Storms, Stumps, and Muddy Water

In the true spirit of bowfishers across the Tri - State area, when Cyle Harner of SI Flinging Fools bowfishng team put the word out that he had a coworker and fellow bowfisher in need the response was immediate.

Bowfishers from across the Tri – State area (Southern Illinois, Northewestern Kentucky, Southeastern Indiana) quickly volunteered to participate in benefit shoot/tournament. “The response was overwhelming,” said Amy Young, Tournament Director. “Not only did the teams agree to help out with prize donations, working at the tournament, and of course participating, Cyle did an outstanding job of contacting various bowfishing industries and local businesses and obtaining support. Honestly, it’s just how we do things here in Southern Il – we look after and help out our neighbors, friends and colleagues. This is the first tournament that Cyle has organized and I cannot say enough about what a great job he has done. ”



Tournament Director Amy Young signing participants for the tournament





Tournament Organizer Cyle Harner

Teams from throughout Illinois, Indiana, and Kentucky filled the parking lot and braved several rounds of pop up thunderstorms with torrential rain at the Golconda Marina Saturday afternoon in preparation for a night on the water. This particular tournament allowed trailering to any public body of water, and several participants chose to shoot on waters that were not quite as muddy, stumpy, or fast moving as the Ohio. A move that paid off for the numbers division winner Team Blown’ Money. Team captain Chase Baker explained “The river was going down and with the storms it was so muddy that it was going to be really tough shooting. I took a chance on a place that I hoped had not experienced the afternoon storms that muddy up the water and luckily it worked.”

Baker of Equality, IL , in the lend a hand spirit of southern Illinois that he was raised with, immediately donated the Numbers Division purse back to the benefit fund. Said Baker, “It’s what we all came here for – to help out. It’s not always about the prize money.”



Chase Baker, Team Captain for Team Blowin’ Money donating the numbers division purse back to the benefit fund.

For the teams that chose the Ohio as the water to shoot, shooting conditions were particularly difficult. With water levels dropping and waves of thunderstorms that had passed through earlier, the waters were extremely muddy and murky. “Chocolate milk out there last night” muttered on participant as he checked his boat for any debris related damage, “Chocolate milk, and the big heads were squirrelly – not a typical night for this stretch of river that’s for sure”

The extreme muddy water made visualizing the fish, even with aid of the bright lighting set ups used in bowfishing, often next to impossible. Additionally, the bighead carp, a targeted species for the Big 20 (the biggest twenty fish in each teams boat) because of it’s size and weight were not following their usual patterns. Not only were they difficult to see they were gravitating and hanging close to the banks in the most debris filled stretches of the river. They were most often found in the stump patches, and rocks in extremely shallow water.



Tournament organizer Cyle Harner offloading fish during weigh in. Photo by Amy Young

“I think we were hung at least once on every stump between here and Rosiclare, “ said Jeremy Pease, tournament director and Team Back-N-Black Captain. “It was a tough decision to make; chase the big heads and flash them, or for safety’s sake forget about the big heads, run our fulltime lights and just take the other species and hope for the best.” Safety won out for team Black-N-Black. “Too much debris in the river and too many stumps in the shallows for it to really be safe flashing last night. Did that decision hurt us on weight – well yes a little bit. But we still finished with a respectable spot. ” Pease was quick to point out though that safety is always a paramount concern and no win is worth damaging a boat or the possibility of injury or death to a team member.



Pease and other participants commiserate over tough river conditions while waiting in line for weigh in

Pease further explained that the big heads, unlike other rough fish species, are very easily spooked by the lights, so the method is to run with navigation lights only, and have shooters use only their bow mounted smaller trigger lights and the occasional flash of the boat mounted much larger and brighter “bighead lights” to look for the telltale white mouths of feeding bighead carp.

The tough river conditions were made painfully clear during weigh in with several teams inspecting broken troller motor shafts, props, and new dings and dents as a result of the extremely muddy water and debris fields.



a brief moment of mourning for a snapped troller shaft

The final results revealed that despite all the difficulties, good weights and good numbers of invasive and injurious fish were cleaned out of the water by the group of bowfishers dedicated to not only helping a friend but also to helping rid the waters of the species game and sport anglers love to hate.

Just prior to weigh in, a large group of bass anglers were assembled preparing for their own tournament at the Golconda marina. One bowfisher offered good luck wishes to the bass anglers adding “We’ve been saving your bass all night fellas – One carp at a time!”





Big Fish winners Team Out Clubbin’



Numbers division winners, Team Blowin’ Money



Big 20 division winners Team Triple J

Winners Board results :

Big Fish - Out Clubbin’ (30.1lb Bighead)

1st Place Numbers - Blowin’ Money (65)

2nd Place Numbers - Bowfish Mafia (31)

1st Place Big 20 - Triple J (447.1lb)

2nd Place Big 20 - Out Clubbin’ (409.1lb)

3rd Place Big 20 - Cache River Reapers (367.3lb)



One trailer load of invasive and injurious fish headed for disposal at a local farm. Photo by Amy Young

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