Spring Lake - It's a carp shoot

[Hamilton Reef]

It's a carp shoot

People all over the world have been making environmental contributions in conjunction with Earth Day this week, and a group of bow fisherman in Crockery Township Saturday night was doing their part too.

"Carp do a lot of damage to the river system," said Holland resident Chris VanOmmen. "Carp eat the roots of the plants. This is actually a service."

VanOmmen was referring to the harvest of some 549 fish Saturday as part of a local bowfishing tournament held by the Bowfishing Association of Michigan at the DNR boat launch off 138th Avenue on Bruce's Bayou.

http://www.grandhaventribune.com/paid/291540225133190.bsp

[fishsticker]

What he meant to say is that carp have no natural predators after one year, they destroy the nesting habitat of game fish, they are a non native species. BAM is a great organization that promotes youth in the outdoors, so take a kid bowfishing and he will be addicted for life!!

[Carpman]

good luck with that

[Sprig]

Couple of MSers were on that shoot. I think they said winning boat shot 102 fish.

[fishsticker]

Hey carpman,

Your english carp fishing buddies stole my brothers credit card number off of sullys bowfishing website after a transaction. They proceeded to put $6000 dollars in jewelery on it NICE!!!!! They have no respect for bowfishing over there. I got no problem with carp fishing I think it s great. But there are plenty of carp to go around. I have nothing but respect for anyone who catches fish on hook and line no matter what species:):)

mike

[Carpmaster]

Carpman, I also feel that there are enough fish to go around due to lack of predation on all rough fish species. I am also a member of your site and enjoy catching carp...let's all get along in the "outdoors" sports world, heck by reducing the population by bowfishing we are creating a Trophy/Quality Carp Management scenario!

[Carpmaster]

Hey carpman,

Your english carp fishing buddies stole my brothers credit card number off of sullys bowfishing website after a transaction. They proceeded to put $6000 dollars in jewelery on it NICE!!!!! They have no respect for bowfishing over there. I got no problem with carp fishing I think it s great. But there are plenty of carp to go around. I have nothing but respect for anyone who catches fish on hook and line no matter what species:):)

mike


OUCH!! Did they get deported back to where they don't have rights to choose their hobbies????

[Dave Ash]

Fishsticker that was the most ingorant comment I have seen on this site in a while. Grow up!!

as carpmaster said im sure there are plenty of fish to go around

[Carpman]

Hey carpman,

Your english carp fishing buddies stole my brothers credit card number off of sullys bowfishing website after a transaction. They proceeded to put $6000 dollars in jewelery on it NICE!!!!! They have no respect for bowfishing over there. I got no problem with carp fishing I think it s great. But there are plenty of carp to go around. I have nothing but respect for anyone who catches fish on hook and line no matter what species:):)

mike

Can I not come on here to wish you luck without somone jumping on me?
Im sorry about your brothers card, that suxs for anyone to have that happen.
I have some respect for your sport, I do however think its a dieing sport, just this weekend I saw someone bow fishing at Barton pond, Now if I wanted to be a dick about it, I could make a call to the DNR as he was shooting a weapon on park grounds (Which I did not)
I do allso believe that carp need some control as I see the size of carp getting smaller on some of my lakes and I think its to do with the lack of food and large number of carp in the lakes.


How about a hug and we can make up?.

Carp hugger Kev

[Carpmaster]

Hey Kev,

You should try it(bowfishing) sometime on one of our overpopulated bodies of water....I will tell you I catch and release all that I catch on hook and line and keep what I need for food with the other species, being open and enjoying our rights to enjoy and manage the resources is a lot of fun, There isn't a whole lot of hook and line fishing that I haven't done, I enjoy all of it I have tried, I am the same with hunting....

Just a thought, since you seem pretty open minded and you have a lot of respect in the Carp angling world, if you were to try it and advocate it from a management side (hopefully without being shunned by the TRUE carphuggers), both sides could possibly get along better!

Adam

[ESOX]

I have some respect for your sport, I do however think its a dieing sport, just this weekend I saw someone bow fishing at Barton pond, Now if I wanted to be a dick about it, I could make a call to the DNR as he was shooting a weapon on park grounds (Which I did not)
.

The DNR views bow fishing as fishing, not hunting.

[Carpman]

The DNR views bow fishing as fishing, not hunting.


I Never knew this, thanks for the info, Is there a season for bow fishing, or is it all year round?

The way I would understand it, and correct me if I'm wrong about this, You can really only shoot in shallow water, and to make it worth your while I guess the spawn would be your best time?.

I hear stories of carp being stacked on the bank on the Sag river?, Can you not use them for something, it seems such a waste to leave them to rot when they can be put to good use as fertilizer.

[ESOX]

http://www.michigandnr.com/PUBLICATIONS/PDFS/Fishing/Guides/2008/Fishing-Guide/FishingGuide-with-compressed.pdf

Page 12

[Carpmaster]

Kevin, They go to fertilizer from the BAM shoots, the company that fishsticker works for uses a lot of carp-rich compost!

Other states fish from tourneys go to petfood.

I use them for my garden at home...

People that shoot and release are slobs, they need to be taken care of in somewhat of a proper manner.

[Dave Ash]

Carpmaster the ones i have to keep because they are hooked very deep or are bleeding when i unhook them also go to our garden as well as my grandfolks.

I can see both sides of the debate but I am looking for trophy class fish. Weed out some of the other fish it gives a chance for more monsters:)

[ESOX]

I bought a new 4 wt for chasing carp at the in-laws, beacuse there are too damn many of them there too,(halloway) the average fish seems to be running 2-5# the past few years. Not enough challenge on a 6 wt. All those invasive fish have put a real hurt on the crappie population too. Kill them all........at least to the best of our abilities.

In-laws garden is doing very well. :)

[fishsticker]

Dave,

I see nothing ignorant about stating a fact , sorry If I offended you. I don't know who carpman is buddies with and I shouldn't have said that. But there are plenty of carp for everyone as I stated in my previous post that you so strongly disagree with :):) :) I'll work on growing up thanks

[Dave Ash]

"Hey carpman,

Your english carp fishing buddies stole my brothers credit card number off of sullys bowfishing website after a transaction. They proceeded to put $6000 dollars in jewelery on it NICE!!!!! They have no respect for bowfishing over there. I got no problem with carp fishing I think it s great. But there are plenty of carp to go around. I have nothing but respect for anyone who catches fish on hook and line no matter what species:):)""


I was refering to the english carp fishing buddies...comment.. but none the less... GG

[Carpmaster]

"Hey carpman,

Your english carp fishing buddies stole my brothers credit card number off of sullys bowfishing website after a transaction. They proceeded to put $6000 dollars in jewelery on it NICE!!!!! They have no respect for bowfishing over there. I got no problem with carp fishing I think it s great. But there are plenty of carp to go around. I have nothing but respect for anyone who catches fish on hook and line no matter what species:):)""


I was refering to the english carp fishing buddies...comment.. but none the less... GG

Mike probably will stay off of here now....he didnt mean it to be an a-hole.
This is why I advocate being open minded amongst ourselves - we don't need to fuel the antis....

[Carpman]

If it was my mates, they would have spent it on carp gear, beer and women ;)
fishsticker, I dont have a problem with you or what you do in your sport, My real only problem with bow fishing is the ones that leave the carp.
If your going to kill anything and not just carp, ill like to see the fish/animal put to good use.

Of course I will get alittle mad to see a 40lb fish bow fished, But only because its one less large carp for me the catch.

I did try the BAM website to try to learn more about the sport in Michigan, But it seems to be down http://www.bowfishbam.com/ I think this is the right site.

[Carpmaster]

The site has been down for awhile now it should be up and going again soon...Mike and I have had some long conversations since this thread and the exact thing you mention of leaving fish was discussed, neither of us ever leave fish, but it is an overall image issue....