Carp Hunt

[Gatekeeper]

Wow what a day!

HOT, humid and muggy but a great day.

My buddy Ben Saye (ksbowman) invited me out to go bowfishing a couple of weekends ago and he showed me how much fun bowfishing can be. That kind of set the hook (pun intended) for what was to come.

During our outing we shot and landed five carp plus a really big carp that pulled free after being shot. We probably would have shot more but Ben ended up having bow problems. His bow was getting too warm in the direct sun and it developed a twist in one of the limbs. It was a severe enough twist that his bow came unstrung at full draw! That's how we discovered the twisted limb. Yowza!!! The snap it made was a loud enough shock to make anyone a little bow shy. Anyway, Ben was kind enough to pilot the Queen of Denial for the rest of the day for me while I shot at fish. The days total five carp and one snapper. We got the snapper to the boat but the arrow had just pierced the flabby part of his neck and he broke free, but I’m counting him anyway.

Our stringer of fish

 

Ben and the turtle

 

The following week I kept thinking about how much fun we had cruising the back waters hunting carp and that got me to looking at Craigslist. And on Craigslist was what looked to be the perfect bowfishing boat. I told my buddy Chris, several months ago, what I thought would be the perfect boat to bowfish out of and to possibly use for accessing hard to reach areas around some of our local lakes and on some of Missouri’s conservation land and the description I gave him was the boat that was listed on Craigslist.

18’ long, 4’ wide at the bottom, a big shooting deck up front, a lot of open space in the middle of the boat, 25hp motor, 40lb thrust trolling motor, a large storage compartment under the shooting deck and everything is titled. It took me a few days to make the call, but to make a long story short I bought the boat and today was my first day out on the water. None of my buddies could join me so it was a solo trip.

Here I am at the forward helm of the Wet Spot.

 

A couple of pictures of the Little Platte River

 

 

The grass along the edge of the river in the background is the cover the fish were feeding along side.

 

Some swallow's nests. There are hundreds of them on the bottom lip of a near by bridge. Pretty cool!

 

[Coonbait]

That's awesome!
Glenn

[Shinken]

Good stuff!

Thanks for sharin'!

Shoot straight, Shinken

   

[Gatekeeper]

A couple of more river pictures

 

 

Fish blood trails

 

My pile of the day’s trophies and the newly christened Wet Spot

 

Stringer of fish

 

   

[ishoot4thrills]

WOW! Awesome day of bowfishing!

Can you post more pics of your boat? I have a 16' Lowe flat bottom with a 25 hp Mercury tiller steer but without the deck up front. I'm always looking for ways to improve it to make it more "bowfishing friendly".

[Charlie Lamb]

That's very cool buddy. I figured if you ever got a taste of bowfishing the "hook" would be set.      

[Cyclic-Rivers]

Pretty cool! That will be my next type of boat.  I have had v bottoms for years but when I move, I will no longer have "big water" to fish.

PS, what do you have your boat plugged into on the shore?          :p

[Mudd]

Isn't it just jaw dropping amazing how great this traditional archery addictions is and how many different ways it expresses itself in our lives...lol

Thanks for sharing(warning us)...lol

Congratulations all the way around!

God bless,Mudd

[larcherfou]

Thanks for your sharing!

It's a very good bowfishnig day!

Nice hunt.

[Kip]

Hi Tom and Ben nice couple of trips.Tom I killed a snapper last hunting season crossing the levee I was coming out the woods on.He tried to jump the string but too close to the ground to jump,great eating.Nice boat opens new ways to have fun.Your humor on the boat name made me laugh.Kip

[twitchstick]

Very nice!

[Missouri CK]

"Queen of Denial" and the "Wet Spot"...No wonder you and Ben are friends!      

SO...What u doing this weekend?  
Ck

[rastaman]

Looks like you had a great "christening" of the Wet Spot!        

[VictoryHunter]

Great job!

[wapiti792]

Awesome pics and story man! Looks like a ton of fun  

[BMN]

Nice rig Tom. Now it's time for some lights and a generator.    

i cannt see no pics!!....and I wanna seeum.

[Gatekeeper]

Thanks for the comments guys!

 

Originally posted by ishoot4thrills:
WOW! Awesome day of bowfishing!

Can you post more pics of your boat? I have a 16' Lowe flat bottom with a 25 hp Mercury tiller steer but without the deck up front. I'm always looking for ways to improve it to make it more "bowfishing friendly".

Yeah sure

This is my first boat so I am learning as I go. One thing I want to add to my boat launching kit is some wheel chocks for my truck. They could come in real handy when launching and re-trailering the boat by myself. It was kind of concerning seeing my truck on a fairly steep ramp just inches from the river waterline and me not in a position to act quickly should it start to roll. I blocked the wheels with some rocks but having wheels chocks on hand at all times would give my mind some comfort.

Also, I learned how important the little pin at the end of the boat winch line is. While getting ready to re-trailer the boat I pulled the boat winch line all the way out (I didn’t need to do that but I didn’t know it at the time) and the pin at the end of the line, which connects the winch line to the winch, fell out somewhere between where I had my truck parked and the boat ramp. While trying to winch the boat to the trailer I discovered how important that pin is. There is no winching without it! The winch strap just spins on the winch. I hunted and hunted and hunted for that little pin in the gravel but never found it so I started looking for a quick fix, heavy gauge wire, nail or anything that would act like a pin. The quick fix I needed was at the end of my stringer. The straight piece of metal that is used to start the stringer through the fish’s gills did the trick. Boy I’m glad I had that thing. I was in a real pickle for a while!

 

Here are some close up pictures of the boat.

The two seats in the back are fixed, meaning they don’t swivel. The two pedestal seats are on 11” uprights and anchored to a plywood floor. The main floor is 4’ wide and the gunnels have a 5.5’ spacing in the center. The overall depth of the boat is 16”.

 

 

The bow shooting deck (that sailor talk for front deck) is just shy of 7.5’ long and right in front of the front seat on that deck is a storage compartment. This compartment is big enough to hold all kinds of gear, which keeps the interior of the boat uncluttered.  The foot controlled trolling motor is a great option to have also. I used it most the day. I could cruise the river channel listening for the carps sucking noise, look for their movement and then slowly slip up on them. When I got close I would let off the trolling motor walk up to the front of the boat and let the boat glide in to the fish so I could make my shot. It was a blast!

 

 

 

The previous owner did a great job of setting this boat up. On the floor of the main area in the center of the boat is a rubber mat. This is a great addition to this boat because it keeps all the fish blood and slim contained and helps keep the carpet clean. When I got home I pulled the mat out, power washed it and now I’m good to go for the next outing.

 

[ishoot4thrills]

Very nice boat and setup! Thanks for the pics.

I'm gonna add more of a deck to the front of mine hopefully soon.

good deal! nice little river rig,  congratts!
  now I want to go shoot somemore carp.  

 my boat is similar, I removed the center bench seat for more floor space,makes a big difference.
            that river looks real fishy.