Record Carp By Bowfishing Fan

Bowfishing and bowhunting are becoming increasingly popular methods of recreation and even food supply for many outdoorsmen. But not too many of them have had an experience quite like the one a man from Worden, ILlinois had recently.

On the 4th of May, 2008, a 92 pound carp was caught with a bow and arrow by a bowfisherman out of the Mississippi River. It’s reported that it may not be a world record, but would possible beat any previous records for carp taken with a bow and arrow in the Western World.

He had originally set out to do some bowfishing for gar from a bank near a dam on the Illinois side of the mighty Miss and ended up with what has been determined to be a bighead carp, also being called an Asian carp, with an official certified weight of 92 lbs. 8 oz, and a girth of 30 inches and length of just over 5 feet. Before this catch, the Illinois bowfishing record for a bighead carp was just over 35 pounds set in 2006, and there have been only two bigger that have been reported worldwide; a 93 pounder in Texas not too long agao, and one over 100 lbs in Pakistan many years back.

Definition: the ‘girth’ is the measurement around the widest part of the fish.

Apparantly it wasn’t just a matter of reeling the bad boy in, there was a wrestling match to go along with the action. After trying to land the fish for ten minutes, the fisherman had to jump into the water to bring it in and there was reportedly a tough tussle on the bank once the lunker was landed.

“It was real heavy, like lifting a refrigerator,” said [Darin] Opel, who ripped his jeans on the arrow sticking from the back of the carp’s head during the ruckus. “Once he got out of the water, he started fighting hard. He beat me up pretty good. He definitely got a few licks in.” Quote from Bellville News-Democrat.

The carp was taken on 200 lb. test line and had stripped about 40 yards of line out and was fought for about 5 minutes before it even surfaced. As it got a few feet from the bank, the fisherman, who has also bowfished for sharks, stingrays and alligators, is said to have jumped into the “chest-deep water” and muscle the monster ashore.

Since he can’t eat fish do to an allergy, he plans to have the carp mounted to the tune of about $3,000.

You can read the full story at BND.com