new to the club from down state. east alton il. across from st. louis. took my 12 yr. old son and his best friend out to one of our favorite spots today. had a great time shooting from the bank today... no boat yet! we've been shooting off of stop log structures for waterfowl impoundment lakes.took somewhere in the neighborhood of 15 buffalo,18-20 gar,and a couple of dog fish. not bad for bank shooters. heres the deal, we're leaving town for the long weekend, canoe trip, and can't make it back this weekend. us fish and wildlife are draining swan lake at the southern tip of calhoun county. in just a day or so the only water left will be in the southern most tip of the lake in a chute that leads to the ill. river. the water will be boiling with fish that will probably die off anyhow. lots of buffalo, have heard of bigheads but have yet to stick one. if anyones interested just cross the brussels ferry from jersey co. into calhoun co. approx. 1 mile to a brownconservation area sign"swan lake" gravel road to the right, go about 1/4 mile to a parking lot and the stop log structure is only 50 or so yards from the lot. can't miss it... and good luck!

Nice take. I mostly bank bowfish myself, so I can appreciate those numbers. Most days I don't even see that many fish, let alone get that many shots.

Welcome aboard.
Enjoy your outing this weekend.

Welcome carpoon. Have a safe trip.
That sounds like a great tip. I hope someone can take advantage of it.

Hey Carpoon let us know about the bigheads situation........good luck

What's the status on Swan Lake? Have you been back there since your canoe trip?

Welcome to the club! Great bunch of folks here (hey, they've included a cheesehead haven't they ?!) so I can't complain. Lot's of info and comraderie.

yes!! we went back last saturday and had a ball. i guess with the 4th of july holiday the us dept of fish and wildlife didn't do much pumping because the lake level had only dropped about 3 inches. the further down the lake is pumped the better the bowfishing will get! my son and i shot 10 buffalo,2carp, and a pair of 22lb bigheads in about 4 hours. the buff's ranged from 8-16 lbs. had seveal pull off's due toa tip malfunction. had the best shooting from around 10:00 to 1:00 pm. I don't know exactly when the shooting will be at it's peak but from the locals that i have talked to when the lake is drained the only water left will be in the chute leading to the stop log struckture at the river, approx 100 yrds long and 50ft wide. look on a map swan lake is very large! looks like i will have to work this weekend and won't be able to go but the first evening i have available im' going back with a couple of 12 yr olds for a shoot! we have yet to see anyone else bowfishing but have seen several people snagging buff's that are more than willing to take any excess fish off your hands. this lake is drained apparently every 5-6 years to plant feed for migrating waterfowl in the fall, so it's an unusally good time to take advantage of, and the fish will probably die off anywayfrom lack of water. let me know if anyone else goes!!!

Funny to see this post. We actually went and fished that chute at the stop gate Sunday, July 2nd. I guess the day after you were there. We thought it would be a different and interesting segment for our TV show, umm, I mean next DVD.

Turned out great. We shot around 40 buffs and a few gar and big shad. Had a couple buffs that topped 20 lbs. Had several doubles and even had a triple on until something cut my line and lost them all.

And the crowd whispers... did he say "tv show"?

Hmmm....


Thanks for the info carpoon, Robin. I'll have to check this place out.

Oh, and welcome to the club carpoon!!!

maybe.

carpoon, I am just across the river from you. email me anytime if you need help with anything.