The Great Carp Hunt
2026 Great Carp Hunt Team Leader Board
Boat Grand Prize Pot: $3,411.00. Shore Grand Prize Pot: $1,594.50.
Boat Teams
| Team Name | 4/11 Fish | 4/18 Fish | 5/9 Fish | 5/23 Fish | 6/13 Fish | 6/27 Fish | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Larry | 57 | 59 | 288 | 299 | 703 | ||
| Big Orange | 24 | 237 | 261 | ||||
| No Bad Days | 13 | 9 | 59 | 82 | 163 | ||
| Carp Happens | 3 | 88 | 56 | 147 | |||
| Fish Reapers | 66 | 12 | 56 | 134 | |||
| Team Reckoning | 8 | 88 | 34 | 130 | |||
| Flipping Stix | 9 | 16 | 56 | 20 | 101 | ||
| Carp Mouths | 18 | 6 | 61 | 85 | |||
| Lord of the Carp | 43 | 37 | 80 | ||||
| Phat Sally Whackers | 5 | 8 | 39 | 23 | 75 | ||
| Carp Kissers | 13 | 14 | 14 | 20 | 61 | ||
| Lake Goblins | 4 | 39 | 13 | 56 | |||
| Jet Rangers | 1 | 4 | 36 | 10 | 51 | ||
| Holy Carp | 37 | 8 | 45 | ||||
| HT6 | 1 | 4 | 32 | 37 | |||
| UBA | 36 | 36 | |||||
| Carp Mafia | 2 | 25 | 6 | 33 | |||
| JAB | 2 | 26 | 3 | 31 | |||
| Carpe Carp | 25 | 25 | |||||
| Carp Chaos | 22 | 22 | |||||
| Dye Hard | 17 | 17 | |||||
| Carp Hunters | 12 | 3 | 15 | ||||
| Here for the Money | 9 | 9 | |||||
| Barley Boys | 8 | 8 | |||||
| The Anomaly | 7 | 7 | |||||
| KIH | 6 | 6 | |||||
| No Cap | 2 | 4 | 6 | ||||
| Los Masperros | 5 | 5 | |||||
| Sabrina Carptenters | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 | |||
| Sticking Pigz | 2 | 2 | |||||
| Team Hash | 2 | 2 | |||||
| Team Bruenstraworth | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Rod Squad | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Team Extreme | 1 | 1 |
Shore Teams
| Team Name | 4/11 Fish | 4/18 Fish | 5/9 Fish | 5/23 Fish | 6/13 Fish | 6/27 Fish | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Duck Hunters | 24 | 8 | 133 | 14 | 179 | ||
| We Hook ‘Em You Cook ‘Em | 21 | 2 | 50 | 40 | 113 | ||
| Renew | 14 | 24 | 67 | 105 | |||
| Lake Lords | 9 | 10 | 21 | 18 | 58 | ||
| Weams | 32 | 20 | 52 | ||||
| Scale Blazers | 6 | 12 | 31 | 49 | |||
| Carp Kings | 23 | 6 | 9 | 11 | 49 | ||
| Karp Killing Crew | 5 | 3 | 26 | 12 | 46 | ||
| Youth Fishing Adventure | 9 | 7 | 22 | 4 | 42 | ||
| Walmart Fishing Poles | 1 | 4 | 12 | 16 | 33 | ||
| Karp Reapers | 7 | 10 | 10 | 27 | |||
| Bearded Carp | 7 | 2 | 11 | 3 | 23 | ||
| Afualo Carp Catchers | 10 | 7 | 17 | ||||
| Bubbles | 1 | 8 | 8 | 17 | |||
| Team No Name | 6 | 9 | 15 | ||||
| Martin-Parker | 1 | 3 | 10 | 14 | |||
| Carp Slayers | 1 | 10 | 2 | 13 | |||
| Los Masperrones | 13 | 13 | |||||
| The Carptels | 8 | 2 | 3 | 13 | |||
| EFC | 3 | 4 | 3 | 10 | |||
| Team #1 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 9 | ||
| Dead Fish Club | 1 | 1 | 6 | 8 | |||
| Team Workman | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 8 | ||
| Reesure Hunters | 8 | 8 | |||||
| Carpocalypse | 6 | 1 | 7 | ||||
| Rod Fathers | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 | |||
| Carpnado | 5 | 5 | |||||
| Killing for June Suckers | 5 | 5 | |||||
| Black & White | 4 | 4 | |||||
| Team Magic Carp | 3 | 1 | 4 | ||||
| Reel Deal | 4 | 4 | |||||
| Carptain Crunch | 3 | 3 | |||||
| The Rats | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||||
| Team Name | 2 | 2 | |||||
| Fishing Bros. Utah | 2 | 2 | |||||
| H Team | 2 | 2 | |||||
| Fish On | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||||
| Carpe Carp | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Leave it 2 Leavitt | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Paul | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Sucker Savers | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Team Neil | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Larsens + 1 | 1 | 1 |
Welcome to the competition!
The Utah Lake Authority hosts an annual fishing tournament to help get rid of the invasive carp in Utah Lake. Carp are terrible for water quality and the lake environment. By participating in the Great Carp Hunt, you are helping to keep Utah Lake beautiful and healthy. In 2025, Team BPS won the $10,000 grand prize, with various other teams winning monthly tournament prizes. Overall, we removed 4,686 invasive carp from Utah Lake.
How it works
Each team consists of up to five members. Each member needs to register online and pay the one-time $45 fee, which covers all of the tournaments for the season. Children age 11 and under are free. All team members aged 12 and above are required to have a Utah fishing license.
There will be six Saturday tournaments between April and June.
- Check in: 7 a.m. to 7:45 a.m.
- Tournament starts: 8 a.m.
- Tournament ends: 5 p.m.
Bring back all the carp your team has caught for the day and receive your prize money!
New to 2026
The prizes for the 2026 Great Carp Hunt will be a bounty. For every carp brought in, a team will win $3. The Utah Lake Authority will also contribute $1.50 to the grand prize pot that will be won at the end of the season for the team who catches the most fish. The more fish that are caught, the larger the grand prize. There will be two grand prizes, one for shore fishing and one for boat fishing. If a fish is under a designated size (to be determined later after consultation with ULA biologists), the prize money will be increased to $5 to the team and $1.50 to the pot. Prize money will be given in the form of mailed checks. A signed W-9 IRS form is required to receive any prize money.
Dates
These are the dates for the tournament. They may change slightly to accommodate other ULA events but will be finalized by March.
- April 11, 2026 - American Fork Marina, 1730 S. 100 West American Fork, UT 84003
- April 18, 2026 - Utah Lake State Park, 4400 W. Center St. Provo, UT 84601
- May 9, 2026 - Lincoln Beach Marina, 4700 Lincoln Beach Rd. Spanish Fork, UT 84660
- May 23, 2026 - American Fork Marina, 1730 S. 100 West American Fork, UT 84003
- June 13, 2026 - Lincoln Beach Marina, 4700 Lincoln Beach Rd. Spanish Fork, UT 84660
- June 27, 2026 - Utah Lake State Park, 4400 W. Center St. Provo, UT 84601
There are new and updated rules for the 2026 season so please be sure to read the rules and regulations document below.
For any questions, contact Kelly Cannon-O'Day at kelly@utahlake.gov.
Why are carp so bad for Utah Lake?
Carp are huge problem at the Utah lake. Carp are an invasive species that were introduced to Utah Lake by the federal government as a reliable food source. However, they are devastating to the water quality and other wildlife and plantlife. Carp are bottom feeders, meaning they get their food by essentially vacuuming up the sediment. This causes two problems: First, it churns up the above mentioned nutrients (phosphorus and nitrogen) that have settled in the sediment. This in turn feeds the harmful algae blooms and makes Utah Lake have a muddy appearance. Second, the carp rip out native underwater vegetation. This vegetation is beneficial by 1. holding down the sediment so the nutrients don't get mixed in the water (and thereby not feeding HABs), 2. by competing with the HABs for those nutrients (thus starving HABs) and 3. providing a habitat for adolescent fish so they can grow large enough to fend for themselves.
That third point is especially important for the June Sucker, which is endemic to Utah Lake. Without the native vegetation, the young June Sucker had nowhere to live and were easy prey for predators. The June Sucker quickly became endangered. At one point, it was thought there were only 300 June Suckers left. Thanks to efforts from the June Sucker Recovery Implementation Program, the new Provo River Delta Project has provided that habitat for the June Sucker and it has since been downgraded to just threatened.