Video: Spearing Carp from a Paddleboard
Melissa Bachman 06.02.17
There are days when plans simply change – and sometimes it’s for the better.
It started off as a beautiful sunny Minnesota day, and I decided to head down the road to my local archery park to shoot my Mathews Avail. Upon arrival, however, I noticed the entire archery park was flooded. The river had come over the banks, leaving standing water among the archery targets, and a new pond about 100 yards down where a big lawn used to be.
I decided to shoot my bow anyway because the water was only ankle deep in the range. Within about 5 minutes, I heard splashing and my eyes lit up! The entire pond was filled with carp, and they were going crazy! Growing up in central Minnesota, I can’t even count the number of days I spent catching, spearing and bowfishing carp. Upon further inspection, I realized this was something I couldn’t pass up – and I couldn’t wait to go grab my bowfishing gear.
After thinking about it for a minute, I decided to call the sheriff’s office just to be sure bowfishing gear would be legal. After some explaining, they said no projectile can be fired inside city limits except at the actual archery targets, so bowfishing wouldn’t be okay. Not wanting to give up, I asked, “How about a spear?”
After a short pause, the man on the phone said it would be fine to use a spear, and the rest is history! I ran home, grabbed a paddleboard, ice fishing spear (that’s all I had), a cooler, Pork Chop’s life jacket, and off we went for a fun-filled afternoon. Check out the video below to see all the action!
The water was never deeper than my thighs, so I figured I’d be fine without a life jacket, but Pork Chop was all suited up and ready for some fun.
When the day was finished, we had a stringer full of carp ready for my parent’s smoker!
