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In Mid July, we were in search of a new adventure - Bowfishing for Paddlefish AKA spoonbill on the Missouri River. We arrived at the Gavins Point Dam campground, near Yankton, SD late Thursday night, allowing us one day of scouting, prior to the start of the two week archery season.
 Paddlefish are a prehistoric type fish with a long, flat snout, very large mouth and grey scaleless skin. The eyes of the paddlefish are very small and its mouth is without teeth. It feeds on swarms of plankton by swimming through it with its mouth hanging wide open. Paddlefish are found in the large rivers and lakes of the Mississippi River system, including the Missouri River, the Ohio River and their major tributaries.
It was Friday morning and we couldn't wait to go scouting for these prehistoric fish. My husband Jeff, my dad and I hopped into our boat and headed for the dam. As far as the fish were concerned, it was business as usual. They were surfacing periodically as they swam up river into the tail-waters of the dam. We watched and wondered how there would be enough time to shoot as they surfaced and then immediately dropped out of sight.
After moving over the water in that area several times we found an area that consistently produced fish. In several instances a couple of big fish were rolled to the surface by the current and other times we could see them swimming beneath the surface toward the dam. In both instances we would've had several seconds to get off a good shot if the season had been open. We decided this was the place to be at sunrise. Gramma would stay back with our kids (Sawyer and Sierra) and Jeff, my dad, and I were going to be on the water by sunrise.
We were all up early, well before sunrise. We couldn't wait to get going. We checked over our equipment. Our bows looked good, our Retrievers were ready, our arrows, "safety" slides and trophy fish points all were in good shape. We weren't going to lose one of these fish, so quality equipment was very important. We were set, grabbed some snacks and the cooler and we were off, along with about 25 other bowfishing boats headed for the tail-waters of the Gavins Point Dam.
There was an area closest to the dam that was off limits to bowfishing, period. It was an area filled with tons of fish still trying to head up river, but with no place to go but into the dam and it's concrete walls. Archers on the water had to draw and imaginary line from the end of the concrete wall on the Nebraska side over to the end of the concrete wall on the South Dakota side. Bowfishing for paddlefish from this line to the dam was strictly prohibited and enforced.
 We cruised right up to this line, moved over a bit and got right into our "spot" and started drifting back down river. Within minutes WHAM!, Jeff shoots and connects with a nice fish. His shot was well placed and the fish nearly went limp. He jumped down off the platform to take care of his fish and up I went. My father and I were up for the next one. I didn't even take time for pictures or to help him with the fish. Due to the shot placement, his fish had no fight in him, the tip went through the fish and wasn't going to let go so he was on his own and his tag was filled. ".5 pounds!" he proudly announced from down below with a big grin on his face.
We drifted down, once or twice more with no fish. Finally, we both saw them. A pair of nice sized paddlefish making their way up river about two feet below the surface and about 5' out from our boat. We both shot instantaneously. "I got 'em!" I shouted. Then Dad says "No, I got 'em". I didn't care. One of us had gotten one of them; maybe both of us had him. Our arrows and line were getting pulled all around in the same direction, back & forth. Dad had his line tight and was pulling the fish in. I figured that he had the fish under control so I was slowly working my line back in, trying not to get in his way. But I could still feel a pull at the end. My arrow had made its mark too.
 Finally we got the fish to the side of the boat. He was tired out. We grabbed him and pulled him over the side and let out a big YAHOOOO! After untangling the lines there was only one arrow to be removed - mine. Dad's arrow must have been so close that it tangled with my line on the retrieve. He thought he had the fish too and for the most part he was the one pulling it in. We had taken two paddlefish by 7:30 a.m. opening day. We couldn't believe it! I was hoping for just one for the season and by 7:30 we had already gotten two. Our shooting percentage was 100%. Two shots for two fish. That's nearly unheard of in bowfishing, especially when going after something as unique as a paddlefish.
It was warming up fast with little breeze and our intention was to get one of these fish mounted. We had them in a covered tub with water on them but we were worried about getting the big fish on ice to preserve him for the taxidermist. Jeff's fish was 30.5# and mine was 20.9# so we decided to get back to camp and get the big fish on ice and clean the other.
After taking the big fish to the freezer at a local bait shop and after cleaning the other fish, we ate some lunch and headed back for "our spot" to help Dad fill his tag. Mom came along this time too, as she had a tag to fill as well. Jeff agreed to watch the kids. We drifted through the area that produced all the fish in the morning with little luck. Fish were surfacing just out of range around the boat, but they came and went so quickly that they were not able to connect. They did shoot a few times, but no luck. It was nothing like it was earlier that day. We gave up after an hour and a half with no fish. It was time for some shade.
After sitting in the shade for a while we kicked ourselves for not staying out there earlier when the fishing was so good. Everyone but me, Dad, and my daughter Sierra decided to take a nap. The three of us decided to go out and try it again for as long as Sierra would let us. Maybe she would be our good luck charm. Off we went, back to where we thought the fishing was the best. We meandered through the other bowfishing boats, got to our starting point and drifted and waited, drifted and searched, drifted and waited. Most of the time Sierra was sitting nicely in the back of the boat but just when she started to get impatient WHAM! Dad connected with a nice fish.
The line zipped out of his Retriever and the fight was on. He hit it near the tail and this fish was mad. It fought more that either of the other two but he eventually tired and was brought boat-side and lifted into the boat! Sierra was squealing with excitement as the other bowfishermen watched us pull him in. Three paddlefish taken opening day! And one taken with Sierra in the boat. We headed back to show the nappers what we had done. They were as thrilled as we were with this 28.2# fish. We again took him up to be cleaned and started on our tasty paddlefish supper. We just covered the white filets with cracker crumbs and fried them in oil. It was a little more meatier in texture compared to other fish but they were great!
 We had gone out again that evening and several more times throughout the next day. Mom filled her tag, but the fish were not there. They were very, very few and far between. She was able to fire a few shots at those quick surfacing paddlefish but they were long gone when the arrow struck the water.
We had done more than what we had hoped by filling 3 of our 4 tags and my parents were ready to head home. They packed up Sunday afternoon and headed out. We stayed the night and headed for the taxidermist early Monday morning only to find out that he wouldn't mount the actual fish, he would only do a replica mount because of the oils and texture of the fish's skin. We quit fishing early that Saturday morning and froze our biggest fish for nothing after all but it was a great and very memorable trip.
Note: These were taken from the Missouri River during the Nebraska Archery Season for Paddlefish in 2001.
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