A quiet day of fishing........

[firediver]

NOT!!!!!

Wow...always wanted to do it and finally did. I hit the Illinois River with Thunderhead100 and his wife and son #2 for a day of bow fishing action. We had never tried it before and after TH100 (Tom) talked to a commercial fishing buddy, we had a pretty good idea where to go.

We were on the road early for what was to be my first time bow fishing ever. I suppose a big carp sitting on the bottom would be an easier target to start out on...but Go Big or Go Home has always been the way I do things.

After a two hour drive, and a brief pit stop to get ice from a store that smelled like they had bodies hidden in the crawl space, we were on the river. This was one of those adventures where we had no clue if it would be a wild goose chase or not...and it didn't take long to find out.

We knew that the right rpm was the key to get these Asian Carp jumping so we experimented as we headed south to an area recommended by Tom's friend.

After about 5 minutes....a 5 pounder jumped behind the boat and Tom's wife found herself eye to eye with it I actually think it was smiling at her. After that there was another....and another. Within minutes is was a full frenzy of flying fish.

We quickly stopped, got the Reflex Musky fishing bow set up and started "fishing". We would find ourselves in big pockets of small fish, small pockets of big fish...and everything in between. It was when we hit a big pocket of big fish that all hell would break loose

For being a boat full of rookies....we actually found ourselves having good success at hitting our targets. The only problem was....these fish were much better hitting us...and man did it hurt. They have a super hard "nose" and when they hit you...you felt it!!! There was one point when we stopped and threw 21 fish out of the boat.

There is nothing like just cruising along and the next thing you know a 10 pound fish is smacking you upside the head

It was a great day and I can't wait to get back soon.......

[toomse]

Reading this brought a smile to my face.

Looks like you had a great time.

[firediver]

Gary was gonna' go but called the night before and said he had to pass. TOOOO BAD!!!

We treated this as a scouting mission for anyone that wants to go in the future. Next time we will take two boats and more bows. I bet Gary goes this time!!! Maybe he will bring his brother!

One thing I won't be taking is my Z5U....too many hazards!!! I got a lot of footage with my smaller GS320. I'll try to put something on Youtube later.

Speaking of cameras.....we ran into two different film crews while there. It is getting to be a very popular sport.

[Cherokeechass]

Glad you had a successful trip Scott!

[firediver]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbB-x3NmHyA

[oneshot]

That has got to be a blast. Looks like you had a great time and, congrats on all the fish.

[reflex1]

have always wanted to try it. count me in next time. i will bring the boat

[Bow Drawn]

Looks like it be a total blast.

[youngbuck83]

That looks like a blast!