Big bull freed itself from first two arrows on Nov. 1
As a bowfishing guide, Capt. Jeremy Cable has stuck more than his share of redfish in the marshes around Cocodrie — but never one like he shot late on Wednesday, Nov. 1.
That bull red — which tipped the scales at 29.55 pounds and ultimately measured 41.89 inches — is now the new state and world record, according to the Bowfishing Association of America.
“I had a night where I didn’t have a charter to go out, but I wanted to test the waters, so I did a scout trip where me and a couple of buddies who are my usual deckhands made a company trip,” said Cable, with Lite’M Up Bowfishing. “Sure enough, we went out there and just happened to come across a monster.”
Cable, 25, knew instantly the fish was a giant when he spotted it lurking along the outer-edges of his Prodigy 2072’s LED lighting system.
“I was hanging on the high side in deeper water, and my buddies were on the low side by the bank,” he said. “They didn’t see when I shot. But when you shoot something that big, you don’t want to pull it in directly with one line — you want to chase it down.
“I told them, ‘Go, go, go! That’s a 40-inch-plus redfish.’ And sure enough, I wasn’t off but by about 2 inches.”
One of his friends finally connected with a second arrow, so they were confident they could land the giant fish. That is, until the big red decided to make things a little more interesting.
“We go to bring him in the boat, and he takes off underneath and knocks out both arrows,” Cable said. “We panicked, pulled the arrows back in, and because he was such a large fish in shallow water, were able to chase him down again.”
Cable connected once more, and his friend stuck the big red, too — meaning it took four shots to finally get the beast in the boat. He was using an Oneida bow and an AMS arrow.
“What happened was with a shot that far through that much water, my first arrow didn’t get much penetration, and it hit that gill plate,” Cable said. “My buddy shot where he saw my arrow, so both arrows ending up hitting him in the thick gill plate and didn’t get much penetration.
“Maybe the fact we hit him in the gill plate might have knocked him a little silly, so fortunately we were able to chase him down again.”
Louisiana doesn’t keep official bowfishing records, but the BAA now lists the big red as the state and world record on its website.
“For bowfishing in shallow marsh, it’s a very impressive fish,” said Cable, who will be displaying a replica mount of the red at the Lite’M Up lodge in Cocodrie. “It was very high water that night, that’s why I think he was able to get in a shallower area of the canal.”