Shooting carp in the dark is awesome

I’ve got to admit, I was not all that fired up about going to shoot Asian carp last night on the Illinois River out of Chillicothe.

I’ve seen the show plenty of times. I’ve shot a few (and missed hundreds). I was tired after spending the morning fishing. I had a million excuses.

But none of that mattered once the sun set, the lights came on and the fish went crazy. Put simply, it was a ball. I really think Jon Sarver and Bill Ludolph are onto something with this night-time carp shooting deal they have going. I’ll be writing more about this soon and we’ll have a video up Thursday by Adam Gerik.

In a nutshell, what makes their version of carp-shooting fun is:

1. They have netting all the way around a pontoon boat so you feel safe. You still get hit some, but there’s just not as much fear of being blindsided and knocked out.

2. Shooting carp under the lights is just cool. You block out the rest of the usual river scenes and focus on carp. And the bigger carp seem to jump better after dark.

3. The draft beers are only .50 cents at Bananas, located at the boat ramp in Chillicothe.

More to come. Right now it’s time for bed. My arms hurt and I still have a fishy smell even after a long, hot shower.