Went Bowfishing

[dinosaur]

I got out with a buddy of mine yesterday bowfishing for carp at the head waters of the Kankakee River. Walked a mile and didn't see a thing. Finally stood up on a bridge and waited. This can be like deer hunting from a stand. Sometimes you wait all day and see nothing, but not yesterday. It took about twenty minutes. Then this ten pounder showed up.

He's fileted out and frozen. We're going to hot smoke him today. Yummy stuff.

 

[Cappy]

Yummy??? really?? The dang things are always jumping on the boat. Same fish?? Always heard they aint good eating, course folks say that bout gar fish too and that sure ai9nt right. Been readin ya long enough to trust ya dino if its the same jap carp I'll give ema try if its the carp we call bufalo ist a lil early here and we usually wade and gig those.

 

[Hikenhunter]

Sounds like you had a better yesterday than I had. I'm glad for you, hope he smokes up well for you.

 

[dinosaur]

He goes on the smoker today. And, Cappy, some folks call them buffalo up here too. That crazy jumping Asian Carp, we call a Bigmouth. I smoked one of those once and it was really good eating. Most folks say bad things about them but as long as they come from clean waters, they're okay.

We also take gar up here with a bow. I've shot them at twenty yards before. They make excellent shish-ka-bob. Taste a lot like lobster.

 

[ChadTower]

People are snooty about "edible fish". They want to only eat the best and consider the others "inedible". Almost all fish are edible if you are hungry or are able to stick it with an arrow.

There is a pretty big variant of that carp in some of the larger rivers here. Most people won't touch it but I know some folks do and enjoy them. I haven't done it myself but would not hesitate if I lived close enough for it to be convenient.

 

[dinosaur]

Got a couple of these today from a place called Grape Vine Creek. It's a spring fed feeder to the Kankakee River. I use a 55lb. recurve bow. A lot of fun and it feeds you well. It also keeps your bow skills up so you don't have to practice when deer season comes in.