May 22, 1999 - CT.

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May 22, 1999

Mark Timney came down from New Hampshire again this weekend but this time he bought a Ct. fishing license so he could have some fun too. We got up at 4:30 AM and drove to the spot along the Ct. River where we had fished last week. Unfortunately the rains from the past week had completely flooded out the bridge and the boat ramp. I thought about a spot, also along the Ct. River, where I used to duck hunt as a kid and where I bowfished a few times years ago. We decided to go there. Mark and I launched the boat and had a twenty minute ride to get to the flooded marsh - it turned out to be an excellent decision.

 
The meadows were flooded which allowed me to get my boat to all the best spots of the marsh. This area was loaded with spawning carp, more than I had ever seen before!

Mark and I anchored the boat at the corner of a grassy point. This sit and wait tactic worked out well, we had dozens of shots from here and I hit two. The water at this meadow was much clearer than the cove we hunted last weekend - but the shots were much deeper. This made the shooting much more fun, but we also missed more.

We left that point after an hour and stalked splashing carp on the surface with our trolling motor. Mark had still not landed a fish (this was his first time bowfishing) so I let him take the first shots. Well, he hits one, that turns out to be the biggest carp I had ever seen! Video of mark holding his tremendous fish (184k).

 
Mark's first carp ever weighs in at 34lbs!!! The biggest carp I had ever seen in Ct. and only 4 lbs. shy of the Ct. State record of 38 lbs.

We continued stalking fish but I was no longer letting Mark take the first shots <grin>. I had a deep shot at what looked like a good one and took it. the fish was a good fighter and after landing her it was my biggest fish to date. We continued fishing out of the boat for two more hours. Video of Mark making a good shot on carp (1.2 mb)

 
My biggest Fish to date, 22 lbs. Gave a great fight too. This spot is known for big carp.

While we were in the boat, we kept hearing a racket way off in the grass flats. I wasn't sure I could get the boat there but after maneuvering around a series of channels, we reached it. The carp were everywhere, and I mean everywhere. At any one given time we had at least a dozen splashing carp within 50 square yards. We shot a bunch from the boat but decided it would be more fun to slip on our hip waders and get into the action.

 
Getting into the weeds turned out to be incredible action. the fish were all over us, sometimes bumping into our legs. I shot nearly 20 carp in this grass flat in three hours.

To me, wading for carp is the ultimate in bowfishing. It gets you up close because of the limited visibility of both fish, and you, the action is fast and furious - you also tend to get a little wet. Video of me stalking a carp, shooting it, and pulling it in (excellent) (780k).

Between Mark and I we landed nearly 40 fish in eight hours. By far my best bowfishing day, and a heck of a good first one for Mark. I can't wait to go back!

 

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