This might mark a historical first: Deep South bass anglers go to New York and return home with bow-fishing and carp on their minds.
It began on a lark: B.A.S.S. contributing photographer Garrick Dixon has known guide-for-all-seasons Jason “Big Jay” Barnes for awhile. They met when Dixon needed assistance on snow goose hunting photography, and Barnes accommodated him in a big way. With the recent Bassmaster Elite Series tournament going out of Union Springs, N.Y., on Cayuga Lake and with Barnes’ home and hunting lodge located near the launch ramp, why not see if some of the pros wanted to experience bowfishing for carp. Simple as that.
Other than getting a commitment from Barnes, there could be no further planning. None of the Elite Series anglers could agree to go. In fact, all hoped they couldn’t go. The bowfishing adventure was planned for Saturday evening during the tournament. All 106 pros hoped to have an important engagement the following day — competing among the Top 12 on Day 4 at Cayuga Lake.
So it wasn’t until after the Top 50 cut Friday when invitations were extended. It didn’t take long to book the trip. With six spots open, Barnes’ carp-shooting card was filled with Emily and J Todd Tucker, Jaclyn and Hank Cherry, David Mullins and Bradley Roy.
Five of the six are experienced archers. Mullins, in particular, is linked to the sport.
After a camera’s flash, Mullins said, “Whatever you do, don’t shoot a picture that shows the brand of this bow.”
Mullins’ boat wrap sponsor is New Breed Archery. Mullins had no choice in the tackle. Barnes furnished all the bows, a mix of compounds and recurves. Familiarity with a bow isn’t crucial in the multiple, short-range shots at carp. You can get sighted-in on the fly.
Jaclyn and Hank Cherry represented the low and the high of bowfishing experience in this crew. Jaclyn had never bowhunted – period, and Hank said, “I used to shoot carp in creeks.”
That lack of bowfishing skill is common. More people would do it if it didn’t require so much specialized equipment, primarily a boat big enough to support a railed shooting deck on the front, a generator to power the extensive lighting that makes fish visible underwater at night and an outboard motor capable of pushing all the people and gear.
That’s where captain Barnes and his first mates Justin Rejman and Cory Vannederynen filled the bill. Barnes grew up within shooting range of the Elite Series weigh-in site at Union Springs. He comes by the nickname “Big Jay” honestly. He stands 6-foot-2 and weighs 350. His upbringing sounds straight out of the South.
“I was five years old when I shot my first duck,” Barnes said. “I was hooked. All my dad did was hunt and fish. He used to raise coonhounds. We had 65 dogs at one time – walkers, blueticks, black-and-tans – we had ’em all. We shipped dogs all over this country.”
(Barnes’ dad did have a “real job.” He was a corrections officer at the nearby Auburn Correctional Facility, originally built in 1816 on land once occupied by a Cayuga tribal village. The first U.S. execution by electric chair took place here in 1890. The prison guard job, apparently, left Barnes’ father, who died in 2006, with lots of free time to hunt, fish and raise a son who loves the outdoors.)
Big Jay’s passion for the outdoors is such that he’s trying to make it a fulltime occupation. If it can be hunted or fished, Barnes enjoys the pursuit. If he had to choose, waterfowl would top his list.
Just like with bowfishing, Barnes has steered his other guide services to areas that are gear dependent.
“Redheads and snow geese are where the money is,” Barnes said about guiding waterfowl hunters. “A lot of people don’t have the gear to do it. We’ll set out 3,000 decoys for snow geese. For redheads and canvasbacks and bluebills, we’ll set out 100 to 200 decoys. And the nastier the weather is, the better the hunting gets.”
Barnes owns a 24-foot SeaArk Super Jon boat that serves as his workhorse. It’s powered with both a 90-horsepower Yamaha outboard and a 25-horse Yamaha outboard “kicker.” For duck hunting on Cayuga Lake, the boat is fitted with a camouflage blind. That’s mostly for hiding the hunters, but it also conceals Barnes’ portable heater and stove.
“I want everyone to be comfortable,” Barnes said. “We always do some cooking out there.”
If you’ve ever been duck hunting, you know how invaluable a warm sausage biscuit and a hot cup of coffee can be at mid-morning on a miserably cold day.
For bowfishing, a rail on the big front deck and lights all around turns the boat into shooting platform that can comfortably accommodate five. On this night, it would be four – the Cherrys and the Tuckers, with Captain Barnes astern.
Jaclyn Cherry was the only novice bowhunter in the group, but she didn’t have any problems handling the recurve bow that Barnes provided.
“That’s all she has talked about since that night,” Hank said in a phone conversation two weeks later. “Now she wants to start bowfishing. And I’d love to do it again. I’m planning to start looking for a boat.”
This trip was designed to give everyone a taste of the sport. Since all involved had something to do the next day, whether work or travel, it wasn’t going to be an all-night affair. And Barnes was working at a disadvantage. His bowfishing trips usually take place on Cayuga Lake, but the group assembled at nearby Owasco Lake. Like Cayuga, it’s one of New York’s Finger Lakes. With the Elite Series event concluding Sunday at Cayuga, no one wanted to accidentally add a nighttime disturbance to an area where one of the Elite Series finalists might be fishing the next day.
That’s a long excuse for the fact that only one carp was harvested in the 90-minute trip. During a typical four-hour trip on Cayuga Lake’s more familiar waters, the carp total might be as high as 50 to 60, along with all the shooting you can stand.
Barnes recalled a trip when a woman walked to be back of the boat and sat down next to him before explaining, “I can’t pull that bow back one more time.”
But this was an abbreviated trip.
“If we’d had another 30 minutes or an hour, I think we would have done a lot better,” said Emily Tucker. “We were just starting to find a lot of fish.”
Tucker has been bowhunting for about five years. She has killed both deer and wild hogs with a bow.
“It’s totally different from other types of bowhunting,” Tucker said. “It’s instinct shooting. (Cory) told me I just barely missed the first one.”
The common advice for first-time bowfishers is aim low, then aim lower. Because of light refraction in the water, the fish appear to be about 18 inches higher than they actually are, so misses are common – high misses – especially at the beginning of the evening. The bright red line attached to an aluminum, non-fletched arrow gives the shooter a clue about where to aim following a miss.
Unlike many other states, New York allows bowfishing for only carp. No gar, suckers or other species of nongame fish can be shot. Bradley Roy was the success story of the evening. He boated a common carp estimated to weigh 15 to 18 pounds. And he didn’t have much difficulty adapting to the shoot-low instructions.
“I hit the first one I shot, but I lost it on the way in,” Roy said.
It was after his third shot when he successfully reeled in the carp of the night. Roy works at Whitetail Heaven Outfitters in his home state of Kentucky during hunting season. In some ways, he enjoys deer hunting more than he does bass fishing.
“They’re right there, neck and neck,” Roy said. “But bass fishing has become more of a job. Don’t get me wrong, those are my two passions.”
Roy, now 23, killed his first whitetail when he was 10 years old and claimed his first one with a bow when he was 16. His best with a bow scored 149 Pope and Young points.
Roy and 31-year-old Elite Series rookie David Mullins were bowfishing from Barnes 20-foot Gator Trax boat with Justin Reyman operating the mud motor that powers it. Mullins is from Mt. Carmel, Tenn. In addition to deer hunting, Mullins is an avid duck hunter.
“I’ve never been so excited to see a carp in all my life,” laughed Mullins, adding, ” I really enjoyed it.”
Mullins compared bowfishing to duck hunting in that, “You’re constantly looking, and you’re shooting a lot.”
He isn’t sure it’s better practice for the archery deer season than shooting 3-D tournaments, but he knows it’s more fun.
“You’re hunting, not just shooting targets,” Mullins said.
J Todd Tucker made the feelings of the group unanimous when, two weeks after the bowfishing trip, he said, “I can’t wait to do it again. I’m trying to find somewhere to do it around here.”
J Todd and Emily live in Moultrie, Ga.
Barnes was glad to hear the positive reviews. If he can find a client base for bowfishing, combined with the waterfowl, wild turkey, deer and fishing guide services he offers, Barnes might well achieve his goal of guiding year round.
“The bowhunting industry is starting to back bowfishing in a big way,” Barnes said. “I want to be on that bandwagon.”
It appears there are now some Elite Series anglers and their wives ready to jump on the bowfishing bandwagon too.
See photos from the Elites’ bowfishing outing here.
(Capt. Jason “Big Jay” Barnes charges $100 per person for bowfishing trips. For more information, check out his website www.frontenacfowlers.com)