Bowfishing Pics with Waddell, T-Bone, Lee, & Tiffany ---> When on Bone Collectors TV?

BornToHuntAndFish

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Hard Core

Senior Member
That looks like it will be good. Do you know who they went with in Alabama. I had sent them an E-mail and never heard back from them. Just curious who took them out.
 

BornToHuntAndFish

Senior Member
That looks like it will be good. Do you know who they went with in Alabama. I had sent them an E-mail and never heard back from them. Just curious who took them out.


I think they went to Guntersville Lake in Alabama from what I remember in watching my Realtree Road Trips DVD. You can play the video clip at the 3rd web link above. Here you go. It's Backwater Bowfishing.
 
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siberian1

Senior Member
I cant believe you guys actually watch michael waddell. The guy is an idiot!! A true commercialized wannabe
 

Bowfisher

Senior Member
I'm thinking that was years ago on Guntersville cause it says season one, probably around 2003 because that's when we won Biggest Grass Carp for the World Championship, but I am probably wrong, most of those pics are when they went with Brackett Outdoors with Lee and Tiffany shooting jumping silvers on the Ohio river I think but I'm still probably wrong//
 

rocket2015

Member
siberian1, everyone has an opinion but I can tell you that Waddell is a first class guy. Having known him for over 30 years, he is living his dream. Many of us wish we were doing the same.
 

BornToHuntAndFish

Senior Member
I'm thinking that was years ago on Guntersville cause it says season one, probably around 2003 because that's when we won Biggest Grass Carp for the World Championship, but I am probably wrong, most of those pics are when they went with Brackett Outdoors with Lee and Tiffany shooting jumping silvers on the Ohio river I think but I'm still probably wrong//

You're right. I captured the bottom 2 photos are from Road Trips Season 1 DVD at the 3rd web site above. The 1st T-bone photo is from Travis Turner's 2nd web site above. The other 4 photos are from the 1st web site with the details below:


Arrowing Acrobats
By Travis Turner with Stephanie Mallory

Arrowing Acrobats

Go on a bowhunting adventure with T-Bone, Tiffany and Lee Lakosky to of all places, the Illinois River--By Travis Turner with Stephanie Mallory

Once the gang got used to the action, some flying fish began to fall.

Archers: Travis “T-Bone” Turner, Tiffany and Lee Lakosky

Dates: July 9-10

Location: Peoria, Illinois on the Illinois River

Species: Asian Silver Carp

Weapon: Compound and recurve bows with Muzzy glass bow-fishing arrows

I’ve bowfished for carp before, but never have I had such a good time or felt so pumped up with adrenaline as I did during my recent bow-fishing trip with Lee and Tiffany Lakosky. We experienced bowfishing on a whole new level.

We had seen the remarkable DVDs before of fish flying through the air while Chris Brackett and others shot them in mid-flight with their bows and arrows, but I had no idea that this trip would be the thrill it turned out to be.

a guide service out of Peoria, Illinois, on the Illinois River where these Asian silver carp actually corral beside the boat and jump out of the water when they hear the sound of the motor.

So, Lee invited me to stay at their farm in Iowa, bowfish on the Illinois River and just hang out a little bit. I love archery and working in the outdoors industry, but farming and whitetail management are my passions. Touring the Lakosky’s land, seeing the big deer they’ve taken and learning about their whitetail-management program was a huge enjoyment for me. But the biggest highlight was trying to shoot those huge Asian carp on the Illinois River.

Travis and Lee set their compounds to a comfortable 50 pounds because there was a bit of a waiting game to be played while the hunters stayed locked in full draw.

Chris informed us that these carp are found in no other river in the United States. He said several years ago a farmer managed breeding ponds for the Asian carp along the edge of river. When the river flooded, it overtook the breeding ponds and washed the Asian carp into the river. Chris saw the potential and started guiding bowfishing trips for these fish a couple of years ago. His trips have become a big hit with archery enthusiasts

GETTING GEARED UP

Chris recommended that we use our compound bows explaining that the compound bows allow you to shoot faster and get on the fish more quickly than recurve bows. He said you could draw back and stay anchored in position until a fish presented a shot.
I had bowfished many times before and always used a recurve bow with much success. Not fully understanding how much different this bowfishing experience would be than my past experiences, I opted to start out with a recurve. By the end of the day, I had figured out that Chris knew what he was talking about, and I switched to my compound bow. We backed the poundage down to about 35 or 40 for Tiffany and 50 or 60 pounds for Lee and me because we had to hold the bows at full draw for so long. We had no trouble penetrating the fish with the fiberglass Muzzy bowfishing arrows. They worked like a charm.

Bowfisherman posing with one of their many frantic-flying trophies.

THE FLYING FISH FREAKOUT

Tiffany and I were up first. As the boat started motoring along, the carp immediately began jumping. It was chaotic and like nothing I had ever seen. We had three cameras running on us, and the action was just unbelievable. The water was bubbling up and the fish were flying everywhere. Admittedly, it took us a while to find a comfort zone. We were on pins and needles the whole time, not only because of the excitement, but because of the danger.

Throughout the day, we each got hit with at least 20 fish that weighed anywhere between 5 and 35 pounds. The fish would mainly jump behind or to the side of the boat, but occasionally they’d jump into the boat and start flopping. We probably had at least 100 fish land in the boat during our trip. When they did hit us, it really hurt. If the boat is going fast, you don’t have to worry about flying fish because they don’t have enough time to react, but when the boat is motoring along slowly, you’ve got to be on full red alert.

The Illinois Department of Natural Resources recommends that bowfishermen in pursuit of this species wear helmets, and I see why. We brought a catcher’s helmet with us that Tiffany wore, and she’s glad she did.

TWISTING TARGETS

As we quickly learned, the fish were very hard to hit--much harder to hit than the underwater carp I’m used to shooting. I told myself after trying to hit a fish for 30 minutes, “If I just get one, I’ll be happy.” During the two-day trip, Tiffany shot 8, I shot 9 and Lee shot a baker’s dozen.

Travis realized after more than a few misses that using his compound bow was the ticket for taking the tricky Asian carp.

Chris told us that we should be happy with those numbers because most first-timers only get one or two a day.
The challenge is part of the fun. You get plenty of shots at fish, maybe even up to 100 or more shots, but success is low because of the continuous, challenging action. We’d come so close to hitting fish so often, but would end up missing them by a fraction of an inch. Because the fish are constantly flipping and turning, it’s quite a challenge. You don’t know if they’re going to pop up at 15 or 20 yards or 5 feet away from you. This sport reminds me of skeet shooting. It’s all about instinct. The easiest ones to hit were those that would pop out of the water and go straight up with a little bit of hang time before falling back into the river.

When I finally did hit a fish, it was so rewarding. I felt like I had really accomplished something. It was honestly one of the most fun things I’ve ever done. I had a great time trying to tag those fish and just hanging out with Lee, Tiffany and Chris. I think this trip will make for an awesome show. People will really be able to see the adrenaline and excitement on our faces.

The bowfishing on the Illinois River was just half the fun for Travis. The other half was hanging with good pals and fellow deer-hunting junkies Lee and Tiffany Lakosky.
 
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Bowfisher

Senior Member
"Chris informed us that these carp are found in no other river in the United States. He said several years ago a farmer managed breeding ponds for the Asian carp along the edge of river. When the river flooded, it overtook the breeding ponds and washed the Asian carp into the river. Chris saw the potential and started guiding bowfishing trips for these fish a couple of years ago. His trips have become a big hit with archery enthusiasts"



Not true, we have shot them in the Tenn. river in Kentucky and Tennessee and as well as the gulf coast of La., and the Cumberland River as well, those dang things are going to be everywhere soon.
 

Hard Core

Senior Member
Correct to Bowfisher. Waddell is doing great. No need to be "player hatin" on him.
 

markland

Senior Member
Yeah I did that trip with Waddell for the Road Trips show back in Season 1 it was a blast and we had a good time, he is a hoot to do anything with him!
Oh yeah, Gene Hobbs with Bowfishing Madness did a trip with Travis last year that should air this coming season, they had a good time as well. Mark
 

markland

Senior Member
There trip with Gene should air this season on Bone Collectors from what I understand!
 

BornToHuntAndFish

Senior Member
is it going to be on outdoor channel

There trip with Gene should air this season on Bone Collectors from what I understand!

I figured they'd eventually do one on bow fishing, but was hoping someone would hear something, so thanks for confirming it & look forward to hearing what day or week it is scheduled for. Appreciate the updates.
 

farm7729

Senior Member
if you are saying that waddell is a wannabe then i truly wannabe him. hes got it made. dont be hating on a guy who does what we all wish we could do. Havent personally met him but i know travis is a good guy. Im glad to see Travis doing better health wise.
 
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