Open water

[dend54]

Has anyone seen open water in any of the shallow bays yet? I really want to shot/spear some fish!

[JTinVT]

most the water by the bridges up through the islands have opened up pretty good. i saw some open water on the broad lake side, maybe you can go try there

[fishstalker]

Has anyone seen open water in any of the shallow bays yet? I really want to shot/spear some fish!

better wait for the season to open bud   only 15 more days.

[dend54]

better wait for the season to open bud   only 15 more days.

Well I can shoot carp and gar with my bow year round!!!

[taggin out]

What do u do with them after u shoot them?

[dend54]

What do u do with them after u shoot them?
[/

Well they are an invasive species so the more I can get out of the lake the better as far as the state is concerned, but most of the time I put them in a compost pile, give them to a friend that rototills gardens in the spring and he puts a few in the soil and tills them in for fertlizer, he also feeds some to his chickens or once in a while use them as coyote bait.

[taggin out]

Coyote bait is a good idea. Good scent

[finlessbrown]

don't take this the wrong way, i'm not trying to say anything bad about your sport, but why are they considered invasive? i didn't think they do any damage to anything. i for one would like to see more of them around as i fish for gar quite often and rarely get one, and i've never caught a carp.

[nhpikeking]

gar are not invasive there native to the lake

[ckashner]

I'm with you finlessbrown...i just don't understand killing stuff you aren't going to use or eat...gar are really cool fish
and on rope flies are fun to catch...

[fishstalker]

I'm with you finlessbrown...i just don't understand killing stuff you aren't going to use or eat...gar are really cool fish
and on rope flies are fun to catch...

I think he's talking about the carp not the gar guys.... As far as fishing for gar, good luck hooking one. Its a big waste of time.

[dend54]

Im talking about the carp which are invasive they were imported to the US in the early 1900's for a possible food source but nobody eats them. They increase the turbidity of the water by the way the feed and they commonly share the same water largemouth and smallmouth bass spawn and that increased turbidity does no food for the fry.

http://carpbusters.com/documents/Sidorkewicj%20et%20al%201999%20common%20carp%20effects%20on%20plants.pdf

http://carpbusters.com/documents/Miller%20et%20al%202007%20carp%20herbivory%20plant%20effects.pdf

[ckashner]

http://www.iceshanty.com/ice_fishing/index.php?topic=150339.0

just a page back dend you have a pic of a bunch of small gar and your bow...they are catchable.....the trick is releasing them with rope flies....it is a pain...i've caught them in Ty and otter creek both champlain...

[dend54]

http://www.iceshanty.com/ice_fishing/index.php?topic=150339.0

just a page back dend you have a pic of a bunch of small gar and your bow...they are catchable.....the trick is releasing them with rope flies....it is a pain...i've caught them in Ty and otter creek both champlain...

I'm not saying I never shoot gar because I do, I dont shoot a lot of them and I dont shoot them often. I mainly just shoot carp as they are not native, gar are and are an important part of the food chain in the lake. Guys down south eat gar I just dont know how to clean them I can imagine they put up one hell of a fight on a rod and reel because they sure fight on a bow. To each his own...I dont want to give bowfishing a bad name, I never just leave fish of any kind on shore I always do something with them. Last fall I was talking to a taxidermist who gave me his number because he wants a good size gar to add to his wall for shows because they are not a commonly caught fish and are hard to mount.