Oct 12 - Freezing on KY Lake

Entry by: Robin

We are all itching to start deer hunting, but like the old saying says,"The show must go on..." and in our case, that means more bowfishing!  Though it is a fairly long drive for us, we knew that Kentucky Lake would be a good bet for some good buffalo and maybe some big carp as well this time of year.  Temps were forecast for a low of 49 degrees - not too bad, right?  Wrong!!!

By the time we launched at 9:00, it was already down to 45 degrees and we could see fog starting to form on the water as we launched.  As we trolled into a shallow grass flat, the fog was so bad we couldn't even see the water.  So off to deeper water points we went, looking for buffalo.  We spent the rest of the night moving in and out of fog shooting nice fish when we could see the water.  Temps continued to drop and with the moisture from the fog, we really got cold.  By 3:30 a.m., we were froze and the water just keep getting harder and harder to see.  Plenty of fish were brought into the boat though, and you can see them all on an upcoming "Bowfishing Journals" show on the Sportsman Channel. 

Oct 7 - Early October on the Mississippi River

Entry by: Robin

Well, deer season is upon us...but we have a bowfishing show to do!  So, with daytime temps back up and near record high, we had no problem getting out there and looking for some grass carp, bighead, and silver carp on the river.  And find them we did!  Again, another late season bowfishing trip with excellent results.  We didn't run into any monsters, but we did shoot plenty of fish.  And, to top it off, the fish were not shy of the light tonight making themselves very visible for the camera.  These fish are all finding there way to the trap line, as some friends were in need of a season's supply of 'coon bait.  Glad we could accommodate them!

August 1-7 Texas

Entry by: Keith

The beginning of August is a time of year that we always look forward to, and this year more than ever. This is the time we head to Texas where get a chance to bowfish for giant buffalo, longnose gar, and gator gar. The reason this year was so anticipated was because two years had passed since our last visit to Texas when we shot numerous huge fish, some of record status. 

We headed south on Wednesday the 1st around 2 PM, a little behind schedule. This put us at Dixon's Cabins, our home for the next 6 days, around 3 AM on Thursday. Dixon's Cabins sits on Sam Rayburn Reservoir, where we spend much of our time. We got some shut eye and then headed out to look for some gar around mid day. We found some gar, but they were really spread out and quite boat shy. We decided to head back to the cabin for some dinner and prepare for our first night looking for buffalo. After a few hours of night fishing, we realized that things were going to be exceptionally tough! The water levels put the fish much deeper than we were used shooting, and made them a challenge to find. The first night was really slow.

We spent most of Friday preparing the boat and shopping for a few needed items to make our next few days more productive. Friday night bowfishing was a little more successful, but we still had some figuring out to do. Robin landed a couple nice buffs close to 60 lbs. but we missed great number of fish trying to adjust to the added water depth. Here is one of two buffs we got in the boat. 

Saturday we decided to try a new spot in the afternoon for rolling gar. We got the impression that we probably should have been there a little earlier. High winds and big waves made spotting the gar a bit tougher than we had envisioned. Once we did find them though, Robin arrowed this nice longnose which was just a hair under 60 inches.

We decided that it might do us well to get some sleep Saturday night and hit this same spot first thing in the morning. When we got there we were greeted with high winds once again. It doesn't take much wind to play havoc with a gar hunt. Despite the conditions, we had a pretty decent day. Robin shot two more really nice longnose:

I was finally able to shoot a fish worth taking a picture of, one of my biggest longnose ever:

To top off the day, I shot my first decent spotted gar which I will be sending to Brian Almberg, of Almberg Taxidermy so I can display the memory forever:

This brings us to Monday, our last day of the trip. With a good day of gar fishing we decided to put our focus on one last night of hitting it hard for buffalo, and just maybe a gator gar. The night fishing still was night like what we had hoped for, but we did manage to put some nice buffalo in the boat. Here is one I shot over the head of cameraman, Nick Govero, who had to duck as I shot a big buff swimming behind the boat. 

As the sun was just coming up, Robin topped off the trip with this beautiful alligator gar, which worn him completely out trying to land. It is amazing how strong of a fish a gator gar is. 

Although we did not shoot as many fish as in years past on our Texas trip, we still had a great time and definitely captured some quality fish on camera to share with viewers on some upcoming Aim Low Bowfishing Journals episodes. Thanks to Cameramen Larry Prevallet and Nick Govero for their hard work to make it all possible. We also want to thank Bronk and Gloria Dixon for some great hospitality and like always, making us feel right at home at Dixon's Cabins. 

July 3- Kentucky Lake

Entry by: Keith

Rain! Rain! and more Rain! Our trip to Kentucky Lake turned out to be a little disappointing as far as the weather was concerned. The rain cut our time on the water in half. The trip was not a loss though. Our newest team members Darrell and Tammie Schreiber made the 15 hour journey south for their first shot at some night bowfishing. In Minnesota, their home state, night fishing is not yet legal. We had a great time swapping stories and sharing good times on the water. The last night of the trip things really picked up and Robin and I put some good buffalo in the boat. Look for the footage on an upcoming TV episode on The Sportsman Channel. Darrell was able to land his biggest grass carp to date. Our lodging was provided by Ken-Bar Lodge, which is where we plan to stay on future trips to Kentucky Lake. The hospitality was second to none! I leave you with a picture of Darrell's giant grassie!

May 12- Flooded Mississippi

Entry by: Keith

You could not ask for better conditions! The Mississippi had all of the streams and rivers leading to it backed up over their banks. We had been waiting for an opportunity like this for several years. It didn't take long for us to start finding huge gar along the flooded banks of a local river we have had great success at in the past. Unfortunately, it didn't take long before our trolling motor shot craps also. This left us helpless and disappointed. The only good news is that we had chance to put a few good longnose' in the boat before equipment failure. Lucky for us, the few we did shoot offered great footage for the camera. You will be able to see these awesome fish in an upcoming Aim Low Bowfishing Journals television episode. As soon as we can get the trolling motor back in business we will be right back out there. Here is a picture of the biggest longnose of our short trip.