carp fishin and the scum of the earth

Back in the glory days, carp fishin' at "the spot" on the Merrimack river was one of us litchfieldians favorite activities. A short bike ride away, you would go down and wet a handful of oatmeal down on the shore, form it into an oblong glob, slide it on a treble hook, and cast it out as far as you possibly could. Then you'd set the pole down on a stick and just wait for that huge sucker fish to take the bait.

In the meantime, a variety of ridiculous games were played. Most notably, the game where we'd throw a tennis ball way up in a tree and fight for position as it pinballed downward through the limbs. Whoever caught the ball won the liberty of starting the madness over again on the next turn. If the ball ricocheted into the water, "sir-reach-a-lot" was available to bring it back to shore.

Wood runs were made, fires were built, beef-a-roni was cooked, rummy was played, bowls were chiefed, and beers were drunk. Times were good. Just when the side games had overtaken our minds, that's when you'd hear that "ziiiiiiiingg.... ziiinnggg... ziiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiingg." FISH ON.

If you were lucky enough to have it on your rig you'd sprint over, set the hook, and engage in one of the most epic fights known to humanity. Usually you could count on zak to land at least one of them suckers on each trip:
(click to see how freakin big that fish is)

When a carp was landed, everyone marveled at it's size and beauty. Catch and release was always practiced, because carp are scum feeders and taste like shit anyway.

So, when I saw this video online the other day, I couldn't help but laugh at how big of losers these hunters are:
Apparently, when the silver carp of the Chicago river is feeding, it swims close to the surface. When a boat comes by, the motor agitates the carp causing them to jump several feet in the air. So these brainiacs decide to cruise by in the high powered boats and shoot the carp directly through the bodies with high powered bow n arrows. Carp might feed on scum, but those bow hunting assholes are the scum of the earth.