Gone Fishing - Illinois
Pick one...any one.
Thunderhead 100 & Scott
Ewwww.....fish slime!
Hunter: Scott Wolfe
Rewind to the early 1970's when Asian Carp were introduced to the United States to control algae on catfish farms in the South. Flooding allowed them to escape into the Mississippi River in the 1980’s and they have been working their way north ever since.
There are two types of Asian Carp...the Silver Carp and the Bighead. It is the Silver Carp that are getting the most attention when it comes to bowhunters. These can grow to 100 pounds and eat 40% of their body weight in plankton. These fish spend most of their time about one foot under the surface of the water and it is the purrrr of an outboard engine that creates the air show!!!!!
Fast forward now to July 18, 2009...myself, a friend from the Archer’s Choice Forum (Thunderhead 100), along with his wife and youngest son packed up the boat and headed to Hennepin, Illinois to get our first taste of “jumping carp bow fishing”.
It wasn’t long and we were on the Illinois River working our way south to an area that was suggested to us by a local commercial fisherman. I had my video camera in hand as we searched the river for some flyin’ fish action. It took less than a quarter mile before the first fish did a “fly by”...then another...and another. As I pressed record on the camera it turned into a frenzy as fish after fish jumped out of the water behind the boat.
Just when we thought it couldn’t get any better, the number of fish behind the boat doubled...and then doubled again. We were laughing hysterically when BOOM...a 20 pounder flew right in the boat followed by several more of various sizes. IT WAS TIME FOR FISHIN’!!!!!
I was first up and have to admit I was a bit nervous. I had never used bowfishing equipment before and having a string tied to the arrow was a bit spooky. I took a practice shot (some would call it a miss) and then I was good to go. As we experimented with the boat speed to find the perfect RPM’s to get the fish jumping, I couldn’t help but laugh. What would “city folk” think of this???? Hahaha
We soon entered good sized pocket of fish and I was able to score on my third shot. Imagine standing at full draw at the back of a boat while moving down the river...waiting for just the right fish to come along. While this is going on you have fish jumping in the boat, piling up at your feet. At one point we had to stop and throw 21 fish out of the boat that had jumped in over a 2 minute period.
We spent the rest of the day taking turns shooting, laughing, dodging flying fish, and wiping fish slim off of us. If you ever want to try something different with archery gear...give these silver missiles a try. They can be found all along the Illinois River with some of the best action in the Hennepin and Peoria, IL area.