jasonpredhunter
New member
This past week I had the pleasure of meeting up with my fellow TC calls team, Torry Cook and Dave Stucks, down in Arkansas to do a little bowfishing for a predator of a different kind. We had an awesome trip, even better than I could have imagined. Records were set!!!
I left for the long 11 hour trip on Tuesday evening and had planned to stop halfway or so and rest, but Torry and Dave called on my way and said they had already hit the water and found the fish, and they were everywhere. I couldn't stand it so I ended up driving the 11 hours with only a couple stops for diesel and pit stops. I arrived in Arkansas at the camp at about 2 a.m. and drove directly to the boat ramp and jumped in the boat and grabbed a bow. I had a fish in the boat less than 3 minutes after I had arrived. I caught a second wind and we ended up fishing until about noon the first day and filling our barrel. When we finally ended up going back to camp, I don't know if I slept or passed out, but the AC and a nice bed sure did feel good.
The next few days we did a mix of nighttime and daytime fishing. With temperatures breaking records all across Arkansas this past week it made it pretty rough to be out on the water. On thursday it reached 114, and we stayed on the water from daylight til dark. I'm glad we did though! Torry ended up shooting the new Arkansas State Record Long-Nose Gar. We all had to shoot him to get him on the boat but we finally wrangled him in. It was well worth toughing out the heat conditions to be in on that kill. Torry already held the previous state record, in which he set back in 2000. Here's a pic of the giant on the left and a boat full of carp and gar:
We ended up filming most of the trip as well, which threw in that extra degree of difficulty, but we ended up getting over 5 hours of footage and a countless number of kill shots on tape. Since it was SO hot we had the privilege of having the lake and river to ourselves the entire week. I think I only saw 1 or 2 boats all week.
We were shooting gar and asian carp for the most part. Both were new to me, seeing as we have neither up here in the mountains of Virginia. It was definitely a great experience. It was very cool seeing those flying carp whizz right past your head as you're motoring down the river. Torry about got his nose broke by one and Dave took a big one to the gut one day. I was lucky enough to not get hit by one, but I felt the wind off a couple though! They sure do put up a good fight when you get an arrow in one.
It was a great trip, and it was great getting to hang out with Torry and Dave. We had some awesome fishing, shot a TON of fish, located quite a few coyotes with some new TC diaphragms we are testing out, and had a great time just hanging out. If you've never been bowfishing, I'd definitely recommend it. I can cross that one off my bucketlist now. And shooting the new state record while we were down there just made the trip even that much better. BTW, that is the 4th time Torry has broken the state record! That boy knows where the big fish are, and definitely put us on them this past week!
I just want to thank Torry and Dave for their hospitality this past week at their camp. They are a couple great guys and would do anything in the world for ya. I'm sure glad to call them my friends and be part of the TC Calls Team. Here are a few pics of the trip and some of our catch:
State record on the bottom:
Me holding the State Record Long-Nose Gar. I'm 6'3, so that gives you an idea of how big he was. We didn't measure his length but he was a good 6 feet long.
Jason/Torry
The TC Team with 3 big ones we each caught on Saturday:
I left for the long 11 hour trip on Tuesday evening and had planned to stop halfway or so and rest, but Torry and Dave called on my way and said they had already hit the water and found the fish, and they were everywhere. I couldn't stand it so I ended up driving the 11 hours with only a couple stops for diesel and pit stops. I arrived in Arkansas at the camp at about 2 a.m. and drove directly to the boat ramp and jumped in the boat and grabbed a bow. I had a fish in the boat less than 3 minutes after I had arrived. I caught a second wind and we ended up fishing until about noon the first day and filling our barrel. When we finally ended up going back to camp, I don't know if I slept or passed out, but the AC and a nice bed sure did feel good.
The next few days we did a mix of nighttime and daytime fishing. With temperatures breaking records all across Arkansas this past week it made it pretty rough to be out on the water. On thursday it reached 114, and we stayed on the water from daylight til dark. I'm glad we did though! Torry ended up shooting the new Arkansas State Record Long-Nose Gar. We all had to shoot him to get him on the boat but we finally wrangled him in. It was well worth toughing out the heat conditions to be in on that kill. Torry already held the previous state record, in which he set back in 2000. Here's a pic of the giant on the left and a boat full of carp and gar:
We ended up filming most of the trip as well, which threw in that extra degree of difficulty, but we ended up getting over 5 hours of footage and a countless number of kill shots on tape. Since it was SO hot we had the privilege of having the lake and river to ourselves the entire week. I think I only saw 1 or 2 boats all week.
We were shooting gar and asian carp for the most part. Both were new to me, seeing as we have neither up here in the mountains of Virginia. It was definitely a great experience. It was very cool seeing those flying carp whizz right past your head as you're motoring down the river. Torry about got his nose broke by one and Dave took a big one to the gut one day. I was lucky enough to not get hit by one, but I felt the wind off a couple though! They sure do put up a good fight when you get an arrow in one.
It was a great trip, and it was great getting to hang out with Torry and Dave. We had some awesome fishing, shot a TON of fish, located quite a few coyotes with some new TC diaphragms we are testing out, and had a great time just hanging out. If you've never been bowfishing, I'd definitely recommend it. I can cross that one off my bucketlist now. And shooting the new state record while we were down there just made the trip even that much better. BTW, that is the 4th time Torry has broken the state record! That boy knows where the big fish are, and definitely put us on them this past week!
I just want to thank Torry and Dave for their hospitality this past week at their camp. They are a couple great guys and would do anything in the world for ya. I'm sure glad to call them my friends and be part of the TC Calls Team. Here are a few pics of the trip and some of our catch:
State record on the bottom:
Me holding the State Record Long-Nose Gar. I'm 6'3, so that gives you an idea of how big he was. We didn't measure his length but he was a good 6 feet long.
Jason/Torry
The TC Team with 3 big ones we each caught on Saturday:
