Hunting for Dinner: Bowfishing for Carp (and a Recipe for Carp Ceviche) (2024)

This isthe eighth post in aseries about hunting for food--truly meeting your meat. Also check out the earlier posts from the series:Squirrel Hunting with Mom,Duck Hunting,An Unsuccessful Pheasant Hunt,Mom Bags Her First Deer,Ice Fishing, Making Your Own Sausages, WildGame Charcuterie, and Foraging.

You knowyou are about to have a good time when the activity you are about to dorequires a waiver. That’s what my friend Rick said to me right before we got ontoa boat for an evening of bowfishing. Bowfishing isn’t a new way to fish, but itwas new to Rick and me; I have always wanted to try it, but it can be a littleexpensive to buy a bow and set it up with all the necessary gear. Several weeksago, I was searching through Craigslist trying to find an old bow to buy when Icame across an ad for guided bowfishing trips. I immediately went to the website and sent an inquiry to find out more information. As soonas I told my good friend Rick Edwards about it, he was on board, and we wereall set to go.

DerekSanderson runs Scales-n-Tales bowfishing guide service, takingpeople out for guided bowfishing hunts in the west metro area, primarilysearching for carp but targeting all varieties of rough fish. I set up a tripfor me and Rick, and we met Derek at 8:30 p.m. on a calm Tuesday evening for anexperience I won’t soon forget. Before we set out, we went through some safety tipsand the basic workings of the bows we were going to be using. The bows usespecial arrows that are attached to the bow with 200 pound line, and they arealso equipped with fishing reels designed specifically for bowfishing. Derek’sboat is a standard 16 foot flat bottom boat that he has modified to include anelevated shooting deck on the front and high power lights that illuminate thewater and allow you to see the fish.

I had toldDerek that I was a first timer, and he informed me that going at night providesa better opportunity for beginners because the fish are easier to see. When westarted out, Rick and I were both curious what the best method for shootingcarp was going to be. Derek told us that when you are shooting into the wateryou need to aim low, and when you think you have aimed low enough, aim lower.Because of the refractory of the water, the fish appear to be right under thesurface but in all actuality the fish we were shooting at were in one to fourfeet of water and the majority of our misses went high over the fish. It tookseveral shots to get the hang of it and even when we did get the hang of itthere were still a lot of missed shots.

The firstfish of the night was a decent sized carp about 5-6 pounds; this was the sizewe were looking for. When I first contacted Derek to set up the trip, I toldhim that I really wanted some decent fish for eating. Derek chose the lake wewere on because the fish tend to be a little smaller and better for eating.Some of the other lakes that Derek guides on can produce fish in the 20-30pound range, and when they get that big they aren’t very good to eat. All thefish we got that night were in the 5-8 pound range. It took about three hoursto make a complete circle around the lake and in that time we got six carp andone dogfish. We lost one of the carp because it came off the arrow.

Bowfishingturned out to be one of the most entertaining activities I have ever done. Itwas non-stop action from the time we got on the boat until we finished. We gotplenty of shooting in, but shooting wasn’t the only thing we did. The way thelights shine into the water, they illuminate an area around the boat and youcan see everything in the water. We saw hundreds of different fish including a fewtrophy-sized northern pike that would be a blast to catch,but bowfishing is limitedto rough fish only. Game fish like Northerns, walleyes and bass are illegal totake with a bow.We also saw dozens ofturtles, both painted turtles and snapping turtles; a couple of the snappingturtles were as big around as a garbage can lid. While back in a small bay wecame across several geese. They got spooked and took off, but one of the geesedidn’t get off the water in time and flew right into me, almost knocking me offthe boat. That was a first for me.

Rick and Ihad a blast, and we are looking forward to going back and doing it again. Wewere both really excited to get some carp and wanted to try out a few recipesto see if we could make carp taste better than its reputation would lead you tobelieve. Most people don’t eat carp; as a matter of fact, Derek told us that wewere the first of his clients to request to take them home. Usually he gets ridof the carp and uses it for compost. But I felt like I was up to the challengeto take a fish that most people won’t eat and make something delicious out ofit.

I haveeaten carp before, but I’ve only ever seen it cooked two different ways: smokedand fried. Smoked carp is good and all of the fried carp I have had has beenpretty good, as well. One of the big complaints about carp is that it can tasteswampy, or have a mushy texture. In order to get around that there is atechnique of handling fish that everyone should know about called bleeding yourfish. After you catch a fish, if you intend on eating it, you should cut thegills out and make a cut across the throat of the fish. This will allow thefish to completely bleed out, and when you do this it takes a lot of that badflavor with it. The other thing that has to be done is removing the dark fleshfrom the inside of the fillet. It is often referred to as the mud stripe,because it can taste just like the bottom of the lake. When those two thingsare done, carp are just as tasty as any other fish. I would agree with my buddyRick that they are on the same plane as an orange roughy or a tilapia.

The otherbig problem with carp is that they are extremely boney. Not only is the ribcage very large but the best part of the fillet is riddled with these crazyY-bones that are a complete pain. One method for dealing with all the bones isscoring the meat. Scoring is when you take the fillet and make dozens of cutsin the fillet not going all the way through the fillet. When done properly, itallows the oil you are frying the fish in to penetrate the meat, which softensthe bones and makes them edible.

I cooked mycarp in two different ways. First, I cut some of my fillets into nuggets andsoaked them in buttermilk and made buttermilk fried carp nuggets. They werewonderful, with a great texture and mild flavor, and the meat just flakedapart. The second way I cooked the carp was to make a ceviche. A true cevicheis fish that has been soaked in lime or other citrus juice, and the acidityessentially cooks the fish. But since carp are fresh water fish, which can besusceptible to parasites, it's necessary to freeze or cook them in order to killany possible parasites.Idecided to poach the fillets first and then soak them in lime juice; poachingthe fillets first also gave me the opportunity to pick out all the bones in themeat. What I ended up with was a very appealing carp ceviche, and unless I toldyou it was carp I doubt anyone would be able to tell the difference between itand any other fish.

If you arelooking for a summer adventure and would like to give it a try, bowfishing isdefinitely an entertaining option. And if you are looking for a challengebeyond hitting a fish with an arrow, take the carp home and try makingsomething tasty. Both activities will be worth your time.

CarpCeviche

Serves 12 with ½cup portions

Ingredients:

• 2 cups carp(poached and picked over for bones)
• ½ cupfinely diced red onion
• ¼ cup dicedred pepper
• 1 jalapenofinely diced
• ½ cup dicedcherry tomatoes
• ¼ cupfreshly squeezed lime juice
• ½ cupchopped cilantro
• ¼ cup oliveoil
• 2 avocadosdiced
• ½ tsp AnchoChile powder
• ½ tspground cumin
• Salt andpepper to taste

Instructions:

1. Poach thecarp fillets in well-seasoned salt water and allow to cool to room temperature.
2. Pick over the fillets and remove all the Y-bones until you have about 2 cups ofcooked carp.
3. Pour the lime juice over the carp and let stand while you cut andmix the remaining ingredients.
4. Dice theremaining ingredients and mix in a large bowl. Once all the ingredients areadded together, add the carp meat and the lime juice and stir gently together.Season with salt and pepper and serve chilled. I served mine with blue cornchips.