Bowfishing??

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

I have the rig, but haven't done it in years, primarily because it's not something to eat.

But I have a buddy who goes out to Ft. Cobb lake every spring when the carp are mating, and shoots dozens upon dozens of them.

My neighbor has a recipe for pressure steaming buffalo and says it's delicious and melts the bones out - presumably this would work for carp, too.

I'm not gonna kill anything I don't eat, *unless* there's clear evidence that it would help out the game fish populations in those water bodies.

JT, it's amazing how fertile Arbuckle lake is - there's big bass, big crappie, good catfishing, almost everything in there. I think real good walleye & saugeye too. Arbuckle & Greenleaf are two amazingly fertile lakes, along with a few others.

 

[bigcountryok]

Dr THW, I'll bring you all the carp you want and you can cook them up. LOL

The issue with rough fish is that they often either compete for resources with more desirable fish or eat away and destroy their habitat.

You can think of it as a form of aquatic predator hunting. It’s done to protect the more desirable game in the area.

Since carp often grow at a fast pace, they are not as vulnerable to predator fish as others and they are not very popular among sport fishing so their population often goes uncontrolled without bowfishing.

Besides there are other things you can do with them besides eat them. 1) Donate to a zoo to feed the bears, 2) Donate to a farmer for fertilizer 3) Donate to a hog farm for feed 4) Use for chum and bait.

 

[dennishoddy]

Donate to a farmer for fertilizer 3) Donate to a hog farm for feed 4) Use for chum and bait.

Gardeners can also use the rough fish or other parts of game fish. The best gardens I've ever had, used fish as fertilizer. After catching crappie or sandbass, we took what was left over from the fillet, and buried them under a tomato plant. Talk about growing
My only problem was the yard dogs digging looking for the fertilizer. I even had tomato cages, but it just slowed them down a little.

 

[jjason]

i use the carp for catfish bait...we jug a bunch and it works great and is tough stuff to get off hook

 

[ChiefT]

Gearing up to go in a couple of weeks

 

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

Yeah, I heard one little fish buried at the base of each tomato plant makes for GREAT fruit output.

I've also heard you can bury the fish with some milk, corn, whatever, and it will draw hogs in.

Catfish bait also maybe? That's what I do with deer liver, ha.


Hmmm, maybe I will go bowfishing again!

Since carp often grow at a fast pace, they are not as vulnerable to predator fish as others and they are not very popular among sport fishing so their population often goes uncontrolled without bowfishing.

I see... but do they actually compete with game fish foor food/resources, thereby hurting their numbers? Any studies on this you can point me to? Thanks.

 

[Jared]

Im ready...Heres a couple from last summer.

 

[dennishoddy]

Is that a big grass carp in the first pic?

 

[bigcountryok]

Nice pics Jared. Spoonies are still on my to do list.

 

[jjason]

Had a decent trip over spring break shot a little over 100 in two nights. Ill try to figure out how to post pics