Today I spent around six hours at a reservoir, but it wasn’t quite as productive as I’d hoped it would be.
Sure, there were carp, but the numbers remain below what they were a few weeks ago. I’m still learning their spawning habits and activity in this area.
It was once again windy and mostly overcast, but the sun did poke out here and there.
I shot three carp today, but took over 20 shots. It was disappointing to miss so many, but I came to the realization that I’m still relatively new to bowfishing, and it’s too early to focus on accuracy percentages.
Instead, I need to be taking plenty of shots, and learning from those shots. That’s how my accuracy will improve. Did the arrow go above or below the fish?
While walking along a small cove shoreline where I’ve had luck in the past, I snuck up on some carp that were floating almost still. I rarely see still carp on these reservoirs, they’re always in motion as they cruise the shoreline.
I crouched and got to within 15-feet or so, then I popped up and shot. My arrow pierced the carp and it took off! The carp eventually threw the arrow, but not after a protracted fight.
There was a carcass of a carp I shot a week or two ago near this spot, and it had clearly been picked apart by animals. My guess is, the raven I saw near it the day I shot it.
If you’ve ever eaten carp meat, you know it’s bony. When I was a kid, local asians would want any carp we caught. We considered them junk fish, and had no problem handing them over. Hey, if it’s being eaten, that’s fine.
As a bowfisher it makes me feel good to know the carp don’t go to waste. One of the dam tenders told me that there are cougars and bobcats in the area, and I like to think I feed them once in a while.
Today the water’s surface had a strange algae on it in certain areas. It was almost beautiful, but since it was hindering my ability to see into the water, I didn’t appreciate it.
While standing on the shoreline at around 7pm, and massive gust of wind materialized out of nowhere. It was almost eerie. I decided to call it a day when I saw ominous clouds moving in.
