How Kentucky Became The Bow Fishing Capital | Max Wadlington

We sit down with Max Waddlington of Force Feed ’Em Bowfishing to learn why Eddyville, Kentucky earns its “bowfishing capital” reputation and how anyone can get started without a complicated setup. We get into invasive carp, gear that actually matters, safety on the water, and the weirdly fun culture around viral bowfishing clips and comment sections.

• why bowfishing keeps growing while other outdoor sports lose access 
• what makes Eddyville, Kentucky a bank-shooting hotspot 
• which fish you can legally shoot and why invasive Asian carp are the main target 
• getting paid by the pound and what a “good night” can look like 
• silver carp jumping hazards and what that means for safety 
• whether Asian carp are good eating and why processing is the hurdle 
• the three upgrades that improve bowfishing fast: bow, reel, arrow 
• how barbs and tip choices affect landing fish 
• bowfishing history and why it predates rod and reel 
• travel targets like paddlefish, gator gar, stingrays, and sharks 
• why we hate gatekeeping and how to help new people learn


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Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:16

What's going on, guys? Christy and Tony back with another episode of the One Hove Laugh Outdoor Podcast. And this is the first time that we've had somebody who bowfishes on the podcast. So today we got Max Waddlington. I think I got that right. He's force feed him bow fishing. Um saw him on TikTok and excited to get him on. He's got some crazy content on there of just doing shooting all kinds of fish. So uh, dude, thank you for taking the time to come on the podcast tonight. Uh, like I said, kind of in the intro, we're excited to learn about what you do and uh what's it all about.

SPEAKER_01 0:49

Dude, thank you for having me on. Like we just sent a quick messenger, like, yeah, let's do it, let's do it. I'm down, we're down. I'm glad it all worked out.

SPEAKER_03 0:58

Absolutely, man. Yeah, it's it's crazy how often, like, you have like we have awesome conversations with people that like you like we didn't know each other until like just randomly connected on TikTok, and then uh you have somebody on, you're like, you get off an hour later, you're like, man, we could have talked for four hours.

SPEAKER_01 1:15

Dude, it's crazy how the whole social media works. Like, literally, some of my best friends have come off the internet, and they're in it, might have started with talking crap, but you know, it's like once you meet up, you're like, Oh, we're basically the same person.

unknown 1:28

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:28

But no, here well, I'm excited about exploring. Listen, everybody, everybody, listen to this. You can go bow fishing anytime you want. That's some pretty badass shit. So I am curious to learn more about this, and I'm afraid my I'm afraid that my wife's not gonna be happy about it.

SPEAKER_01 1:46

Another hobby. Yep, it is a slippery slope, I'll tell you.

Eddieville And Bank Bowfishing Access

SPEAKER_03 1:50

Well, tell tell everybody, man, uh, just a quick background on like you know what you do, um, what the page is about. I mean, I don't like I haven't dug like super deep, but I don't know if you like are like if you guide people or if you're just a shop or what take us through it.

SPEAKER_01 2:04

Yeah, no, so force feed them boat fishing, and we're out of Eddieville, Kentucky, and uh we actually call it the boat fishing capital. Like per capita, there's so many fish here, and you you don't even need a boat, you can just hop on the bank and just start shooting fish, which is which is unique for around the world. Well, and you can do from the bank anywhere, but the amount of fish you can shoot from the bank in one spot is crazy. Uh, and then uh we're a bow fishing shop, you know. Okay, there's not many in the whole entire world. And so we started this up about seven years ago now, and uh been rolling through it pretty heavy. And uh mainly we make a bunch of videos for our marketing, but we just love the bowfish, you know.

SPEAKER_03 2:47

So you guys shop right there.

SPEAKER_01 2:50

Yeah, we got a brick and mortar shop and forcefeedom.com can ship anywhere in the world, so pretty cool.

SPEAKER_05 2:56

So oh go ahead. No, no, I was just gonna say so. So basically, in a nutshell, you got everything a bowfisman needs, everything a bowfisher needs, more than bass pro, more than all of them.

SPEAKER_01 3:06

That's what I'm saying.

SPEAKER_03 3:07

Well, I would imagine it's got it's one of those things that's so like technical, probably. Like the stuff that's at a store probably isn't that great compared to like the stuff that you guys have really put thought into, you know.

SPEAKER_01 3:17

Yeah, no, I mean, just like us keeping up with y'all, we keep up with small inventors, you know. Anything that we see on the market, we're like, oh, we gotta have that for the shopping. And we've really put people on in some cases. That's all.

SPEAKER_03 3:30

So, you know, when it comes to like all the setup required with all that stuff, I mean, I we it are a lot of people just like retrofitting stuff to like old bows. I mean, are there bows designed just for this?

SPEAKER_05 3:42

Like, I'm gonna bet that there's a low end and a high end on this stuff.

SPEAKER_01 3:46

Okay, yeah, you're exactly right.

SPEAKER_05 3:48

So I mean, you could take a freaking little plunker out there and do something with some freaking yarn. I don't know, but uh, but no, go ahead.

SPEAKER_01 3:55

No, most people how they got started many years ago, and even today, it's like you're either your old youth bow or something you got it from a yard sale, nothing fancy. Uh, I mean, because you don't have to have 50, 60, 70 pounds to shoot a fish. I mean, I'm shooting my bow at 30 pounds right now, and uh, so most people start off with that, and all you need is a reel and an arrow.

SPEAKER_03 4:19

Yeah, that's true. When you break it down, it's pretty simple, I guess.

Why Bowfishing Is Growing Fast

SPEAKER_05 4:23

No, I mean I gotta say that as a kid, and I would think, honestly, like at least people my age before equipment came out that was good, like you you tied a string onto an arrow and tried to shoot something. Okay, I mean, as a kid, you just did with your little plunker bow or whatever. You you know, I know I did it. I know I like tied it on there. I even remember like putting little little notches in my fletches. Oh, yeah. I can tie the knot on there, you know. Yeah. I mean, and then shooting it and it went flying to the right. Sideway, yeah. Because I tied a big old knot on it, you know, whatever. But no, but uh that's what's cool. I think this is like a like something everybody could relate to for real.

SPEAKER_01 5:04

What about it's actually the fastest growing outdoor sport in America right now, just because it is because you know bass fishing, uh, and deer hunting and turke uh turkey hunting and waterfowl. Well, maybe not the bass fishing, but the other three, they're kind of losing numbers as you go. Like people are it's harder to get land, this, that, and the other. But for bow fishing, there's more invasive species in America than ever, and you can't take away public water.

SPEAKER_03 5:34

That is true. And and I would imagine the cool thing about it is like it's not one of those things that like you know, with so much of like the duck hunting in particular, but um, you know, or other type of fishing, um, or deer hunting or whatever on public land, like there's you know, that pissing on a spot kind of thing. And we I'd imagine with like what you guys are doing, you can just keep rolling through the same waterway and hitting it all day. So like if somebody comes two minutes behind you and shoots some fish, it's like not that big of a deal, I would imagine, right?

SPEAKER_01 6:04

No, so like actually last summer this was funny. We had 12 boats in one spot and we're all just making a circle.

SPEAKER_03 6:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:13

And we're and every single time we'd uh get to this one spot, we'd all shoot a fish, and you know, we just get back in line because you gotta untangle your line.

SPEAKER_05 6:21

You're getting communal with everybody around you. I mean, that's fun, you know. Obviously, everybody's just like sharing in the fun, right?

SPEAKER_01 6:27

Yeah, no, like as long as no one's being selfish about it, we can all do it.

SPEAKER_02 6:31

Yeah, that's awesome.

What Fish Are Legal To Shoot

SPEAKER_03 6:32

So, are you guys uh I is it like well, first of all, two questions. One, um, I heard you say invasive fish. Does it have to be invasive fish to be legal to bow fish?

SPEAKER_01 6:42

Or so Kentucky's actually one of the more lenient states, like you're allowed to shoot like gar and buffalo, which are your native fish. I mean, I don't like to do it too much, but a big old buffalo comes by, I'm gonna shoot it. Uh yeah, but uh we have a big problem with them Asian carp, the big heads and silvers. They're they've they're here by the millions, and they've really destroyed the waterway in my lifetime. So they want them gone. And actually, when you shoot them here, you get paid for them by the pound.

SPEAKER_03 7:11

No kidding. Yep, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 7:13

I didn't know that there's several states that do that actually. Yeah, no.

SPEAKER_03 7:16

So so what does that look like? What do you uh what is it per pound?

SPEAKER_01 7:20

It's nine cents a pound, and there's a fish market right down the road from our shop.

SPEAKER_03 7:25

No kidding.

SPEAKER_01 7:26

Yeah, so oh god. It's real easy for me, you know.

SPEAKER_05 7:30

Like I take a better than aluminum cans when I was a kid. Yeah. Take a whole bag in there, and they'd be like, here's 27 cents. And you'd be like, dang.

SPEAKER_01 7:39

Yeah, no, you shoot a thousand pounds of fish, that's 90 bucks.

SPEAKER_03 7:43

Oh, dude. Dang, son. That's yeah, that ain't a bad deal right there.

SPEAKER_01 7:48

And uh here in uh the boat fishing capital, it's not uncommon.

SPEAKER_03 7:53

Is it so is a thousand like an average day, like a thousand pounds, or is that a good day?

SPEAKER_01 7:59

Depending on the time of the year, like if I shot a thousand pounds tonight, I'd be real happy. But in June, I'd be a little pissed.

SPEAKER_03 8:07

Yeah, just more active then.

SPEAKER_01 8:10

Oh, I mean, they're dude. I mean, the it goes crazy. It's like a river of fish inside of the river. Wow. No, I mean it's just thick.

SPEAKER_05 8:20

God, dude, that's crazy. There's melt times you just fire in there and have two or three fish on an arrow.

SPEAKER_01 8:25

Oh, dude, you don't even have to see them sometimes. You just shoot straight down, and they're you'd be pulling up one or two at a time.

SPEAKER_05 8:32

What's that? Like, how big is an Asian carp getting? Let's start with there. Because I've seen it like knock people out of a boat.

SPEAKER_01 8:38

Okay, so the ones you're talking about are the silver carp, and I think our state records like at 45 pounds. I may be wrong, it might be a little bit bigger. Okay, but though they can jump up to nine feet in the sky. What? Yeah, I mean, they do one of my most viral videos last year. It got it's already got over 50 million views. It's like jumped over TikTok or YouTube or what? It's on uh TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and uh it jumps in front of our faces, and we're like, whoa. And then buddy in the back, it like jumps in the boat, flops out, and he's like, What's going on? And as he turns this way, another one smokes him right in the face. Oh yeah, I mean, but and like I pause it because like it gets pretty violent, but um they're like looking each other in the eyes. It's like crazy.

SPEAKER_05 9:35

I've seen people like you guys, I've only bow fished one time and it was on the Illinois River, and it was a guy. Oh, that's pretty crazy. Yeah, it was a guy at Illinois, uh Asian carpunt. Um, and we shot him good. I mean, it was stupid, right? I mean, you get some point places where it's just goes, you're just and they're just I mean, literally, as fast as they can jump out of the water, they're jumping. I mean, like, like you're going through thousands of them, it feels like, you know what I mean? Um, but I always see people like, you know, some people are wearing like hockey masks and helmets, and I mean, like, I hate to be OSHA on you, but is there like safety requirements? Because I mean, dude, I've seen some like I've seen a kid get smoked and get knocked right out of the boat.

SPEAKER_01 10:17

No safety requirements on it, but I have seen a Mythbusters thing where they can easily kill you, dude.

SPEAKER_05 10:26

That's a life vest if you're under 16 years of age. That is so crazy.

SPEAKER_01 10:31

I got one more thing, too. You were talking about the biggest. So this those are the silver carpet that do the jumping. The big heads get even bigger. So a couple years ago, I was at the shop and we were coming around. I was like, dude, I want to do a big head battle, see who can bring in the biggest big head. And I was like, Oh, it'd be real cool if someone broke the state record. The state record was broken three times in one week. Wow. Wow. And it went bow fishing, it went it went 90, 100, and 192.

SPEAKER_05 11:02

Wow. And so is that considered a fishing state record or a bow fishing state record?

SPEAKER_01 11:08

So there's a so it doesn't matter. So like Kentucky used to be really, really good on their bow fishing records. I'm not sure if the commissioner changed and they just kind of gave up on it, but it's kind of out the window now. Uh, Texas does a really good job about it. They have like lake records, this, that, and the other records. Louisiana does a little bit, but uh no, there's an association called Bow Fishing Association of America, and that's kind of who keeps up with all the records per state and world record.

SPEAKER_05 11:38

Wow. So similar to like a puppy or a boon and crack it and that kind of got it. Exactly.

SPEAKER_03 11:43

So so how I always heard like the Asian carp are actually like a pretty decent eaten fish. Like, is that BS or I mean, do you think like either one of the species are good eating or they just suck or what? What's the what's the uh deal on the food?

SPEAKER_01 11:57

So the the big problem with them is is that they have a bunch of cartilage in their fillets. And so you can't just like lay them down, trim them up real easy, like you know, catfish or bass.

SPEAKER_05 12:10

Buffalo.

SPEAKER_01 12:12

Yeah, no. So that's like their big problem with it. Uh like you have to like go in and little pieces at a time. That's like why they're not like mainstream, but I've heard they're really, really good. Like they have like uh omega fatty three acids is like right under salmon.

SPEAKER_03 12:29

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SPEAKER_01 13:09

Yeah, no, and that's actually what the fish market does. They take that fish, make fish wool out of it for dog and cat food.

SPEAKER_03 13:16

No kidding.

SPEAKER_01 13:18

Yeah. So your dog and cats are probably eating our Asian carp.

SPEAKER_03 13:22

Well, I'm glad they're finding a purpose for them because I mean, shoot, dude, that's god, that's a lot of fish.

SPEAKER_05 13:29

Well, it's and then and I'll tell you what, you I don't know how far we'll dive down this tonight, but I have like watched several like agencies talk about this problem and what they're trying to do to fix it and stuff like that. And it is bad, dude. I mean, it's like bad. They're really worried about this getting in. I think it's already if it hasn't, it's starting to get up towards the Great Lakes.

SPEAKER_01 13:50

Yeah, no, like they have fences in like creeks, yeah, fighting it as hard as they can. Yeah, dude.

SPEAKER_05 13:57

This is a major issue.

Why You Can’t Overharvest Carp

SPEAKER_03 13:59

Now shoot. So is it one of those deals that I mean, no matter how how hard you guys fish them, like the resources, like it's gonna be it's always gonna be there, or is it one of those deals where you're kind of low-key, like, uh, we don't want to overdo it?

SPEAKER_01 14:14

Well, no, I so I've I've exactly like he has done. I've been to a lot of these seminars and I've done a lot of research on these fish back in college, and one 15-pound carp can lay a million eggs every time it spawns, and it can spawn up to six times a year. Oh my god. Yeah, I mean so well if they're if you leave one, I mean the population could return in a couple years.

SPEAKER_03 14:37

Wow. Oh my god. So yeah, there's no it's not gonna run out.

SPEAKER_05 14:42

No, I mean this is like worse than snow geese. Like you you can't you they I've watched where they and correct me if I'm wrong on this, Max, but they'll go into waterways like the DNRs, and they'll do this the electric shock and just smoke them all and then get them all, and and they round them up by like thousands and thousands of pounds at a time, dude, and they can't stop it.

SPEAKER_01 15:05

Yeah, you've probably seen the viral video of them where they shock them and they go, that's where I live.

SPEAKER_03 15:11

Oh, okay. Wow, okay.

SPEAKER_01 15:13

Yeah, no, I mean that video that went, it's probably has a couple million views, but that's exactly where I live. I go fishing in that little corner all the time.

SPEAKER_03 15:24

So do you do you take people out on like guided things too, or is it just kind of like you and your buddies?

SPEAKER_01 15:29

No, it's just like me and my buddies. I got a bunch of guides who like I sell to, yeah, and they always telling me how much they don't like bow fishing as much as they used to because it's become a job for them. And I hate that because I love it, you know.

SPEAKER_05 15:44

Right. That's uh that's what it seems like if you're a guide of anything, that's the trade off.

SPEAKER_01 15:50

That is the trade-off.

SPEAKER_03 15:51

Making a deal with the devil a little bit. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:54

Yeah, like it's no longer what you thought it was gonna be. And you know, even bow fishing, it's really easy, but it's still a lot of headache, you know. I've taken people out that have no idea what they're doing. I'm like, dang.

Bowfishing As A Family Gateway Sport

SPEAKER_05 16:06

No, that you're gonna run into that wherever you go, whatever. But I feel like this sport, one of the things that crossovers about this is number one, it's warm weather. I'm talking about getting real quick. Women's involvement here. All right, so so like, you know, it's not so easy to say I'm gonna take my wife and let's go sit in a deer stand and freeze our ass off for all day long. That's that's hard for anybody to do, let alone you know, a woman that doesn't hunt. You know, like I tried to get my wife out there, she I think she went out in the blind with me one time about seven or eight years ago, and I've got a video of her just sit sleeping in the corner of the blind. You know, she's like, I don't get it. But you know, I feel like with that, it's like you can take like your family to do that, you know, like you know anybody can do it because, like you said, you don't need a lot of poundage, you know, pull the thing back and shoot, you know. I mean, so it's it I feel like it's just one of those things that it's maybe more of a a cool place to introduce people to the outdoors where you're getting a lot of action, you know, you're not sitting there waiting for a deer or waiting for a duck or anything like that, you know. Um you can just get engaged pretty quick, and even fishing, right, takes patience. You know, you have days where you go out there and kick their butt, and you have days where you're like, I just murdered uh a hundred crappie here last weekend, and you're now you're not getting a bite, you know. But with that, you know, especially with the invasive species, I feel like it's pretty cool that you know you could do that anytime of year, but it's just more I feel like it's just more of a situation where you could it would be an easy entry sport for anybody trying to get in the outdoors.

SPEAKER_01 17:59

Yeah, and what you said, like patience. Like I can't do fishing, regular fishing. Just you're just sitting there, you're not really, you're not involved with it too much. Whereas uh, yeah, no, I see sorry, Max.

SPEAKER_05 18:12

I told you anything goes on. Hey, Booger, come here.

SPEAKER_01 18:14

We got a cat doing this.

SPEAKER_05 18:15

Hold on, we got boog, we got booger in here making a presence on the podcast. Hi, boogers.

SPEAKER_01 18:21

Yeah, no, my cat would not leave me alone if I let her in here.

SPEAKER_05 18:24

Little boogie, come here, bugs. Come here and say hi to everybody on the More Life podcast. Yeah, what's up, Boogers? One hell of a bugger. One hell of a fluffy cat. That's right. Fluff fluff, come here, flappy.

SPEAKER_03 18:40

I didn't mean to accidentally let her in when I went to the bathroom. And then his lab, was she in here too? Was Ike in here? Yeah. Oh, yeah, Susie telling her. Come here, come here, boogie.

SPEAKER_05 18:51

Come here, bugger. Big fluff ball.

SPEAKER_03 18:55

Oh, god. Sorry about that.

SPEAKER_05 18:57

I gotta go remove the cat.

SPEAKER_03 18:59

Anyway, so I I don't know what I missed, but I know he was talking a little what I was talking about. Entry level, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 19:09

Yeah, like to get anybody into, yeah. But yeah, I mean you can have fun during the summer. Right. Anybody can do it. You can pull back a little bow, plunk them, whatever.

SPEAKER_02 19:17

Oh, dude.

SPEAKER_01 19:18

Yeah, you're 100% right. And my big thing with it is it's like a combination of everything fishing, hunting, just being out the doors, exploring, being on the waters.

SPEAKER_03 19:30

And super like I can see it just being super like laid back too. Like, I feel like when you're hunting ducks or deer or whatever, it might be like it can almost be like we all want to be successful so bad that it almost can like make it frustrating sometimes. But I feel like with that, you're just like you're just like chilling, dude. You're just like we're probably riding around listening to music, like having a good time, like shooting something.

SPEAKER_01 19:54

Yeah, no, like even when you're not shooting fish, you're like actively looking for them, hunting for them. You got your buddies there. I mean, you're you're not it's all you always see something, like uh always people always talk about what you see on the water. It you never know.

SPEAKER_03 20:12

Yeah, dude. That that's definitely now now you're selling me on it, and I'm like, okay, well, I guess now I I didn't know that I needed to go bow fishing, but now it sounds like I have to.

SPEAKER_01 20:22

Dude, it's it's a blast, and like once you see your arrow do like a little flicker and take off, you're hooked. You're hooked.

SPEAKER_03 20:30

So when it comes to setups, I mean, what are some things like is there I guess like what what's the things you can invest in to make it a better setup or a more efficient setup? Is it just like getting a better reel so it's easier to reel in? Like, what's the stuff you can upgrade?

Frogg Toggs Sponsor Break

SPEAKER_01 20:46

Oh, it's like a couple different things, you know. Uh, you always want like a solid rest, you don't really have to spend no expensive money, but you want something that's gonna hold up. I mean, because bow fishing can get pretty rough, like bows go flying, this, that, and the other, kicking them, whatnot. But your two big things, maybe three big things that are like really like help you elevate your sport is your bow, your reel, and your arrow. And arrow might be the most important just because there's nothing worse than losing fish over and over and over again.

SPEAKER_03 21:17

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SPEAKER_01 21:49

Oh, it does. I've I've done it plenty of times.

SPEAKER_03 21:52

So what like uh when it comes to the era, I mean, I'd imagine some kind of barbed broadhead, probably where it has like a you know, where it can't come out. I guess.

SPEAKER_01 22:00

Yeah, I wish I wish I had one laying around here, but I don't. Uh yeah. Yeah, no, it's some I like using like some fixed blades that are like they just they hold like this. I don't know. Yeah, like the and you just catch. Like I've literally pulled in fish by just their skin, like pulling their skin back. It barely landed them. But you know, uh, you can do that with like the little barbs too, you know. I mean a good rule of thumb is more barbed the better.

Arrow And Broadhead Tips For Landings

SPEAKER_03 22:31

Gotcha, gotcha. Yeah, that's interesting. I mean, and it's crazy that it's so popular, but I don't doubt it because like I didn't realize about here in North Georgia, like the trout fishing scene that we have. And the the weird the weird thing about it is like obviously there's a reason there's a trout scene because that there was always trout here, but they do so much restocking of the trout just to keep up with the demand, I guess. But it's like in the millions of dollars the trout fishing industry is in North Georgia. I had no idea, you know.

SPEAKER_01 23:01

Yeah, no. I mean, I mean, just what the government spends on trying to get these things out, it's it's in the millions. I mean, and they're they're not restocking them, they're trying to get them out as fast as you can.

SPEAKER_03 23:14

Yeah, it's it's kind of the opposite in that regard. You're just the benefit the beneficiaries of there being a problem at the end of the day.

SPEAKER_01 23:22

Yeah, no, I mean we take full advantage of it.

SPEAKER_03 23:25

Dude, that's so nuts to me. Well, you always hear about like um people with just normal pond management, like, oh, you know, I can take out 4,000 pounds of bass per acre or something crazy. It's always some crazy amount that you're like, wow, I don't know if that's the right number, but it blows your mind. But then just hearing how fast these things, you know, grow and replicate, it's like, God, you can't take enough of them out.

SPEAKER_01 23:47

Yeah, no, I mean, I've that's what like one of the questions, because we have like a bunch of commercial fishermen that use gill nets to catch them. They're like, they're like, Do you have you noticed any significance? I'm like, yeah, they're getting all the dumb ones out and the smart ones are living, and it's just like adaption of the fittest or this the survival of the fittest.

SPEAKER_03 24:07

And um that's interesting.

SPEAKER_01 24:09

And this there's just never their problem unless you kill everything, I don't think they're ever gonna go away here.

SPEAKER_03 24:16

Right. Well, so you you said so the dumb ones are getting caught in the gill nets.

SPEAKER_01 24:21

Yeah, so like the jumpers, yeah, they they kind of like freak out and just start jumping. And you don't that used to be a real bad problem, kind of like it was in the Illinois River, but they don't do that as much. And it's because I think through my my hypothesis is that they're doing something else, you know, they're being getting a little smarter, staying away from the nets.

SPEAKER_03 24:42

Oh, I'm sure you're right, dude, because everything kind of like course corrects. I mean, i every every species, I mean, if you do anything too much, is gonna change something. They're at the end of the day, as dumb as some of them can be, they're smart too, you know.

SPEAKER_01 24:56

Yeah, I mean, it's exactly right. I mean, they're we don't give them enough credit.

SPEAKER_05 25:02

So um so I just did a little little fact-finding here. I mean, I don't know if you know this or not, Max, but check this out. So in the 60s and 70s, the reason why they were brought here, they were imported.

SPEAKER_01 25:16

Yeah, they were in catfish ponds and they got and they got caught in the Mississippi River flood, and they started all the way in Arkansas.

SPEAKER_05 25:24

Yep, that's what it says exactly. They were on fish farms in Arkansas, and then they went into the uh the connecting rivers and they went Illinois, Missouri, and Ohio Rivers, and uh got spread from there. But here's another interesting fact. Do you want to know? Let's see if we know this, Max. I'm gonna test your knowledge. Okay, do you want to know how long ago it was when boat fishing first took place?

SPEAKER_01 25:48

15,000 years ago.

SPEAKER_05 25:51

It was that it was a lot, but AI says it was 5,000.

SPEAKER_01 25:56

I don't know, but it's actually older than it's actually older than rotten real fishing. Like one of my biggest hate comments I get on uh it like social media is this isn't real fishing, this isn't that. And I was like, Y'all don't realize that this is older than rotten real fishing. Like, this is how the indigenous used to get their fish.

SPEAKER_05 26:16

Sure. I mean, think about that.

SPEAKER_03 26:18

Yeah, well, just this is the oldest form of fishing.

SPEAKER_01 26:21

Well, think about yeah, no, I mean it's older than nets.

SPEAKER_05 26:24

Wow, from an indigenous standpoint, really. I mean, like you already got these bow and arrows made or an out laddle, yeah. Some dude just like one day just shot a freaking kudu or something. He's just like walking by, I bet I can shoot that fish with that bow. Yeah, no, you know you can't. He's like, watch it, whack, you know, or something. So that's probably how it all started. Probably.

SPEAKER_01 26:44

But no, I mean, that's exactly how it all started.

SPEAKER_05 26:48

You know what I mean? Essentially, you're like, you're not fishing by the definition of fishing, you're bow fishing, which I guess could be hunting.

Going Viral And Handling Hate Comments

SPEAKER_03 26:57

That's kind of funny, dude. I bet the I bet the comments are kind of like ridiculous, but like will if people actually knew knew that you were shooting like this problem of a species that you can't kill enough of, like, they'd probably not leave those comments.

SPEAKER_01 27:11

Yeah, no, they get pretty harsh, but I'm like, you know what, just keep leaving them, help the algorithm out. Let them know you love this stuff.

SPEAKER_05 27:18

So it's funny. All you gotta do is take a little kid up there, video them getting smoked by a carp, and be like, Can't believe these carp hit my little kid. And next thing you know, dude, Trump's gonna be on there going, Man, we gotta trump, we gotta get rid of these Asian carps. All these people are worried about it.

SPEAKER_03 27:34

So it's funny. Um, you know, nutria are like a huge problem down in Louisiana, and uh this guy that I basically helped do some social media stuff for, he um he runs a YouTube and he does a lot of Nutria hunting, and the comments that he gets are very similar to like what you're talking about. Like people are just like, you know, cute. And honestly, it's kind of funny. Like it's it's kind of funny. I kind of like because I make a lot of these videos from his YouTube and post them on his page or whatever, and I uh I think it's funny because it's like I kind of rage bait people a little bit because I'm like, you know, I kind of just like these like I've said before, like these evil rats are destroying the Marsh, which they actually do destroy the Marsh, but people get pissed.

SPEAKER_01 28:17

Dude, yeah, no, some sometimes when people are in the shop, I'm like, I need go leave a hate comment or something, and they it people start jumping on it, it starts into a little war. It's always funny to see, dude.

SPEAKER_03 28:30

It's it's crazy, like the people, the stuff people say on social media. Like, I mean, we're funny, dude.

SPEAKER_05 28:37

It depends how you take it.

SPEAKER_03 28:39

I've gotten to that point where I just it's just like water. I don't even care. Half the time I don't even respond.

SPEAKER_01 28:45

No, I don't either. And my mom follows my stuff, and she'll see it like she's like, Why are they being so mean to you?

SPEAKER_03 28:52

Yeah, you're your mom's commenting on it, like, I'll fight you.

SPEAKER_01 28:55

Yeah, and I'm just like, no, it's okay. Like, they're comment. A comment's a comment at that point.

SPEAKER_03 29:01

Yeah, dude, that's funny. Oh my god.

SPEAKER_05 29:03

Yeah, dude. I'll tell you what's great. And I did this to one person, I can't remember it was, they commented on something, and I told myself that's the best thing I ever heard. And that's all I said. That's and it wasn't the best thing I heard at all. I just said that hoping that they might understand that I was trying to be sarcastic backhanded comment type of thing. Be sarcastic. Yep, they didn't reply.

SPEAKER_01 29:24

But dude, and actually, the go ahead, go ahead.

SPEAKER_05 29:27

No, you just can't concern yourself with people, what what people say because it it's just there's always gonna be that outlier, right?

SPEAKER_01 29:34

Dude, a hundred percent. But you know, I'm sitting here talking about all the hate comments. So that one that video that went viral, that dude getting smoked, those are some funny comments. You can just scroll for days, and they just get funnier and funnier as they go.

SPEAKER_05 29:47

Oh, I'm gonna happy. You get people that put comments that get more likes than you're than you do, dude.

SPEAKER_01 29:52

I swear, like right there, I I pinned one just there, like, dude, this is uh accidentally the hardest profile pick ever. And then my bro made it the profile pick. I pinned it, and then like another thing they always be saying is like a missile knows where it is by knowing where it isn't. That's all I don't know. I could go on and on. I want to make a video about all the comments that are just on that one video, right?

SPEAKER_03 30:16

Is it so is it? I'm trying to see. I'm not gonna read any of them that are like inappropriate or whatever, but I'm curious. I'm curious now. What uh is it like easy to find on your TikTok, or what should I go to try to find?

SPEAKER_01 30:27

Yeah, no, go to my Instagram and it's like a couple videos down. Okay, let's see. No, TikTok's been on my case here a little bit. Every time I be posting a video that goes crazy viral on another platform, they're like, no, you gotta pay for it to get viral on here. Wow.

SPEAKER_03 30:44

Alright.

SPEAKER_02 30:45

So I'm on the page. Let's see here.

SPEAKER_01 30:49

Where's the thing? Yeah, no, it's like where like a fish is looking at a fella. Okay. I don't know. It should be like nine to twelve down.

SPEAKER_03 30:58

Okay. Is it just gonna be in like your reels, I guess?

SPEAKER_01 31:01

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 31:02

Uh let's see here.

SPEAKER_01 31:04

And it has Everlong going.

SPEAKER_02 31:08

Dude, I gotta find this now.

SPEAKER_03 31:11

Fish looking at a guy. I see the ones of like the Boat Fish and Capital Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.

SPEAKER_01 31:17

You know, it's above that. It's above that.

SPEAKER_04 31:24

Where?

SPEAKER_02 31:26

Alright. No. No, that's just him with a guy. Damn, dude, I gotta find this. I'm so curious.

SPEAKER_05 31:38

Send him the damn link to it. I'm so curious now.

SPEAKER_01 31:40

Yeah, hang on, let me see if I can. You guys are all I mean they're like, and then it's like it starts off with like, okay, here's one, here's two, the distraction, and it's like he looks at the distraction and turns back and bam.

SPEAKER_03 32:03

We've been trying to reach you about your boat's extended warranty.

SPEAKER_05 32:09

Uh that's great, dude.

SPEAKER_03 32:12

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_05 32:14

Your boat's extended warranty.

SPEAKER_03 32:16

The fish has decided your time has come. Dude, that's hilarious. Oh my god. Yeah, I bet that it didn't feel good.

SPEAKER_01 32:24

You need to repost. Dude, no, it wasn't me. It wasn't me, so I don't know. I mean, but he he they they kissed.

SPEAKER_05 32:32

Was it a situation I didn't I couldn't read because I had my glasses on, but if if not, a good idea would be to take that picture and just say, caption this.

unknown 32:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 32:40

Dude, I've actually they people DM me pictures of where they caption it. And I'll just be sending it to my boy that got hit, and I'm like, a new profile pick, maybe? That's awesome.

Planning A DIY Kentucky Bowfishing Trip

SPEAKER_03 32:53

Oh, that's great, dude. So for somebody listening to this that wants to freaking come up there and go bow hunt bow fishing, I mean, what would be the best bet? I mean, do you think it's worth them trying to set their own setup and go out and do it on their own, or should they just get an outfitter?

SPEAKER_01 33:08

So it's depending on the time of the year, between May and June, you could probably just come up here, sit on the rocks, and shoot fish as much as you want. I mean, I mean, I've had people from North Dakota, which is like 22 hours away from here, pull up with no boat, just their bow and shoot fish from the rocks.

SPEAKER_03 33:26

That is so funny to hear because then all the people from Kentucky that duck hunt are like I'm going to North Dakota to duck hunt.

SPEAKER_01 33:32

But that's that's how I know it. I mean, I've I've been I've done the switch swap.

SPEAKER_03 33:36

Oh, yeah, that's perfect, dude. You'd make it work out a trade.

Paddlefish Rules And Eating What You Shoot

SPEAKER_01 33:40

Yeah, I'm trying to. No one's like, I'll be a fish and you can keep them. But hey, the one another thing about special about Kentucky, uh, you're allowed to shoot spoon bill or paddle fish. Oh, really? Oh, really? Yeah, most there's like only like a handful of states in the country that you're allowed to. And most states you're not allowed to shoot more than one a year. In Kentucky, you're allowed to shoot two a day.

SPEAKER_03 34:02

Wow. So you guys must have a decent population of them, I guess.

SPEAKER_01 34:05

Oh, yeah, no, they're they're thick with them.

SPEAKER_05 34:07

I went snagging for those one time um um right below a dam in Mississippi. Dude, when I pulled that thing out of the water, like I it's something they're crazy looking. Dude, it's so condemned thing you ever see. And apparently they're delicious.

SPEAKER_01 34:25

They are delicious. I don't like shooting them unless I'm gonna eat it. Like, yeah, I love they're delicious, and they also make caviar.

SPEAKER_03 34:33

Really? So what like I feel like those are that's a fish that like I forget about, and then every once in a while you'll see some outlier thing or whatever where somebody caught one or something. But I feel like it's you don't see it's not like bass fishing or whatever, it's not like you see them all the time, but aren't they like pre like super old, like prehistoric or something?

SPEAKER_01 34:54

Oh yeah, no. I mean they're yeah, I mean, they're old. I don't I couldn't I don't know as much about them as Asians, but they're old.

SPEAKER_03 35:03

God, that's a crazy looking fish.

SPEAKER_01 35:07

I mean, that thing is Dude, I probably shot one that size, and I didn't land it, but it was it was six foot plus, and I was like, back up, back up, but no one could hit a shot. Six foot plus? Dude, it was it was probably our gonna be our state record. And there's actually a guide in Kentucky that be shooting six footers on the regular.

SPEAKER_03 35:30

Are you kidding me?

SPEAKER_01 35:32

I'm like at the regular three foot, dude. It was I'll give them a shout-out. Obsession, they're good. Obsession outdoors, they'll they'll put you on.

SPEAKER_03 35:39

What what is it? Uh, what does something like that end up weighing? Like 150 pounds or something?

SPEAKER_01 35:45

I think the biggest one in Kentucky right now is like 90, but like Oklahoma, they get like 120.

unknown 35:51

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 35:52

But you're not allowed to shoot down there.

SPEAKER_03 35:54

Uh, that's why they get so big.

SPEAKER_01 35:57

That does help. That does help. But no, there was one tag last year and it came all the way from Nebraska.

SPEAKER_02 36:04

What?

SPEAKER_01 36:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 36:06

Dude, that's crazy.

SPEAKER_01 36:07

It was it was absolutely crazy. Like the guy was from like, I think, Iowa and shot a fish from Nebraska in Kentucky.

SPEAKER_05 36:16

So that makes sense. Like, I mean, if that's just an oddball thing, or if there's like my they migrate, you know, to feeding or see that's exactly what they're trying to do.

SPEAKER_01 36:28

Well, this is back on the Asian side of it. Um, that's why they're trying to keep them out of the uh Great Lakes so much, is because how much they migrate. And that's kind of why I kind of believe that this is a hot spot for them. Like they all try to come here and then they they dish for you other places. But I was talking to like the U.S. Fish and Wildlife, they were tagging fish, and they have trackers on them, then go up to 22 nautical miles in a day.

SPEAKER_03 36:55

What? What the dude, that's crazy.

SPEAKER_05 36:59

Dude, that is 22. So it could do like a 11-mile round trip in a day.

SPEAKER_01 37:06

Dude, that's I mean, I think they're just going one way. That's I don't think that's good. Yeah, I think just because like the way the tracker works, every time it hits something, it takes it off. So it could have it could have easily gone more than that.

SPEAKER_05 37:19

Oh, so you it's just going from point A to point B, maybe not recording to C D E and F or whatever.

SPEAKER_03 37:25

Yeah. Wow. Dude. 22 miles. That is crazy. Like, if it was a shark or something, that would still be crazy for a shark, but like you could make sense. Something about being freshwater, though. I think it's just like we're so used to not seeing freshwater fish do stuff like that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 37:40

Oh, a hundred percent. And that's it, that's what really it's you're 100% right, because like they could be at one end of the river just full, you're not seeing them at what on the top of the river, and they could be coming up by the end of the day.

SPEAKER_05 37:53

What do what do these Asian carp primarily feed on? Like, what's is it just grasses and algae and stuff?

SPEAKER_01 38:00

Oh, it's like phytoplankton. Like they're just literally just I love like getting next to some scum and just sucking on next to it.

SPEAKER_05 38:09

I gotcha. And now I'm imagining by them doing that, it's taking away that resource to fishes, turtles, whatever it is that's disturbing the habitat that's disrupting the whole ecosystem.

SPEAKER_01 38:21

Yeah, no, when I was a kid, like major league fishing and FLW, you this used to be a hub for it. FLW is just right down the road from me, their headquarters, and they no longer do stuff here because of these Asian cars. Wow. Oh my god, that's a bummer. It I mean, it is just see it in my lifetime, but I kind of like it because I don't really fish.

SPEAKER_03 38:44

Yeah, true.

SPEAKER_05 38:45

That's right, that's right, that's right. Well, and the the other thing that and not to go down this hole at all, but the other thing that's that's accommodating about the sport that you want to get into is you can do it in freshwater and and salt water. Oh, yeah, you know what I mean? Yeah, flounder and whatever, you know. Stingrays, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 39:04

Oh my god, dude. Yeah, no, the flounder gig and stuff, that's one thing I've always wanted to do too. I tried doing it one time in Florida and didn't have any luck, but that uh that seems like that'd be a blast too.

SPEAKER_01 39:14

Dude, yeah, I've I've tried to shoot a flounder, I've only ever seen one while I was fishing, and I missed.

SPEAKER_03 39:23

So do you outside of uh there, do you like going to other places and trying to do it?

Snakeheads, Bowfin, And Tough Fish

SPEAKER_01 39:28

Yeah, so I was actually gonna tell you about Louisiana. I love I love Louisiana, but they're so you're talking about they came from Arkansas. The fish that are down, the Asian carp that are down in Louisiana are triple the size of our fish. Wow. Wow. Just because they've been there so long. Oh my god. It's they're huge. Like, I mean, it's no problem for them to shoot a 40-pounder, whereas that's our state record.

SPEAKER_05 39:55

Wow. Holy cow. Now, I'm wondering, like, on the flip side, and maybe this isn't the right place for the question, but you know, I'm curious now. You know, I'm always getting in the biological scientific thinking. Like, what what predators are benefiting from this? You know what I mean? Like, is there a predator? It's like, hell yeah, like and they're like, this, like, for example, it's not gonna be a bear, but it's say if it was a bear, right? And they're just like gorging themselves on this this resource. It is there any talk of like that happening? Like, is there a good thing for them from a predator standpoint at all, or no?

SPEAKER_01 40:36

So, I mean, unless there's a shark in our waters, which I do believe there is, uh, because they'd be they'd be living it up. Like, if there was like uh what is it, bull shark that could make it up here? Dude, they would absolutely they would I don't there's no reason to leave, just amount of fish, and then they're sitting there sucking on top of water and just go take one real quick and move on.

SPEAKER_03 40:59

Right?

SPEAKER_01 41:00

Wow, uh but that's wild. You're talking about some predator species. Have you ever heard of the snakehead? Yeah, it's a type of fish.

SPEAKER_05 41:08

So I caught one one time down in uh you caught a bowfin.

SPEAKER_03 41:11

Uh oh, is a bofin? It looks similar.

SPEAKER_01 41:14

They look they're yeah, they look really similar, but like in Maryland, they're a big problem. That's another place I love to go. But they've actually found them in Missouri, which is really close to us. And we've always talked about if they ever get in here, that they're gonna explode in population too, because the amount of fish they can eat on. They don't get as big and they couldn't eat like an adult, but like all the fish fry, they just destroy them.

Williamson Outfitters Sponsor Break

SPEAKER_03 41:39

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SPEAKER_01 42:42

No, it's a different fish. I think you're thinking about the Playco. They're like an armored catfish. And they're they're crazy. They're down in like South Florida, they're more like an exotic. Uh but they're yeah, I mean, they're hard.

SPEAKER_02 42:55

Yeah, I've seen it.

SPEAKER_01 42:57

But those those snakeheads, dude, you'll shoot them in the gills, put it, throw it in the tub, no water. Then like I love to eat them. Snakehead's actually one of my favorite fish to eat. Deliciously. Yeah. And uh, so we'll throw them in a cooler, and then next morning we go to phalam, they're still alive.

SPEAKER_03 43:17

What? That is nuts. Well, you think about them like going across like mud flats and stuff.

SPEAKER_01 43:22

Oh, yeah, no, they'll like crawl and like they and they like bury themselves in the mud and then go like months without water at some points. You know what?

SPEAKER_05 43:29

Holy cow. It's a snake head, so it's just like there used to be an old tail that like you cut the head off a snake and it'll move until dawn the next morning or something like that. I can't remember what the the old wise tail is about that, but maybe that's why they call them that.

SPEAKER_01 43:43

Yeah, maybe. Well, they look exactly like a snake, Dick. Uh well, uh they have like a pattern of like a like a diamond back. Like it's crazy.

SPEAKER_05 43:51

Really? Are you familiar with the I'm just having a flashback because I was trying to think like me, me and mom and Jerry would go fish on the Mississippi River. And we caught this fish one time. And I was thinking it was a snakehead because when I when I caught that boat or whatever, I was like, Man, that's that fish that we caught. It was called a dogfish. Have you ever seen that?

SPEAKER_01 44:12

That's the same thing as a bofin. That's just called it's the same thing. Uh there's a bunch of like we caught I said spoonbill, paddle fish, like there's like one of those different names. Like up north, they call them dogfish. Down south, they call them grinnel. And then we just call them bowfin.

SPEAKER_05 44:31

I gotcha. Okay, all right. I remember catching one of those things and and it was big. Like I don't remember as a kid, it just seemed like it was giant, and it looked so prehistoric. You know what I mean? Yeah. But I didn't realize it was the same, same fish.

SPEAKER_01 44:46

Yeah, no, that's just like a a slang name for 'em. I don't even really know the official name at this point.

SPEAKER_05 44:54

That's the same thing with like a ringneck, right? People, you call a duck a ringneck and they're like, I've never seen one of those. And you'd be like, Well, it's got a black head and a little white stripe across. Oh, you're talking about a blackjack. Yeah. You know, so it it's I just went through that conversation with somebody from the north. They all call them black jacks, you know.

SPEAKER_03 45:12

Yeah, or like a uh gray duck for Gadwalk. People call them gray ducks.

SPEAKER_05 45:17

Same thing.

SPEAKER_03 45:18

Now, with with Louisiana, is uh I mean, are you targeting different stuff down there? Are you mostly going after the same carp?

SPEAKER_01 45:25

I'm going after a Gator Gar, big time. Oh, okay. I'm hunting for a seven-footer. And um, the biggest I've got so far is five foot. Dude, I shot a tank, it looked like a submarine underwater. And it's and it it broke my line, so I'm still looking for him. Dude, I that's why I keep going back down to Louisiana. Well, first of all, it's beautiful. I love crawfish, I love cajun cooking, and then I'm looking for a big old gay gar.

SPEAKER_03 45:54

Dude, you're like the you're like the river monsters guy, just going straight after that gar, though.

SPEAKER_01 45:59

Dude, I am, bro. Like, there's a yellow arrow in its side. I'm looking for it.

SPEAKER_03 46:04

Bro, he might be looking for you.

SPEAKER_01 46:06

Dude, I mean, I hope we find each other.

SPEAKER_03 46:08

Yeah, yeah. When you guys find each other, it's gonna be like going down. Now, those I've seen those things. Those the teeth on those freaking gar are something serious, dude. Like, they could really screw you up.

SPEAKER_01 46:19

Yeah, I mean, they are they're pretty stork too. I mean, they're literally a dinosaur, but they're pretty timid. Like, I've never heard of someone getting bit that didn't like do something to it.

SPEAKER_03 46:33

Like, they're they I would just think like if you're reeling them in the boat, like if they turn their head and bite, like that's what I would think.

SPEAKER_01 46:39

Oh, yeah, no, they can't that's what I'm talking about. They can't get you that way, but like if you're just swimming, and because it's crazy to be like, oh, there's a seven-foot gator gar around here, and uh I mean, because you're not allowed to shoot them in Kentucky, but some boys a couple years ago accidentally shot a six-footer and they were like, Oh my god, we broke the state record, called in the game warrants and everything. Like, and they wrote him a ticket, this, that, and the other. But it was a six-foot gator gar swimming around with eight arrows in it.

SPEAKER_03 47:08

What it had eight arrows in it.

SPEAKER_01 47:11

Well, yeah, I mean, it wasn't a spot where a bunch of people boat fish, but it just kept breaking everybody's line.

SPEAKER_03 47:17

How okay, so how often do you run into fish that have been shot before? Is it pretty common?

SPEAKER_01 47:22

Not really. Like, I mean, if you do see it, it's like they're dead for the most part around here. Those guards just they're pretty hardy too, you know. To make it through the ages of the dinosaurs, you gotta be pretty tough.

SPEAKER_03 47:36

Yeah. Oh my god, dude. That's crazy. Eight arrows. So it's the funny thing about it though, I mean, funny, not funny, depending how on you how you look at it, but the fact that it was illegal when there was eight arrows.

SPEAKER_01 47:48

Well, I mean, it's like we're on stage, like, oh my goodness, look at that big old fish, you gotta shoot it, and you know what's even funnier that they called the game warden's like, hey, we got a new state record.

SPEAKER_03 47:59

Yeah, right. And the game warden's like, yeah, this ticket's about to be a record. Oh, yeah, like what charging you per foot.

SPEAKER_01 48:06

It was, yeah. I mean, it I don't remember what the exactly the exact number was, but it was over 200 bucks.

SPEAKER_03 48:12

Oh my god. Hopefully they got a picture with it at least.

SPEAKER_01 48:15

Oh, yeah, no, I got a picture. I mean, I can show you guys.

Stingrays, Sharks, And Saltwater Rigging

SPEAKER_03 48:19

Oh my god, dude. So do you have anything? Uh any any like fun trips coming up, or are you just just gonna stay around there?

SPEAKER_01 48:27

Uh so here in a couple weeks, I'm actually going to Alabama to try to shoot some stingrays. And if if I'm if I'm lucky enough, a shark.

SPEAKER_03 48:37

Dude, that would be crazy, right?

SPEAKER_01 48:39

Dude, I haven't shot a shark, and a couple of my buddies keep rubbing it in my face how they've shot that had this many sharks. I'm like, I just haven't seen one, you know. Like, if I'd seen it, I'd shoot it.

SPEAKER_03 48:48

Well, what would be what would be the strategy? Like chum up the water around the boat and try to get them to swim around.

SPEAKER_01 48:54

See, I'm not that's that's a whole see the big strategy is getting your reel to reel them in. Because I mean, these are strong, like the saltwater figures are so much stronger than the freshwater. And you're gonna need a bunch of line, this, that, and the other. So we're gonna have to rig something up to get it right.

SPEAKER_03 49:15

I didn't even think about that aspect, yeah, because like the the rigs that the shark fishing guys use, I mean, it's like steel leaders and these hooks that are just like I mean, insane looking, you know.

SPEAKER_01 49:27

Oh, yeah. No, I mean, I mean, I've seen like basically what you're talking about slapped on a bow fishing bow, and it's like they're fighting for uh however long. Um another thing for is like buoy systems, just like shoot them, throw buoy in, let them tie themselves out because you only my reel's only got like 30, 40 yards in it, so it you gotta keep them close.

SPEAKER_03 49:49

Which is hard because I mean the shark can do that in two seconds, so then you're basically just letting now. Do people ever do it where they kind of set it up where you just let like like where the reel would be strong enough to be like, alright, we're just gonna put it in this freaking rod holder right here and let it try to pull the weight of us?

SPEAKER_01 50:08

I I don't think we're there yet.

SPEAKER_05 50:10

Yeah, not that strong.

SPEAKER_01 50:11

No, I don't think we're there yet.

SPEAKER_05 50:13

Yeah, most of them look like a little Zebco reel.

SPEAKER_01 50:16

Yeah. Yeah, exactly. And so like a shark could just, I mean, if your dregs turned up, it could eat through that.

SPEAKER_03 50:22

And no time.

SPEAKER_05 50:23

That's like uh I guess if you wanted to custom build something, this would be your guy.

SPEAKER_01 50:27

Yeah. Yeah, we have done some pretty crazy stuff.

SPEAKER_05 50:30

I'm going after a bull, a bull, a bull shark, and uh, I want you to tell me what I need. All right, you're gonna need this braid and all this stuff, right?

SPEAKER_03 50:38

Did uh that I think that's what they did in jaws, wasn't it? Didn't they s keep sticking them with like buoys?

SPEAKER_01 50:43

Like they Yeah, no, I mean I'm pretty sure that's where we got our ideas from. Yep.

SPEAKER_03 50:48

That was some funny shit, dude.

SPEAKER_05 50:50

Well, that keeps them from just going down.

SPEAKER_03 50:52

Yeah, right. Yeah, just wearing them out. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 50:54

Just like we like kind of did with that gator.

SPEAKER_03 50:57

Yeah. Yeah, in Florida, I are you familiar with like everyone's familiar familiar with how Louise Louise can't talk. Louisiana people fish or uh gator hunt because you know it's like all over swap people or whatever. But are you familiar with how they do it in Florida?

SPEAKER_01 51:12

Yeah, where they get the treble hooks and pull them up.

SPEAKER_03 51:15

Either that or you can get them to uh you can harpoon them or like throw something at them and get them. You can do like treble, like you said, or you could get them on like a beef. You might be able to, I don't think you can use any sort of hook.

SPEAKER_05 51:26

So like how we did the two peg method, it's the two-inch peg method.

SPEAKER_03 51:30

Yeah, it's like a beef, a rotted beef lung with like this like wooden peg and they swallow it and then they can't regurgitate it and you roll them out. Oh that's crazy.

SPEAKER_05 51:39

It's like the same as a broom handle. If you take a broom handle and cut two inches off it, oh okay. That's basically what it is. Yeah, and uh yeah, you you wrap a beef lung around that, and apparently once they get that that in there, they they get it in deep enough they can't get it out. Yeah, so then you just reel them in and then get them to the side and use a bang stick and we actually we did that and then we hooked them with a treble and then let them have it with a yeah, because you you can't actually shoot them with a gun in four.

SPEAKER_03 52:10

If I I'm pretty sure, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 52:11

Yeah, you gotta use a bang stick.

SPEAKER_03 52:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 52:14

Dude, I was actually supposed to go shoot some gators last year in Louisiana, but then they were like, you can't keep any of the skins or head. We've already got them all like filled up. I was like, what? I'm not doing it then.

SPEAKER_03 52:25

Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_01 52:26

It's like I'm yeah, that's about half my point. Like, I that would be a badass video of me just letting a gator have it, but at the same time, I want to have some mementos.

SPEAKER_03 52:37

Yeah, that's right, dude.

Where To Follow And Final Takeaways

SPEAKER_01 52:39

Yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_03 52:40

Well, dude, uh, we appreciate you coming on the podcast tonight, man. We got um we gotta run this back after uh we follow your content for a little bit longer and then get some get some uh stories to hear about. But um, you know, tell everybody where they can get plugged in, where where your content is, and oh shit, if I don't hit the mic, where your content is and where they can follow you.

SPEAKER_01 53:01

Yeah, no. So force feed 'em, force feed them at everything, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, uh, and then we got forcefeedem.com. And then if you ever want to just come hang out with us at the shop, just type in force feed them on Apple or Google Maps, you'll pull up right to us.

SPEAKER_03 53:18

Well, well, I promise you that uh I don't I don't think we're gonna be promoting any other boat bow fishing companies here in any time in the next near future, considering I have 175 episodes, you're the first one. That's right. So if y'all are interested in bow fishing, hit this man up because I think he knows more about it than probably anybody I've ever met in my life with.

SPEAKER_05 53:36

Well, hey, dude, appreciate it. The whole time I've been thinking about this, you know, we talked about do it yourself or versus guided and all that kind of stuff. You just gotta. It's what's cool about it is like literally, if you're looking for something cool to do in the summer, right? You're like, let's get a bunch of friends, let's go get an Airbnb, drink some beer, and just go shoot some fish. Dude, that's some fun freaking. We we might have to do that. I know that would be fun. Seriously, but here's the cool thing. My point is you could go just do it yourself. Yeah, you know what I mean? You can do, and this is gonna be your guide because so many times, like as duck hunters, nobody wants to talk about it, you know, what you could do, how you could do it on private.

SPEAKER_03 54:20

And it's so hard to do it yourself, too.

SPEAKER_05 54:22

Yeah, yeah, like you don't know where to go and everything. In these in this type of scenario, you go to this guy's shop, he's gonna like literally you could sound like to me, you can walk in there with nothing but your Airbnb ready, get everything you need, and go do it.

SPEAKER_01 54:36

That's exactly right. And then, like another thing you were just talking about, people like gatekeeping, like the information. I remember when I was just getting like heavy into it, I was watching all kinds of YouTube videos, and I'd seen this guy who had just watched his YouTube video a couple hours before. I was like, Oh my goodness, I gotta go say something to him. I gotta go, you know, and like I worked up the courage to go say something to him. I was like, hey man, I'm just getting into it. Can you give me any tips or tricks? And he was like, aim low. And that was like that's like the first thing you learn in boat fishing, and I was and then he like whipped off his boat and took off. And boat fishing is such a first generation sport that like there's no secrets, like you gotta help each other out. It's like my dad didn't teach me, I just went and did it myself. And like when people ask me stuff, I like to give them advice because I was in their shoes not too long ago.

SPEAKER_03 55:29

Right.

SPEAKER_05 55:29

That's well, I just I'm a big fan of the fact that this is such an easy sport to get somebody in the outdoors doing something. I'm big about that, dude. Walk through a field, walk through the woods, if that's all you're gonna do. But to get into a sport where it's fun, it's engaging, it's during the summer, all those things. I mean, if you got if you're trying to get somebody in the outdoors, this might be the ticket. You know what I mean? So hit this guy up. Max is the dude.

SPEAKER_01 55:57

Yeah, no, you just need a little jump boat, flap some little deck on there, and you're good to go. Just float down river.

SPEAKER_03 56:06

Well, good deal, man. Well, thank you again for hopping on. And uh, I'll I'll when I post this, I'll tag in all kinds of stuff. I make like little Yeah, no, I'm excited for the clips.

SPEAKER_01 56:16

I'm I'm getting ready for them.

SPEAKER_03 56:18

Perfect, man. Yeah, this this thing will do this stream yard auto, like AI just makes clips for me and it makes my life so easy.

SPEAKER_01 56:25

Dude, I I imagine, dude. I'm still like clipping myself, so it's no fun.

SPEAKER_03 56:31

It's so I do that with all like our recorded content that we do, but like for the podcast stuff for the longest time, I would have to take our video and like you said, cut it up, and it took like it would take me two hours to make like one thing, and this it's just it'll just auto-identify, like I don't know how it does it, like moments it thinks will go viral. And I like I will I'll proof watch them before I just like cut them and post them, but they're it's pretty spot on. Like, you'll be surprised, there'll probably be some interesting stuff that uh you know they end up being pretty good.

SPEAKER_01 57:01

Dude, that's exciting, dude. Well, every time I try to do it for Bo Fish, you're just like looking off into the woods where nothing's happening. It's like what?

SPEAKER_03 57:09

Like we were pro point of view.

SPEAKER_01 57:13

Well, it's just like I don't know what's going on. It's like, dude, we were we had a crazy high five and this, that, and the other, and you're like, this is what everybody needs to see.

SPEAKER_03 57:21

Right. Well, right, right on, man. Well, thank you again for joining us, and then we'll do it again sometime. Yeah, thank you.

SPEAKER_01 57:28

And sir, y'all shout out four steaming, baby.

SPEAKER_05 57:30

That's right. I'll end up with this doing shit like this is one hell of a life.

SPEAKER_00 57:35

Yeah, that's right. One hell of a life. I've been hell down, I've been hell down, I've been gonna be at my drink. Don't do that now. They all slow down, ending in the foreign ring.