Bowfishing nabs new state record river carpsucker

Written by Joanie Straub, MDC

Courtesy MDC

BELTON, MO – Cody Chaney, 18, of Belton holds the new official Missouri state record for river carpsucker. Chaney was bow fishing with his father Terry, younger brother Brady and grandfather Bill Hill in a spring-fed cove at Lake of the Ozarks just after midnight May 27 when he struck something big.

“We didn’t realize it was a record, but we thought it had potential,” said Terry Chaney. “We actually thought it was a highfin carpsucker from the looks of the fish. But once we brought it to our conservation agent Phil Needham, he helped us figure out that we really had a river carpsucker.”

Cody’s catch weighed 5 pounds, 8 ounce, and was 20.5 inches long. Missouri’s previous state record, which stood for a mere three weeks, was a 5-pound, 6-ounce fish caught May 6 on a trotline in the South Grand River.

“Last year, we actually shot one that was bigger,” said Terry. “But it was late and we didn’t have enough ice to keep the fish alive, so it rotted.”

This time, the family was prepared and had a spare cooler with ice ready to hold any potential record fish. According to Terry, the family learned their lesson and never goes fishing without a cooler full of ice just to hold fish.

Cody has been bow fishing for about three years and spends approximately 300 days a year enjoying the Missouri outdoors, either hunting or fishing.

“During the summer, whenever we have a free weekend, you’ll find us out bow fishing,” said Terry. “It is definitely one of our favorite family summertime activities.”

The river carpsucker (Carpiodes carpio) is silvery, with a deep, thick body, a long, sickle-shaped dorsal fin and whitish lower fins. It is also called "white carp," "silver carp" and "quillback." It is the most abundant and widely distributed carpsucker in Missouri. River carpsuckers prefer quiet, silt-bottomed pools, backwaters and oxbows of large streams and deeper pools of small prairie creeks. They also often thrive in impoundments. Adults typically are 12 to 15 inches long. The river carpsucker is often confused with the highfin carpsucker. The two can be distinguished by the length of the first ray of the dorsal fin, which reaches to or beyond the back of the dorsal fin in the highfin carpsucker.

Conservation makes Missouri a great place to fish. More information about Missouri fishing records is available at mdc.mo.gov/fishing/reports/records.

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• Got any Great Missouri Stream or River Fishing Photos to Share? (missourioutdoors.blogspot.com)

Got any Great Missouri Stream or River Fishing Photos to Share?

David Mann, outdoor writer and University of Missouri journalism student, is writing a comprehensive stream and river fishing guide to Missouri.  This edition will detail not just the streams that normally get covered, but also some of the more out of the way places found around the state.  It will for example, cover many streams and rivers of northern Missouri which rarely get much coverage.

He is asking outdoorsmen and women to consider contributing any photos they might have to his cause. While we have collected an extensive number of photos, there are some streams and rivers for which perhaps we have spent too much time fishing and too little time taking pictures.

If you have any photos you'd be willing to send to this cause, please email us at either pamanniii@gmail.com or support@family-outdoors.com. We have been informed that we will need to send a release that essentially states we can use the photo in any way and that you expect no compensation in return.  We will of course credit photographers in captions if you wish.

Your help is greatly appreciated.

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Fishing Missouri's Wild Trout Streams

There are ample opportunities for some nice smaller stream trout fishing in Missouri for wild trout.  A bit of research and hard work will put you on some nice water.  There is not a thing wrong with Missouri Trout Parks in my mind, but if you are looking for another alternative besides the "big rivers" like the Meramec, Current, North Fork of the White, give these little streams a chance.  You might not catch any lunkers, but the beauty of the streams and the fish may more than make up for it.

Opening Day Alternatives

Don't get the wrong idea about what I am saying here. I love the trout parks and I even love opening day of the trout season. You just probably won't ever find me fishing one of the opening days. I have learned the hard way to always (get the contradiction) qualify my absolutes...thus I throw in a probably before my won't. Anyway, I love the trout parks during winter catch and release season and on Summer weekdays and I love opening day because it sucks a tremendous number of the state's trout fishermen into about 5 square miles of the state's 150 miles of trout streams.

I took my son fishing in the upper stretches of the Current River on the Saturday before Monday's opening. We came in through Montauk State Park and the place was already hopping. The State Troopers had people pulled over and the campground was mostly full. We slid on through and took a look at Tan Vat and it was even a bit crowded for our liking. It was a beautiful day after all. We made our way on down to Baptist Camp, and though the parking lot had a half dozen or so cars and trucks, the fishermen were so spread out we had each hole we wanted to fish to ourselves. Though it was a warm day, the ice hung off the canyon walls creating a beautiful fishing backdrop.

We fished several hours catching and releasing a total of ten decent fish, all of which in my mind are still there awaiting our next trip. I had my required fruitless battle with what I think was a very nice brown. He is nursing a slightly sore mouth and growing to world record size as we speak. Soon, the drunken maniacs will make the river below Baptist Camp a less serene lady as she is violated by floaters who soon know not whether they are in a Scenic Riverway or the log flume at Six Flags. Then we will go somewhere else and maybe I will let you know where that is. If I am not so specific, it is because there are some smaller gems out there, but half the fun is finding them.