MOSES LAKE — People who want to learn more about – and support - an unusual fishing tournament on Moses Lake now can do it with a glass of locally brewed summer beer. 

The Carp Classic is scheduled for May 17; rather than casting a line in the water, participants pull out their bows and arrows. It's an unusual way to get some of the nuisance fish out of Moses Lake and thereby improve lake quality. 

The owners of Moore Brewing know the organizers of the tournament and were interested in doing something to get the word out.  

“They created a beer,” said tournament organizer Ty Swartout. “It’s called the Carp Classic.” 

And more than that – Moore Brewing owners will donate $1.25 toward the Carp Classic from every glass of the beer sold prior to the tournament.  

“Every good people,” Swartout said.  

Zach Moore, the brewer at Moore Brewing, characterized it as a light American lager, and a good beer for summer. 

“What I like to do is make up some beer styles,” Moore said, ideas he gets talking to customers about what they like and what they’re interested in trying. The summer lager he was working on seemed to be a good fit with a spring fishing tournament. 

“It’s actually a very good beer,” Swartout said.  

Carp Classic is available on tap at Moore Brewing. 

The Carp Classic is both an unusual fishing tournament and a way to inform people about the damage carp – and koi – can do to the lake, Swartout said. 

In an earlier interview, Swartout said the carp help further the spread of blue-green algae, which can make humans sick and kill pets, and sections of the lake are closed periodically when there’s a blue-green algae bloom. They're bottom feeders, so they stir up phosphorus-laden sediment that also feeds the algae, and phosphorus is a byproduct when they die and decay.  

Carp spawn in shallow waters about the same time as species of bass and other game fish, which can hinder game fish spawning, Swartout said.  

Fish archers leave from the dock at Connelly Park with as many bowmen as the boat can safely hold. They have the whole day to shoot as many carp as they can. There are prizes for the most fish shot, the biggest fish and the most fish harvested by weight.