Bow Fishin' for Carp!

I hate carp in so many ways but then again they can be so awesome!  I have several fishing buddies who fly fish for carp and they think it's the bomb. I know others who love to get out their ultralite spinning gear with 4 lbs test line and hook into carp during the spawn.  Me, I just like to snag them with heavier gear and get a good fight out of them! Or I’ll break out the bow from its winter hibernation and rig up the bow fishing gear.  We mostly ‘hunt’ carp in the summer months at Flaming Gorge Reservoir but we will also spend some time in the Blacks Fork Rive stalking the river banks.  When carp spawn they gather in numbers and it is not uncommon to see over 50 carp in a single cove or nestled into the shallows with their backs sticking out of the water.   

If you camp along the reservoir you can hear them splashing around all night.

Bow fishing is a little trickier than you might imagine.  Of course you want to get as close as possible and shoot them when they are within a few feet of the surface. Early in the season you can jump in your boat and slowly motor around and get close enough for a shot. Later on you might have to transition into stealth mode and often get in the water and move slowly into spawning areas.    
 When light hits the water it gets refracted and changes its direction of travel. This causes the fish to appear that they are in one spot but in reality they will be a few inches (or feet) from where you think they are.  The depth changes all that as well and it magnifies the effect. Get out to the lake and give carp fishing a shot!