip it to Colorado! Chad Mark comment offensive

At 2:03 PM, 2008-08-29, Me said:
No, no... I didn't have a problem with taking pictures. I was just explaining that (probably) was why the guy wore a handkerchief. You have to remember, I live in a place with only 70k people. Our department is a fine, fair and friendly place. My friend in the Denver area does say that there are more problems there than what we have, but I suppose there are bad apples among teachers, priests, journalists, you name it. It is what it is. And sorry for sounding crabby. Mark comment offensive

At 1:43 PM, 2008-08-29, tim romano said:
hey "me" Thanks for the rant. I will have to say all the professional police and SWAT members we met could not have been nicer. The "rent-a-cops" not so much. I have a feeling they needed help tying their shoe laces in the morning. As far as taking pictures of police -- to bad. Public property means just that. It's public and I was doing nothing wrong. This is a free country and as a journalist doing my job I'm allowed to do such things. The minute that stops being legal we have serious problems. Mark comment offensive

At 1:29 PM, 2008-08-29, Malcolm said:
Carpe Diem! Mark comment offensive

At 1:19 PM, 2008-08-29, Me said:
Your comment " he trailed us for a couple of hours,...on public property". GROW UP GUYS... that's what they SHOULD be doing before such a convention. Especially when there are bunch of idiots who would want to harm a candidate simply because of the color of his skin. Sheeesh. Boys playing games. Then the "rod tubes certainly are sketchy". Are you really so foolish to think that someone who wanted to do harm would come in looking like what we perceive a "terrorist" to look like? Geeeze, I hope you're never tasked with infiltrating anything. Duh... the idea is to LOOK harmless. Like a couple of "fly fishing dudes". Gee... that sounds like a much better disguise than say "turbaned tourist with a bomb vest", don't you think? This was a game for you guys and you got your chuckles. But I know one of the officers who spent a lot of hours away from his family to provide security for this event. And yes, several weeks in advance. Did you think they just woke up that morning and started? And as far as the "black hanky" ... with idiots who think they're supposed to take a picture of every officer and post it all over the place, wouldn't you want to have some privacy for YOUR family? The guy I know has a wife and little girl and there's enough idiots out there who want to do harm. Crud. I'm way past 10 lines. :( Mark comment offensive

At 1:05 PM, 2008-08-29, rrhyne56 said:
those guys with the bandanas over their faces are a riot. It apparently makes them look secretive and "cool". Kinda anonymous. Mark comment offensive

At 12:14 PM, 2008-08-29, sam iacobone said:
this is just another example of our tax dollars being wasted...come on people, these guys are on PUBLIC PROPERTY!!!! and they are not doing anything wrong. wish they put that much time in prior to 911, maybe the towers would still be there!! thanks GW!! Mark comment offensive


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What happens when we try to fly fish for carp right near Denver's Pepsi Center during the DNC? Let's just say there's more to worry about (like SWAT Teams and security breaches) than landing the fish. Story and Photos by Tim Romano

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