SFC is putting forth some effort this year......

[dirtclod Az.]

Looking forward to pics,SFC B

 

[Duck-Slayer]

Travel plans for the first excursion just came through!! On 22MAR19 I will be flying to Lake Charles, LA for my first ever shot at bowfishing. Since it is with a bow I am calling it a hunt This will be my first time ever using a bow in anger so it should be interesting. Absolute worst case scenario is that I eat myself into oblivion for the long weekend.....MAN they can cook in LA!!! Looks like we will be chasing reds, flounder, croakers, rays and whatever else may happen by. This is a whole new deal for me so I will try to take a bunch of pics and copious descriptions

I’m very interested in the Bowfishing!!! I’m an addict,
Matt

 

[SFC B]

Alrighty, here you go.

We got into Lake Charles late afternoon Friday to beautiful weather. Flights were uneventful and all the baggage showed with us. We met our host Ryan Mareno and picked up the rental (a pretty sweet Ford) and headed to a local place called Darrell's for dinner. As those around me will attest to I DO like to eat. This place is a very casual bar and Po Boy joint. Ryan suggested the surf and turf sandwich (roast beef and shrimp) loaded with jalapeno mayo and I took him at his word. It was telltale of things to come because it was one of the best sandwiches of my life. It came with some gravy on it as well as the mayo, 3 cheese and lettuce and I had some doubts but that gravy worked!! We rolled back out to trucks after dinner and to the trip out to the Marshire Duck Club, our base for the weekend. It is a rustic but VERY comfortable camp way out the end of the road by the Burnout Bridge...almost to Texas. We discussed the plan for the weekend, shot the shiz for a bit and then headed to bed as 0430 wake up was on the horizon.

 

[SFC B]

Early morning Saturday was just a tad chilly but very foggy and misty. We made tracks to the Intercoastal Park boat ramp and were on the water with our guide Tom by 0615. It was foggy enough that I couldn't see the other side of the channel and the dew collected on my jacket as we made about a 20 min ride to where we were to fish. We pulled into a fairly small, shallow bay and as the fog burned off the vision didn't disappoint. We worked different structure while jigging a live shrimp. We had steady action for our whole half day and ended up with 17 redfish and 3 flounder. The redfish were not size enough to be referred to as bulls but were fun to catch and made it to the freezer. We headed in around noon and were relaxing back at the lodge by 1400.

 

[SFC B]

As we rest around the lodge our host was out gathering up the goodies for our Saturday crawfish boil. I had never been lucky enough to be invited to one of these before. Crawfish and shrimp with potatoes, corn and mushrooms. I am here to tell you I tore that mess UP. Along with us Ryan and his family, Ken Swenson (who would be taking us out bowfishing in his air boat) and his family and a few other showed up for the feed. A wonderful bunch of genuine and friendly folks. As we finished gorging ourselves it was time to bed the entire 100 feet to the marsh put in for the air boat. I had never been on one of those and it was impressive to look at.

 

[SFC B]

The sun was down and it was out on the marsh for us. The air boat is powered by a supercharged Chevy small block crate engine and it is LOUD when powered up. The trip from put in to where we started flinging sticks was only about 5 minutes. Ryan and Kenny gave us a crash course on the bow/arrow/reel setup, how it judge where to shoot and the off limits critters (gators and largemouth bass). I had never shot a bow at anything alive before but got the hang of it reasonable well. One of the guys with me, Don, stuck a really nice 4.5 foot gar and Ryan and Travis both stuck arrows in about 20lb catfish. To round it out we stuck a bunch of smaller gar. The night flew by as the water was very clear and we were shooting steadily. We got back about midnight, took some pics, cleaned up and were in bed around 0100 knowing we were getting up at 0430 again on Sunday.

 

[JohnCushman]

Larry...you have to stop putting pictures of yourself on these threads...totally ruins them Looks like an amazing time!!

 

[SFC B]

Larry...you have to stop putting pictures of yourself on these threads...totally ruins them Looks like an amazing time!!

IKR? Ugly mug......

 

[SFC B]

Sunday morning was about 10 degrees warmer and clear. This morning we were heading out with Chris (an active duty Coastie who guides on his off days) to the bigger part of the lake. We did a high speed run across from the same put in as the previous day. The bait and fish would vary. We started out jigging stick baits in an area that sea trout frequent. The action on the jig was similar to the previous day and came with good results. We boated plenty of trout in about an hour and a half stretch before they cooled. We moved a few hundred yards in the same area and using the same bait hooked into the good sized reds you'll see. We had a couple more on the line that shook lose that were in the same size range. From there we moved around the bend and switched bait. We put on scented Chartreuse curly q's onto good sized jug heads and started to drag jig for flounder. We had solid luck again and landed several. About 1130 the wind kicked up steadily and we had to make trax before the lake got too hairy. The run back across the lake was a little rough but it was still sunny and not too bad. After 2 early mornings Sunday afternoon meant a STRONG nap. Ryan cleaned some of the flounder, stuffed and baked them for dinner. Seriously good chow.

 

[JohnCushman]

You know you have a friend a bit south east of you that loves seafood

 

[SFC B]

Sunday night was the last leg of our fishing. We headed out with the same bunch on the air boat just a touch earlier and were a little unsure of how the fishing would be due to the wind throughout the day. It had settled down but in water as shallow as the marsh it doesn't take much to stir it up. We were operating in 6in to about 2 feet of water. We had to work a little harder to find clear water but there was some to be had. Fish were a bit harder to come by but your's truly had the hot hand for sure. I was hitting some pretty small gar....not glorious to look at but kind of a trophy due to small target size. Suddenly Ryan said "nice one!" and he, I and Travis all took a shot. I got him in the rear quarter! After a careful hand fight to get him close Ryan put another arrow in him and we hauled him aboard. He ended up about 3.5 feet. It was exhilarating to drop him in the fish box. We cruised around for about another half hour when the guys spotted a good sized red as they were getting off a couple of shots that barely missed I looked directly in front of the boat and there was another good one. I shouted "Big one!" right as I loosed my arrow and center punched a slightly shorter but thicker gar!! This one was not much of a fight as I had spined it. We fished about another hour and got a couple of small ones but that was the big doings for the evening. Again around midnight we headed in. We got to sleep in the next day before the flight and I crashed hard. The weekend had turned out much better than I had expected and I am here to say that bowfishing is an absolute HOOOOT!!!!

 

[SFC B]

Just got my next hunt set!!! I was drawn for a limited entry, disabled only hunt on an Army Corps of Engineers property in Central Illinois!! Let's hope for a big ol Whitey!!!!

 

[LCH]

Looks like a fun fish trip!

Good luck in Illinois. What time of year is that?

 

[SFC B]

Looks like a fun fish trip!

Good luck in Illinois. What time of year is that?

The weekend before Thanksgiving. It is a shotgun hunt.

 

[SFC B]

I haven't put this out before because it is still hard to believe. ... and I won't be 100% until it happens. .....but it looks like I will be doing a late station bull hunt on the Jicarilla Apache nation!! This hunt was setup through my Wounded Warrior rep and if it comes through as described will be outrageous. Sent in my info for the license and am crazy excited.

 

[TheBenHoyle]

Looks like you had a great time. Thanks for sharing. Good luck on your hunts.

 

[dirtclod Az.]

Great Pics , looks like a great Adventure.

 

[SFC B]

Fellas, I cannot not express how much fun bowfishing was......I could do that every night!!!

 

[LukeDuke]

Fellas, I cannot not express how much fun bowfishing was......I could do that every night!!!

I lived in New Orleans for 7 yrs and go back 6-8 times/yr for work. You are right on with the above. So much fun!! We cooked some gar patties one night...not my cup of tea, but those speckled trout are delicious. The folks here in MN will rave on about walleyes, but it’s hard to beat some specs...plus they put up a heck of a fight. Looks like you all had a great time. Well done and thanks for your service.

 

[Northwoods Labs]

looks like a fun trip. I've always wanted to try fishing for reds. What did you guys do with the gar?