Aiming Low

Middlecreek is a small flowing creek that flows through central Pennsylvania, directly past the small town where I grew up. It had a dam that formed Middlecreek Lake, which was situated among the oak forests where I called home. At some point during my youth, exactly when is unimportant, the state elected to tear down the dam and let the creek flow naturally. This change in the creek left several miles of shoreline that was a virtually unpassable bed of slimy, mucky silt.

It was in this slime pit I first learned the magic and exhilaration of bowfishing. It all started in my high school cafeteria when a classmate brought pictures of a weekend bowfishing trip he and his dad had taken. They had a healthy pile of large carp they had shot in a nearby river. I was immediately captivated and asked how to bowfish. He told me about the spool fixed to the front of his bow and the heavy fiberglass arrow used to impale the bothersome carp and suckers we targeted in those days.

I had the problem of limited funding and no access to the larger river my classmate had fished. As this was the days before internet and I didn’t have a mentor to teach me the fine art of bowfishing, I set out to improvise a method to go to the creek and play. My mind was already bent on the slimy shoreline where we had seen innumerable carp while fishing for sunfish and bass. But how was I to rig my old Bear Whitetail Hunter to massacre carp?

Time passed, as quickly as it does for a teenager. As the summer days began to approach I brooded on how to get into my new found hobby. Working for four dollars an hour as a farm hand I was able to save the money I needed to buy my first bowfishing arrow, but I was still left with no way to keep the string to use it. When I purchased that first arrow I did spend more than a reasonable amount of time looking at the spool needed to keep the bowfishing line on.

I randomly came up with an idea that became my first bowfishing rig. While taking out the trash I noticed our discarded coffee can laying on top of the week’s garbage. I immediately had a strange notion. What if I could somehow wrap my line around that can? It was the perfect size. What if I could cut the sides of the can and fold them in and somehow attach them to the old fashioned steel stabilizer on my bow? Could it be that easy?

Nope, not at all. I used the old coffee can to fashion my first bowfishing reel. I was as proud as a peacock when I finally finished the project, even though I reflect and realize it looked like it was made by an overly smart polar bear. But that was okay because everything it lacked in looks it faired much worse in functionality. On one occasion the line fell behind the spool and snapped an arrow back directly into the ribs on the left side of my body. I was pretty sure I was going to the emergency room that day, but God was looking out for me.

Stubborn as I was, I kept plugging away at it. Literally, all I was doing was plugging. When you see other people bowfish it looks easy and really cool. The truth is it is really cool when you finally get to ta point where you can hit the fish. I made hundreds and hundreds of shots with my coffee can reel and antique bow, yet never managed to sink an arrow in to a fish. Despite my many near-successes I kept at it. Evening after hot, slimy, sweaty evening along those creek banks until my frustration levels nearly drove me to madness.

One day, during the height of a Pennsylvania summer, I had occasion to pack a small lunch and take to the creek with my bow and what by now had proven to be my trusty coffee can spool. By this stage in the game the point on my bowfishing arrow had been well worn from a ton of misses. I walked the shore for a bit and took to a tree to have my lunch. While I ate I saw the carp jumping and splashing about while in the high point of their spawn. Seeing the sheer number of fish in Middlecreek on that day made me glad to be young, healthy, and stubborn. I decided I was going to stab my first fish even if I had to dive in and do it by hand.

I fished my way upstream until I came to a small cove where the creek made a bend. As I approached through some tall grass several feet away from the silted bank I could see a number of large carp congregating in the still water. I made my approach, as I had well learned by this point the fish can see you when you try to stalk them from the shore. I stood up, dew, aimed, and loosed my arrow into the cove. The arrow struck the water with a plunk, and then stuck straight up as I had seen it do so many times. Dammit, another miss!

No sooner had the thought crossed my mind when the arrow began thrashing around violently and heading out of the cove. As it turned out I missed the fish I was aiming at and hit one I didn’t even see under the water. Within seconds all the cove was alive with splashing tails and I was doing all I could to make sure the fish didn’t tear the reel off my bow. I gained control of the line and drug in my first prize as a bowfisherman. It was a lovely carp which I’d guess weighed about ten pounds.

I was so pumped and ready for more. I fished the rest of the day, and went so far as to use my pathetic little flashlight to fish my way back. It was easily one of those days a person will take with them to their grave. A day where even a foolish young man can appreciate life. It was the day that I learned the true value of persistence, though I had no idea at the time.

In the twenty-five-ish years since I have drastically improved my game. My coffee can spool finally found its wat to the scrap heap, my bear whitetail hunter got traded in on a Oneida Eagle Aero Force, and I finally started to drive. Year after bloody year I filled the gardens of family friends with carp to be used as fertilizer. The sport itself never lost its appeal or high energy excitement. It wasn’t until I moved to Georgia that I learned that all people don’t go after carp on a regular basis. The simple fact is many people simply don’t know how easy it can be to get started.

The main piece of gear you need to bowfish is, duh, the bow. When you go bowfishing your bow is going to get muddy, bloody, wet, dropped, stepped on, jammed, jarred, and any other form of abuse you can think of. For this reason you want to find the most budget friendly, functional, piece of equipment you can get. It’s going to get beat up. The only time you’ll want something bigger and better is if you progress to a point where you are after big far or alligator. Otherwise, keep it simple. The bow should have a bowfishing rest, which you can get on EBay for under ten bucks. EBay will also have bows that are more than adequate which can be had for a leisurely price.

The arrows are pretty standard across the board, but the point is what will make or break you. I tried to save money on points one time. The result was a night of no fish as every point had broken seconds after I struck a good sized fish. I wasn’t able to land one single, solitary due to equipment failure. Talk about being sick and furious, which is never a good thing when you’re on the water. So the moral of the story is get some better bowfishing points. Muzzy and Cajun are among the best products, but there are still more that perform very well. It never hurt to have one or two or twelve extra arrows as you are almost certain to damage or lose one on occasion.

Another skinflint trick is to try saving money on bowfishing line. Don’t do this, said the voice of experience. Regular string frays easier and doesn’t allow for twisting nearly as well as regular bowfishing line. Aside from having a high test, the bowfishing line is also better adapted to fly off your spool or out of your reel at the higher speeds modern bows fire that fiberglass arrow at. The neon color of bowfishing line also helps you keep track of where a fish is at when you’re fishing at night. A little pro-tip is to attach your line to your arrow and throw your arrow in the water before you make your first shot. This will bring the line in to the water where it can moisten up and speed away from your reel better.

You can bowfish with a release if that is your preference. Just remember, you are going to have a potentially large fish attached to a high test line flinging around an arrow with a sharp point on it. Caution is recommended and of extreme importance. You want to make sure you are practiced and able to control the fish without the reel getting in your way. I strongly recommend using just fingers for your first few trips before graduating. You’re going to spend a lot of time missing anyway, so there’s no big loss in the beginning.

Aiming at a fish under water is the real challenge. Because of the optical games the water play on our eyes the fish will be lower that it appears. Always aim low when shooting a fish with a bow. How low should you aim? Honestly, you’ll just have to go out and miss a few hundred times until you can really fine-tune how to aim at the fish you’re after. Size of the fish, water clarity, depth of the fish, distance from the shooter, lighting conditions, and current all play in to how the fish appears on the surface of the water and how you should aim. Practice will bring you fish.

All the shows you’ll see will have a large boat with an impressive deck and several high pressure sodium lights charging through the marsh spelling death to all bottom feeding invaders. The reality is you can have a lot of fun along the stream without all the fancy gear. I wore out several sets of waders along untold miles of river and creek banks, stabbing carp whenever I could before I managed to get a boat of my own. The walking is good for your health and the stalking is good practice to make you better in the woods. Both are things nobody should shy away from.

However, if a boat you must have, some pointers I will give. Essentially, hunting fish from a boat doesn’t have to be complicated either. In the years after I met my fishing partner, Scott, we simply used a plug in spot lamp we shined around as we drifted the shoals of the Susquehanna River. The only draw-back to this method is only one person can shoot at a time. But that didn’t stop us from murdering hundreds of invasive carp. The key was teamwork, and from there it all fell together.

After purchasing my own boat I did some more creative engineering and came up with a lighting system that simply involved five-hundred watt halogen lamps ran by a three-thousand watt generator. You would think the generator would scare the fish, but it really doesn’t. The only important parts are to keep the generator dry and position it in your boat so it doesn’t hinder the boat’s performance. With my simple setup I can easily convert my boat from a bass fishing rig to a bowfishing rig, which is important for the obsessive outdoorsman like myself. Some days I just can’t decide what I want to go after.

You’ll also want to make sure you have some form of receptacle to stow your fish in. Remember, carp are big and slimy fish. If you leave them lay on your deck you can create a serious slipping hazard which could easily land you or one of your shipmates in the hospital, or worse. I’m compelled to remind everybody you may find yourself on a small boat with a bunch of sharp objects sticking out in any of a number of directions. Plus a flailing fish can add to the danger of a slippery deck.

What do you do with the fish once you’ve shot them? Well, that can be a challenge some days. You can look around your area. Where I grew up there were several farmers who had large, commercial, grinders they would use to shred tons of newspaper or fish to spread for fertilizer. You can also find local people who like to bury fish in their gardens for fertilizer. ON my property in Georgia I have several holes away from my house where I deposit the fish to make compost for the garden the deer recently gorged themselves on.

You’ll need to check your local laws, but carp, catfish, gar, and suckers are the major bowfishing targets in America. Any of these fish can be eaten depending on the area in which you live, though some of the afore mentioned species may not be something you’d really want to eat. That being said, many a fantastic catfish dinners can be had after a good night of bowfishing. If you’re going to make a stab at larger alligator gar or alligators I definitely recommend a guide.

If you elect to go on a boat, one final piece of gear that is handy to have is some form of gaff hook. As I keep remind you, you can potentially have a large fish thrashing around a sharp pointed arrow. It is important to be able to gain control of that fish as soon as possible for safety sake. Have a small pair of pliers in your pocket so can be as quick as possible top gaff the fish and remove the arrow. This is especially important when doing battle with gar or other larger species.

One final point is to always be sure to identify your target. Musky, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, pike, and some other fish can easily be misidentified and are illegal to shoot across the board. Catfish are only legal to shoot in some states and some locations in some states, so you really need to make sure you know your local laws. Any fish found in your possession with a wound will be charged as a bow kill, even if the officer didn’t see you shoot the fish, so protect you license and always remember to be legal.

So, there you have the nuts and bolts of bowfishing. For those of you who have tried it you can attest to the fun it is. For those of you who haven’t done it before I can guarantee you’ll be hooked on it the first time you sink an arrow in to one of those trashy little fish you always see at your local fishing hole. Bowfishing is a cheap and fun way to introduce yourself and your kids to the many possibilities of bowhunting. Now there’s nothing left to say or do except getting a cheap bowfishing rig and going to get all bloody and slimy while stabbing some fish.

Remember, a bad night on the water is better than most everything else. Enjoy

Bank on It; Bank fishing 101

I thought one day it might be interesting to start a little informational project I called SkinFlint Outdoors. Being broke most of the time, yet still hopelessly addicted to all things outdoors, it seemed like a good idea to discuss some of the ways I had learned to save money so I could afford to go out and play in the woods or on the water. But, like the man who got naked and jumped on a cactus because he thought it was a good idea at the time, I came to realize that even in my impoverished state I had still gone far and beyond some people’s financial means. I feel guilty that I clean missed the mark regarding a show of respect for the hard-working folks who can’t afford a boat or other such gear, yet still want to get outside.

So, I have decided to put together a guide for the beginning fisherman. I wanted to explore some tips for fishing on the cheap, yet still being successful.  After all, you don’t need a fancy watercraft to get out and fill your freezer with some nice catfish filets. More importantly, you don’t need to make a big production to get your children out to the water on a Sunday afternoon. Make your fishing as simple as possible. Trust me, the kids will love you for it some day.

Tip number one is to wear dark cloths. While this is not always necessary, it does help depending on the body of water and species you are targeting. Being a northern boy, I spent many days wondering along mountain streams in central Pennsylvania in search of the illusive native brook trout. In my home area this species usually didn’t get to be more than seven to nine inches in length, and they generally lived in equally small bodies of water. I often fished for these awesome little predators because I enjoyed the colors they boasted, but always set them free unharmed because they were hard to make a meal of.

Hunting for native brook trout often had me fishing in streams seldom deeper than a foot and not wider than five feet across. You would have the occasional hole or washout, but they weren’t te be counted on. The mountain waters were crystal clear so you could easily see everything going on beneath the surface. That was a double-edged sword. If you can see down, the fish can see up. So in those circumstances it was necessary to have your cloths on the darker side so as to not announce your presence to the fish you climbed so far to hunt.

Clothing choices aren’t so important in bigger bodies of water. If there is more space between you and the fish, or cloudier waters, you can get away with pretty much anything. But it’s always better to be on the safe side. There have been a number of days I found myself working close to a brush pile or other structure while fishing a large body of water. Just consider what you’re fishing for and where your fishing at. Then you can dress accordingly to maximize your chances. The biggest disadvantage to shore fishing is you can’t move across the water if you scare the fish.

Tip number two is be quiet. How many times have you had a parent tell you to stop throwing rocks and be quiet? Again, the size of the body of water has a lot to do with how much freedom you have. The smaller streams with the trout in would allow for a bit more noise. This was because the rush of the flowing water would cancel out some degree of noise. On the other side of that, if you are fishing a larger body of still you’ll see the sounds travels. Not only does the sound travel, it travels forever.

Sound is a funny thing. It travels in waves, and it can be absorbed by or bounce off a surface. So when you make a noise the sound waves will hit the water. Simultaneously, some of those sound waved bounce off the water and some are absorbed by it. In that case both the absorbed and the bounced off sound wave go on for a good long while. This is why they don’t like it when you tap on the aquariums in the pet store. What is a little tap, tap, tap to you is a series of detonations to the fish. Moral of that story is if you think you’re not making that much noise you are wrong. You are being too loud and the fish hear you.

This will undoubtedly ruin your chances of success if you are too loud. However, certain species of fish may not be as frightful as others. In a nut shell, you need to consider how much noise you make. On one late night fishing excursion a friend and I sat along the banks of our favorite river, leisurely sipping the finest, most eloquent of alcoholic beverages and catching a decent number of channel cats. Suddenly, there was a loud bang, sharp and crisp enough that my friend spilled his Coors Light.

We couldn’t figure out what it was and it wasn’t until three days later we learned it was the sound of a car accident about four miles downstream. I’ve always taken this as an example of how far sound can travel over water. It doesn’t seem like any form of small coincidence that we weren’t able to catch one more fish for the rest of the night. So keep your conversations to a normal level, cast as softly as you can, and make every effort to not drop or throw anything in the water.

The third tip I can offer is to keep a distance from the water whenever you possibly can. Going back to my beloved native trout, there were many times I would be fishing fifteen feet away from a section of stream no wider than four foot. I did this so the fish wouldn’t see my movements when I made my cast. Even when targeting less skittish species you would do better to avoid close proximity. I have seen carp, bass, and pike run from an area when a myself or someone I was fishing with stood in a clear spot on a sunny day.

The best practice is to take your favorite fishing rod, a bucket, and a lead weight into your back yard. Spend a quiet Sunday afternoon making cast after cast until you can consistently cast that lead weight into that bucket. When you develop that highly trained degree of accuracy you will have more success bank fishing from a distance to avoid the fish detecting you. You will also make smoother casts which will reduce noise and allow you to put your bait quietly in the strike zone.

My forth tip is to fish by sight. Try to observe the area you are targeting from a height. Look for weed beds and structure. Look for fish as you fish around those areas. Look for trees overhanging the water or anything else you can identify that you think will give you an edge. Look for fish jumping and check the wind direction. Use your sight sense in every way possible to devise a game plan.

If you see a weed bed, look to see if the weeds are green or brown. Green weeds mean they are alive and producing oxygen. This alone makes them attractive to the lower members of the food chain. If you have brown weeds they are dead, not producing oxygen, and most likely uninhabited. You should never go fishing without polarized glasses, which will allow you to see smaller bait fish among the weeds. If you can see them and identify them you can adjust your bait accordingly to mimic what is going on there.

Also look for ripples in the water that tell you the wind direction. When the wind blows it tends to push things along, both on top of and below the water. Again, were following the food. If there is a good wind blowing into a cove you can almost bet any structure in that cove will have fish in it. If the wind is blowing straight upriver or downriver you’ll simply need to look for an area that catches that wind and holds some of the food it is moving along.

Any structure or vegetation hanging over the water is also good for attracting fish. For one thing it helps shade the water, which is important on super-hot days. It is also something bugs and other things will perch on before falling helplessly into the water. I’ve even witnessed a musky leap out of the water and grab a small bird out of a tree on one occasion. My fishing partner that day swore he’d never tell anybody about that because nobody would ever believe it.

Look for little fish jumping close to the shore. When you see a school of small fish acting like this it means there is a predator chasing them. Now you have two pieces of recon that improves your chances. You know there is a larger fish there hunting minnows. You can now cast a minor in the area and improve your chances of a strike. Large fish jumping is a good sign that they are present but it doesn’t always mean they are feeding. You want to look for smaller, gentler swirls on the surface of the water as this is what happens when a fish draws in something to eat.

Remember, fish don’t chomp their food like in those cartoons from our long-lost childhood. They open their mouths quickly to create a vacuum that draws in smaller fish or other food items. So you want to look for small, gentle disruptions on the surface to see where a fish is feeding. Another thing to look for is a flash under the water. Fish mostly swim straight, but can show some color under the water if they turn fast trying to catch a snack. This is an especially common thing when fishing for larger fish, like musky.

My fifth tip is to do some serious research. You’ve heard me say this before and I will no doubt say it again. In today’s world of internet technology you can find the answer to any question. Take some time and view fishing reports, guide tips, weather reports, tackle shop websites, social media, and any other resource available to you. This is especially crucial if you’re leaving your comfort zone to fish an area unfamiliar to you. Find maps, information on species, special regulations, and anything else important. One tip is to use packing tape to make a skinflint laminated copy of a map that you can reference throughout your trip. I know they sell laminating kits but they’re more expensive.

Tip number six is simply to be creative. It’s inevitable there will be days where nothing works. You’ve done your homework and still have no luck. These are the days you need to step outside your bubble and come up with something off the wall. Creativity partially goes hand-in-hand with research in this case. So one year when we find ourselves unable to catch catfish on worms, chicken livers, or dough baits we had to take drastic measure.

We learned through some research that you can make an awesome catfish bait with steak and hot sauce. The recipe is simple. Go to the grocery store and get the cheapest steak you can. Place it in a freezer bag with a generous amount of the hottest hot sauce you can and find. Leave it there for a few days and be careful when you fish with it. It sounds crazy, but we’ve managed to catch a lot of catfish with this method.

So to bring it all together, you need a nice day away from work where you can get the high ground and observe the water. You want to go to a place on the bank where you can see the wind is blowing into the bank and there is a structure or weed bed under the surface, and some sort of vegetation hanging over the edge of the bank. You want to know what kind of fish are in the water and what they’ve been hitting on. You need to be wearing darker cloths to fish smoothly and quietly from a distance. If you can manage to bring all that together you have the perfect scenario.

These are tips for the most extreme of circumstances. Don’t forget to have fun when you go out. The one big advantage to shore fishing over fishing from a boat is on shore you have more space for a cooler contacting a picnic lunch. You also don’t have to worry about your kids going overboard. Another skinflint trick is to get a cheap cart or wagon of some type and fit it with PCV pieces to store rods in so you don’t have to carry as much gear. Life was made better by the wheel after all. Be sure to look for snake and other dangers and then just have fun.

In conclusion, the funny thing about fishing is you always see guys on a boat fishing the shore and you always see people from shore fishing where the boat is drifting through. But the reality and point is you don’t need a boat to be successful. You’ve just read six quick tips I would put forth for the beginner, but there are literally hundreds of other ideas and techniques you can apply. Everything you may learn is a new starting place that you can build from. As years pass you’ll build memories like nobody ever did watching television.

Fish often, my friends.