Asian Carp cleaning demo
 

Duane Chapman, of Asian carp fame, (not Dog, the Bounty Hunter) will be giving a Asian Carp cleaning demo at Bass Pro Shops in Bolingbrook, IL on May 10.
He is not only an authority on the biology of these fish but also an expert on preparing them for the table. (He's also an incredibly worldly and entertaining guy)

Head over there to check it out.

I'll be there. :)

RE: Asian Carp cleaning demo
 

Cool! That would be interesting. Do you think he'll be cooking any? You know how I am about a free meal...

RE: Asian Carp cleaning demo
 

He said he would be fryingsome up.
I'm hoping a bunch of us can get together there.

Who knows maybe we could grab some supper afterwards and then go out and try to "re-stock" Duanes ice chest. LOL ;)

RE: Asian Carp cleaning demo
 

Gary Allen (carpoon)is making up an article on his method of cleaning carp and buffalo too. I'm looking forward to that too.

RE: Asian Carp cleaning demo
 

I'll be there too.

Duane was very helpful last year on the phone.
I'd like to meet him in person this year since I couldn't make last year's presentation.

There is a good seafood restaraunt right in Bass Pro -Isla Morada.
Ate there last week after picking up a few things for the new boat.
It would be nice if Duane could join us for grub too, and shooting too if he desires.

A couple of my favorite places on the Des Plaines and Kankakee are just a half hour down hwy 55 from Bass Pro.

RE: Asian Carp cleaning demo
 

I'm in. What time is the demo?

RE: Asian Carp cleaning demo
 

The demo will be 11 AM to 4 PM Saturday. We'll be providing fry-cut Asian carp meat to Bass Pro, who is in charge of cooking and passing outfree fried fish. I assume fish will be provided until we run out, or Bass Pro gets tired of frying it up and passing it out. I don't know yet where we will be set up. It might be indoors.

Duane (not Dog) Chapman

RE: Asian Carp cleaning demo
 

Oh, and I don't know if I will be trying to go home on Saturday after the ordeal, uh, I mean, demo (to get home for mother's day - always a good idea for those of us with a wife, kids, and a mother in close proximity). But that would work only if I can bail out right afterwards and I'm not too road-weary after driving all the way there the day before. Seems likely that I will be there for the night. I'd like to get a chance to get on the water. Since I'll be at Bass Pro, getting a license seems pretty easy. Probably embarrass myself with my crappy bowfishing gear and very limited experience actually shooting fish, though. Y'all might excuse me, though, if I don't feel much like cleaning fish afterward, after cleaning 3 or 4 hundred pounds of fish for the fry on Friday, then doing demos all day on Saturday....

RE: Asian Carp cleaning demo
 

We'll bring the pontoon boat up. Maybe if you're up for it, we'll head out the big basin area. That's where Chris shot those bigheads.

:)

Any bowfishing gear that you need or want to try, just let us know, we'll bring it.

RE: Asian Carp cleaning demo
 

Christine, for those of us that can't make it, could you please videotape the process for our website. If things go well, I might be practicing on a few of those Biggies tomorrow evening. Getting the nice fillets off... no problem. Getting all the red meat off the lateral line....no problem. Getting rid of all the fatty lipid deposits near the belly.....no problem. Getting those bones out of the dorsal area..... Big problem. They're not quite like the Y bones of a pike and I don't have a clue. Thanks.
Robster

RE: Asian Carp cleaning demo
 

robow - I will be demo-ing two ways to deal with the bones in the filets. One is to debone the filets, and the other, quicker and easier if you are frying the fish, is to make what I call fry-cut strips (or, sometimes, we call them flying carp wings, and cook them with a hotwing sauce). I'll be making a video on Friday of the frycut strips part. I don't know if the video will include the deboning process. To make the frycut strips, you simply cut the fish in long strips, diagonally, WITHOUT CUTTING THE BONES. These long strips are then rolled in cornmeal coating and fried. When they are cooked, just break the strip in half and the bones will usually stay in one half of the strip. Eat the boneless half. Then grab the bones sticking out of the boney strip and pull them out and put them on a plate reserved for that purpose. Now that piece is also boneless, so eat it. then repeat. For the piece back by the caudal peduncle, the bones are smaller so this method does not work as well. But they also are straight (not y-shaped) and near the outside of the fish in that section. So I just filet those little bones off like they were anotherskin, and have a boneless piece from that section.

Deboning is better shown than described, so maybe someone should bring a camera and film it, in case only the frycut portion makes it into the INHS video.

I also have some tricks about skinning the fish. For silver carp and bighead carp, when skinning, you often leave those silver dollars of skin on the outside of the filet, which really slows things down. To avoid this problem, cut the filets in half lengthwise before you skin the filets. Then, using a regular filet knife (not an electric) cut the exposed red meat and the skin off of each half of the filet. You should bend the knife a bit as you do this, bending it so that it bends around the white-red meat junction, and sawing as you cut the filet off. In this way you do not waste meat, there will be no silver-dollars of skin on the meat, and you pull the red meat and the skin off in one swoop. Note that this is probably NOT the right procedure to use with grass carp or black carp or common carp, which have large scales (making the lateral line cut through the skin is therefore slower) and also have less problem with the silver-dollar issue.

RE: Asian Carp cleaning demo
 

I'll wait for the demo!

RE: Asian Carp cleaning demo
 

LOL ...and the free food!:D:D:D

Rob, We'll do our best to get video of the demo.

RE: Asian Carp cleaning demo
 

Duane, don't you get your lab help to help clean?


Robow, there is a bone up near the dorsal area that's like a christmas tree and you can do nothing about it. The rest of the bones are y-bones and easy to get around. The process Duane developed is quite simple, but much easier to understand if seeing the process live (or taped) than from reading about. Works really well on 15# fish and up. Below that, I prefer them boneless.

RE: Asian Carp cleaning demo
 

Well, the professional video thing fell through for lack of money, but INHS will probably do an amateurvideo anyway. We are looking for funding for a professional video, though. They want 8K to do the video, and we don't have that much. We might scrape it up, a thousand here and a thousand there, with collaborators, though.

RE: Asian Carp cleaning demo
 

$8 grand??!! Yikes.

I'll be there with my little HV20 cam. Hardly professional, but I should be able to capture the basics of your cleaning methods.

RE: Asian Carp cleaning demo
 

Duane,
The one I cleaned last night, after I had my initial two fillets with skin still attached, I turned the fillet over so now flesh is side up and of course the lateral line or natural separation is very evident. I slid my knife down that line creating both a superior and inferior length long strip. I find that it is much easier to skin them out that way and easier to cut out the dark red meat along that lateral line that runs deeper into the fillet than theother more diffusesurface red meat. So now I have 4 length long strips. Which do I make those diagonalcuts? The inferioror superior strip? (I'm assuming the superior strip)but do I go the length of the fillet or concentrate more towards the head like say half way backand then forward? Do I angle the cut toward the head or away and what approximate angle? Thanks for your help. Oh and because I'm waiting to make the final cuts, they're sitting in my fridge soaking so I hope you're not going to tell me that I'm better off going from cleaning table to fryer.

RE: Asian Carp cleaning demo
 

Are you still talking about cleaning carp? or dissecting a cadaverl?:eek:

I'll videotape for only $4k; and that will include a new camera.

RE: Asian Carp cleaning demo
 

Both the superior/top/dorsal and the inferior/bottom/ventral halves of each filet have bones. The ventral half does not have bones in the ribcage portion unless you cut through the ribs, so you can cut that section off. It is boneless already.

Now take the top/dorsal half of the filet. Lets say you are starting with the left side of the fish.The first time you do this, just to see the angle of the bones and their spacing, we are going to do the first step like you were going to debone the fish filet. Put the side that was closest to the bones down and the side that was closest to the skin up, and the end that was closest to the head to your left. Starting about an inch to an inch and a half behind (posterior to) the flat, foward end of the filet, take your filet knife and, holding it parallel with thecutting board,remove a strip of meat from the outside of the fish that exposes the bones. You'll end up with a strip of boneless meat about as thick as a bluegill filet but 1.5 " wide and almost the length of the filet. You should be able to see the direction of the bones now. That is theangleyou need to make your cuts in.

Starting about halfway down the flat end of the filet, cut a triangle of meat off the top front corner. This triangle will include that christmas tree bone that fishhunter was talking about. Use the angle of the exposed bones. This is not an equilateral triangle. I'm going to say offhand that the top-front corner of the triangle is about 90 degrees, and the bottom front corner of the triangle is about 70 degrees, and the back-top corner is about 20 degrees. Then just keep cutting strips off at about that same angle, cutting between the bones. You want strips that are about a half inch thick, containg maybe four bones each.If youhit bone, do not cut through it. Try to let your knife slide between the bones, rather than cutting the bones. It is important to not cut the y-branch off the bones, either. If you hit one of those, that means you don't have the vertical angle of your knife right. Don't cut through it. Just cut around it, and after the rest of the cut is made, pull the strip off the bone. This will leave a little point of bone sticking out. You can just fry the piece that way or cut the sticking-out bone off and then fry the meat. It doesn't matter. When you get back to the caudal peduncle (the narrow area near the tail fin) the bones are very near the surface of the meat, and the bones are straight pins without the "y" structure. At that point, I just turn the filet over and cut the bones off that section like it was another piece of skin. That yields a boneless piece.

Now repeaton the bottom half of the filet, which has the rib cage section already removed. Treat the caudal peduncle the same as above.

RE: Asian Carp cleaning demo
 

Can't thank you enough Duane, that post took a lot of thought and work. I'll go at it as you describe. BTW, sorryfishpoint, occasionally the degree in zoology seeps out and I do appreciate your comments above.

RE: Asian Carp cleaning demo
 

Well I'm gonna bring my camera and video one from start to finish, for myself and to post up here. I love fish and I'd really like to eat alot more than I do. Unfortunately I still get some bones in my fillets here and there and noone else in my house likes eating fish because of it. I don't think it's that bad because my first experience eating my catch was with all my buddies and we were drinking a little bit and cut through a few ribs on a couple (read most)fillets. We just learned to chew the whole bite over real slow first, find the bones and pick them out of our mouths. It takes a little longer to eat your dinner that way, and it's kinda gross when in mixed-company (picture 5 guys rooting around their mouths at the table and piling up little slobbery bones all over the place)but that was my first impression of fresh-fish so I'm kinda use to eating them that way. I guess it would be nice to not get stabbed in the roof of my mouth or get bones wedged between my teeth when eating.

BTW I'm having a fish-fry next month; who's coming?

RE: Asian Carp cleaning demo
 

I'm busy. What day was that?

RE: Asian Carp cleaning demo
 

Duane, I sent you a PM.
Click on 'In Box' to read it

Chris Engstrom

RE: Asian Carp cleaning demo
 

For any of you bowfishing-club-type-people who are going to make it to the demo or shooting afterwards, you are welcome to stay the night at my place. If we're awake enough, I can even stoke up a fire in the fire pit outside or the gas fireplace inside. ... oh, and I have bowfishing videos.

The shooting spot is just 30 mins from Bass Pro, and I'm just 15 minutes back up the road from there when we're done. Street parking is allowed and well lit to protect your boats and generators. I'll have written directions tothe boat launchand my place at the demo.

I'll serve breakfast, but we'll be camping on the floor.
I have some blankets, but you may wish to bring a sleeping bag.

Chris

RE: Asian Carp cleaning demo
 

Duane,
I finally got a chance to fillet as you described. Of course I didn't get it completely right but the good thing about Asian Bigheads is there are plenty to practice on. Oh and btw, I fried some up with my secret batter and oh was it good. It is such a white and mild tasting meat. Now my favorite is walleye and lake perch so it's obvious that I don't like a real strong fishy taste. To me, even larger catfish can obtain a strong flavor and buffalo, well forget that garbage. This was excellent especially when I mixed in a batch of Morrells that I picked behind the house. One other nice thing is that even a fair sized fish will feed a family of ten. I haven't grilled any yet but that will be next. I've smoked some in the past and it has just enough oil to not be real dry. And from an unbiased source, I happened to shoot a three pound catfish this weekend and so fried it upand my wife swore it smelled the house up much more than the Asians, so there you have it from the nose that knows.

RE: Asian Carp cleaning demo
 

Is there a big difference in taste between Bigheads and Silvers??
I think I'd like to try this.

RE: Asian Carp cleaning demo
 

Bulz, I have yet to eat a silver so I can't compare the two. I would think they would be similar in that they are very similar species but Iseem to recallDuanestating that he felt the Silver carp might be even better tasting. So hopefully he will respond.

RE: Asian Carp cleaning demo
 

In the Missouri River, I like silver carp better than bighead carp, partly because sometimes the bighead carp are not eating well and the meat becomes somewhat gelatinous. This is true of any fish that is losing weight, not just bigheads. Bigheads are notgrowingthat well in the Missouri, not sure why - maybe there are just too many of them, or too many silvers.

Silvers are really good. They also feed lower on the food chain than bigheads, so the mercury content is lower. Bigheads are not high compared to nearly any other fish from the same water, though.

One thing about silvers - the meat of the males is slightly darker than that of females, and sometimes, during the breeding season especially, some males will have a lot darker meat. I think you can tell the difference in flavor when the meat gets darker, or maybe it is just my imagination. So I tend to eat the females if I have plenty of fish (they tend to be bigger anyway) and I tend not to eat the really dark males. This does not apparently happen with male bighead carp.


Here are some recipes. I'll get the spice mix for the jerk recipe later, and add a curry recipe. If you have a ceviche recipe you like, Asians make great ceviche too, but be forewarned that you will have to use deboned carp. The lime won't cook up the bones like it will for some fish.
[/b]
[/b]
Recipes for Fry-cut Asian Carp Strips[/b]
[/b]

Fried Asian Carp[/b]

1) Fry-cut silver carp strips (cut in the manner described in "Carp Lemonade" - most pieces will contain 2-4 large bones, while some pieces will be boneless).
2) Dry cornmeal-based seasoning (pre-mixed, or mix your own from yellow cornmeal, salt, black pepper, and whatever other seasonings you desire)
3) Vegetable or Peanut oil

Roll strips in dry coating and deep-fry until golden brown. Serve while still steaming hot. To minimize problems with the bones, eat in the following manner: Break the strip in two pieces, a bit off-center. The bones will now protrude from the break. Usually all of the bones will remain in the longer piece. Pull the bones out and place them on a plate or napkin reserved for that purpose, and eat the fish - which is now boneless. Easier, by far, than eating chicken wings!

[/b]
Flying Carp Wings[/b]
[/b]
Prepare and eat as above, except instead of a cornmeal mix, use unadulterated corn starch, and fry until cornstarch coating is crispy. After frying, while the fish are still hot, shake strips in your favorite hot-wing sauce. Messy, but it will knock your socks off! Not for dieters!


[/b]
Recipes for deboned Asian Carp[/b]
[/b]


Fajitas Carpitas[/b]
[/b]
1) 2 pounds deboned Asian carp meat pieces (see "Carp Lemonade" for instructions on deboning)
2) 1/2 bottle liquid fajita marinade (dry mixes can also be used)
3) 10 Soft tortillas, fajita size
4) Fajita toppings as desired, such as salsa, pico de gallo, cheese, sour cream, guacamole, shredded lettuce, etc.

Marinade deboned carp pieces in the refrigerator for at least an hour. Grill over a hot fire. Use of a fish basket or a piece of piece of expanded aluminum mesh will help keep the fish piece from breaking up and falling through the grill, but if you are careful this is not entirely necessary, because the carp meat is quite firm. Place in a covered dish when removing from the grill, to keep the fish hot until delivered to the table. Diners can construct their own tortillas with their desired toppings.



Recipes for Bone-in Asian Carp filets[/b]
[/b]
[/b]
[/b]
Jamaican Jerk Carp [/b]
[/b]
1) 4 pounds of white meat filets from silver, bighead, or grass carp. Filets should be cut lengthwise down the center line, and skin and red meat removed.
2) Juice of two limes (or substitute apple cider vinegar)
3) Spice mix (Insert spice mix recipe here)

Rub filets generously with spice mix, and put the filets in a plastic bag. Add juice or vinegar, and shake the bag to mix well. Marinade for 20 minutes to an hour. (DO NOT EXCEED one hour marinade time, or the acid will begin to "cook" the fish, causing it to fall apart on the grill.) Grill over a hot fire. Serve with Jamaican-style red beans and rice (see recipe, called "Peas and Rice" in Jamaica) and/or a fruit salsa. This recipe requires that diners remove intramuscular bones from the fish at the table.

Jamaican Peas and Rice[/b][/b]
1 1/2cups dried red kidney beans 1 garlic clove, crushed
4cups watersalt, to taste
2cups canned coconut milkfresh ground pepper, to taste
1small onion, minced(optional) 1 scallion, chopped
1sprig fresh thyme 1 freshhot pepper
2cups uncooked rice

Combine the kidney beans, garlic, water and salt to taste in a saucepan. Cook, covered over medium heat until tender, about 2 hours. Add the coconut milk, pepper to taste, scallion, onion, thyme and whole fresh pepper. Bring to a boil, remove the hot pepper. Then add the rice and stir. Return to a boil, cover, reduce the heat, and simmer for 25 minutes, or until all the liquids have been absorbed. Serve hot.

* Can use 16-oz. can cooked beans instead. Drain and combine with water and other ingredients except rice. Boil, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Add rice, boil, reduce heat and cook about 20 minutes or until liquids are absorbed.

Fruit Salsa[/b]
2 tablespoons chopped red onion
1 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro leaves
2 cups of chopped, mixed tropical fruit using at least two of orange, mango, and pineapple. Orange and mango should be fresh, pineapple may be canned. (If desired, may also include some firm tomato)

Mix all and let sit for an hour in the refrigerator. Serve cold.

Recipes for Asian carp
 

Recipes for Fry-cut Asian Carp Strips[/b]
[/b]

[/b]
[/b]
[/b]
[/b]
Fried Asian Carp[/b]

1) Fry-cut silver carp strips (cut in the manner described in "Carp Lemonade" - most pieces will contain 2-4 large bones, while some pieces will be boneless).
2) Dry cornmeal-based seasoning (pre-mixed, or mix your own from yellow cornmeal, salt, black pepper, and whatever other seasonings you desire)
3) Vegetable or Peanut oil

Roll strips in dry coating and deep-fry until golden brown. Serve while still steaming hot. To minimize problems with the bones, eat in the following manner: Break the strip in two pieces, a bit off-center. The bones will now protrude from the break. Usually all of the bones will remain in the longer piece. Pull the bones out and place them on a plate or napkin reserved for that purpose, and eat the fish - which is now boneless. Easier, by far, than eating chicken wings!

[/b]
[/b]
[/b]
[/b]
Flying Carp Wings[/b]
[/b]
Prepare and eat as above, except instead of a seasoned cornmeal mix, use unadulterated corn starch, and fry until cornstarch coating is crispy. After frying, while the fish are still hot, shake strips in your favorite hot-wing sauce. Messy, but it will knock your socks off! Not for dieters!


[/b]
Recipes for deboned Asian Carp[/b]
[/b]


Fajitas Carpitas[/b]
1) 2 pounds deboned Asian carp meat pieces (see "Carp Lemonade" for instructions on deboning)
2) 1/2 bottle liquid fajita marinade (dry mixes can also be used)
3) 10 Soft tortillas, fajita size
4) Fajita toppings as desired, such as salsa, pico de gallo, cheese, sour cream, guacamole, shredded lettuce, etc.

Marinade deboned carp pieces in the refrigerator for at least an hour. Grill over a hot fire. Use of a fish basket or a piece of piece of expanded aluminum mesh will help keep the fish piece from breaking up and falling through the grill, but if you are careful this is not entirely necessary, because the carp meat is quite firm. Place in a covered dish when removing from the grill, to keep the fish hot until delivered to the table. Diners can construct their own tortillas with their desired toppings.

Asian Carp Curry, Indian style
2 lbs. boneless Asian Carp filets, in bite size pieces 0.5 t turmeric
3 T cooking oil 1 large onion, chopped
1 t garlic powder 1.5 t salt
2 t ginger powder 0.5 t cayenne pepper
2 t curry powder 2 cups water
1 small can tomato sauce (tomato paste works too) juice of lemon


Mix 1 t salt with half of turmeric and half garlic powder and rub on fish pieces. Sprinkle with lemon juice, and set aside to marinate while sauce is being made.
In large, deep frying pan or wok, saute onion in oil until golden brown. Add rest of spices and stir for a few seconds, then stir in tomato sauce. Simmer for 5-10 minutes. Add water and rest of salt. Bring to a boil and add fish pieces. Cover and simmer on low heat, without stirring, until fish flakes. This will not take more than a few minutes, depending on size and density of fish pieces. Do not overcook fish. Spoon onto a bed of cooked white rice and garnish with something green, preferably fresh broccolli.
Options:
1. Add some vegetables, (broccoli florets, yellow squash slices) into the sauce when cooking fish.
2. Add a carton of plain yogurt. This sounds strange but it is very traditional in Indian curries, and is delicious. The yogurt must be stirred in while broth is hot, just before adding fish.
3. The sauce (not with yogurt) may be made up in large batches and stored refrigerated or frozen. This makes a very quick meal if you have some fish thawed when you come home from work. Or take a frozen container of sauce with you when you go camping, and cook your fresh-caught fish in it. Especially good when it is cold out.

[/b]
Recipes for Bone-in Asian Carp filets[/b]
[/b]
[/b]
One option for dealing with Asian carp bones is simply to take the filets, (an upper and a lower filet half from each side of the fish, with red meat removed but intramuscular bones still in), season appropriately, and grill, broil, steam, or smoke the fish. Then the bones can be quickly removed by simply breaking the filet lengthwise and picking out the bones. This can be done at the table or by the chef. The following recipe is just one of many ways to cook the filets. Make sure you make extra, because the leftovers are fantastic. Take the leftover fish, remove any bones, flake the meat, mix in mayonnaise, a bit more of the pepper mix, and some of the fruit salsa and make incredible fish salad sandwiches.
[/b]
Jamaican Jerk Carp [/b]
1) 4 pounds of white meat filets from silver, bighead, or grass carp. Filets should be cut lengthwise down the center line, and skin and red meat removed.
2) Juice of two limes (or substitute apple cider vinegar)
3) Spice mix (1T paprika, 2t salt, 1t fresh ground black pepper, 1t white pepper, 1t cayenne,
1t garlic powder, 1t onion powder, ½t oregano, ½t thyme)

Rub filets generously with spice mix, and put the filets in a plastic bag. Add juice or vinegar, and shake the bag to mix well. Marinade for 20 minutes to an hour. (DO NOT EXCEED one-hour marinade time, or the acid will begin to "cook" the fish, causing it to fall apart on the grill.) Grill over a hot fire. Serve with Jamaican-style red beans and rice (called "Peas and Rice" in Jamaica) and/or a fruit salsa (see recipes which follow).

Jamaican "Peas" and Rice[/b][/b]
1 1/2cups dried red kidney beans* 1 garlic clove, crushed
4cups watersalt, to taste
2cups canned coconut milkfresh ground pepper, to taste
1small onion, minced(optional) 1 scallion, chopped
1sprig fresh thyme 1 freshhot pepper
2cups uncooked rice

Combine the kidney beans, garlic, water and salt to taste in a saucepan. Cook, covered over medium heat until tender, about 2 hours. Add the coconut milk, pepper to taste, scallion, onion, thyme and whole fresh pepper. Bring to a boil, remove the hot pepper. Then add the rice and stir. Return to a boil, cover, reduce the heat, and simmer for 25 minutes, or until all the liquids have been absorbed. Serve hot.

*Can substitute 16-oz. can cooked beans instead. Drain and combine with water and other ingredients except rice. Boil, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Add rice, boil, reduce heat and cook about 20 minutes or until liquids are absorbed.

Fruit Salsa[/b]
2 tablespoons chopped red onion
1 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro leaves
2 cups of chopped, mixed tropical fruit using at least two of orange, mango, and pineapple. Orange and mango should be fresh, pineapple may be canned. (If desired, may also include some firm tomato)

Mix all and let sit for an hour in the refrigerator. Serve cold.

RE: Asian Carp cleaning demo
 

I have good news.

We have arranged for a photagrapher to video tape and take stills of Duane's presentation and edit the video at no cost. She will alsoturn over the whole thing to Duane to use as he sees fit.

After discussingwith her why Duane does these programs, who we are and why we support him, and that the USGS budget could not currently handle the normal price tag of video, she decided to help out too by donating her time and the use of her equipment.

I visited Bass Pro yesterdayto discuss the details in person with the store manager and event coordinator. With a phone call to Duane, we finalized the location of the demonstration, and made sure the photagrapher was aware of any special lighting or sounds requirements.

Jeff and Tim from Bass Pro were a big help in making sure all the details were covered so that it all goes smoothly. They have agreed to make sure the background music is turned down in the presentation area and have volunteered to use their resources to assist with disposal of the fish carcases.

Bass Pro is proving themselves to be a great partner, so make sure you thank them in person when you come out, and maybe buy some gear while you're there too.

We have also been asked to put on a bowfishing presentation at the store at a later date. Details to be determined later.

See everybody on Saturday.

Chris

RE: Asian Carp cleaning demo
 

EXCELLENT NEWS CHRIS!! That is fantastic! I was a little nervous about filming it since I'm no photographer, but I would have given it a shot. I still plan on recording some tho, but at least we know there'll be a professional there doing it right. That's great.

Ok, what time is everyone showing up? And are we meeting somewhere or are we just gonna run into each other while oogling all the things we can't afford to buy? I have a couple hours of work I have to do first, but the job is in Plainfield, about 20 minutes away, and I'm gonna start it at around 8:00. I should be able to get there by 11:30. And, Kendall, where are you gonna put your boat? Or are you gonna bring it to the store to show it off?

RE: Asian Carp cleaning demo
 

Store opens at 10, demo starts at 11.
I'll be there early to park the boat up front andto meet thephotagrapher. Duane will beswinging his knivesright out front under the entrance canopy, and there are other Asian Carp related presentations going on throughout the store.

There will be more to do than just see fish being cut up and shopping too...

RE: Asian Carp cleaning demo
 

Kevin Irons from the IL Natural History Survey will be there too. He has some great info about silvers in the IL and tributaries.

We'll be there around 10am. I hope to get the pontoon boat up near the front.