(*note: our greenhorn was passed out back at camp during our run. He's now on probation)
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Thank you Ted Connolly
Ted was kind enough to take and provide these photos (smartly from Betty's deck rather than in the danger zone). Great shots Ted. Just a glimpse of the crowds (on the shore and in the water) and our crew this year*.
(*note: our greenhorn was passed out back at camp during our run. He's now on probation)
(*note: our greenhorn was passed out back at camp during our run. He's now on probation)
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Sunday, June 28, 2009
New event for this year
If you want to get in the water...
http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=459961185&blogId=494267268
Redneck Floating Fishing Fling
Are you ready for this!
All you need is:
Flotation Device ( raft, inner tube, be creative)
Life Jacket
Dip Net
The event will take place at 3:30 pm July 11th at the Boat Tavern, Bath IL
You will have the chance to paddle out into the water on your raft carrying your dip net, when the air horn sounds you will have water balloons, and other things launched out to you to try and catch in your dip net... (these things being launched out will be worth points) you will have a certain amount of time to gather all the things being launched out and bring them back into the shore.
This should be a fun event and is free to anyone that would like to enter.
CD107.9 is excited to promote this event and will there in attendance to have fun with everyone...
Hope to see ya there and let me know if you have any questions.....
http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=459961185&blogId=494267268
Redneck Floating Fishing Fling
Are you ready for this!
All you need is:
Flotation Device ( raft, inner tube, be creative)
Life Jacket
Dip Net
The event will take place at 3:30 pm July 11th at the Boat Tavern, Bath IL
You will have the chance to paddle out into the water on your raft carrying your dip net, when the air horn sounds you will have water balloons, and other things launched out to you to try and catch in your dip net... (these things being launched out will be worth points) you will have a certain amount of time to gather all the things being launched out and bring them back into the shore.
This should be a fun event and is free to anyone that would like to enter.
CD107.9 is excited to promote this event and will there in attendance to have fun with everyone...
Hope to see ya there and let me know if you have any questions.....
Friday, March 20, 2009
2009 dates set!
The 2009 "Original Redneck Tournament" will take place on July 10th & 11th at Bath, IL. Here's a link to the official site: http://www.lighthousetelevisual.com/11.html
The registration sheet is on that site. SIgn up for your heet early. There are two each on Friday and Saturday. Participants are also asked to get an Illinois Fishing License. In speaking with Mike Eigenbrod (site owner), he said you can get a three-day license pretty cheap. Registration for a heat costs $50 per boat.
Also, we were stopped by the Illinois DNR folks after we were going too fast near the boat ramp. There is about a 1/4 mile idle zone. The DNR folks were nice about it, but we were just excited to get our boat running!
Looks like another great year with plenty of events for kids and adults alike. It just continues to amaze me at how nice everyone is over there. This will be our third year and have yet to see anyone being anything but polite and just having fun. Granted, they may be dressed funny while celebrating, but that just makes it all the more exciting.
Also, we camp out and that costs $10. Well worth the experience if you like to camp.
This a one-of-a-kind event with great people. Plan on attending and having a great time.
The registration sheet is on that site. SIgn up for your heet early. There are two each on Friday and Saturday. Participants are also asked to get an Illinois Fishing License. In speaking with Mike Eigenbrod (site owner), he said you can get a three-day license pretty cheap. Registration for a heat costs $50 per boat.
Also, we were stopped by the Illinois DNR folks after we were going too fast near the boat ramp. There is about a 1/4 mile idle zone. The DNR folks were nice about it, but we were just excited to get our boat running!
Looks like another great year with plenty of events for kids and adults alike. It just continues to amaze me at how nice everyone is over there. This will be our third year and have yet to see anyone being anything but polite and just having fun. Granted, they may be dressed funny while celebrating, but that just makes it all the more exciting.
Also, we camp out and that costs $10. Well worth the experience if you like to camp.
This a one-of-a-kind event with great people. Plan on attending and having a great time.
Friday, March 6, 2009
You mean someone finally figured out that thousands of fish might be worth something?
Fishing for a solution
Havana plant to try steaming method to reduce Illinois River's high number of Asian carp
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By LISA COON
of the Journal Star
Posted Feb 21, 2009 @ 11:32 PM
Last update Feb 22, 2009 @ 09:26 AM
http://www.pjstar.com/news/x445346104/Fishing-for-a-solution
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HAVANA — A novel rendering process that reportedly doesn't produce waste water or foul odors could be one approach in helping to control the Asian carp population in the Illinois River.
At least that's what Heartland Processing is banking on.
"It's much more energy efficient than the 4,000-year-old rendering process. It's neighbor friendly and environmentally friendly," said Dr. John Holden, a Rockford reproductive endocrinologist and environmentalist who heads Heartland Processing.
The company plans to have a pilot plant operational in Havana on April 1.
"The whole fish is put in, steamed off and then the fish meal and fish oil" are separated, Holden said.
More specifically, the equipment developed by Auburn University will heat the fish until excess water turns to steam. What remains
would then be pressed. A proposal by the company says about 36 percent of the fish's weight would result in fish meal and 4 percent in the rich fish oil Omega-3.
Holden said the fish meal will be marketed to animal feed producers, while the Omega-3 oil will be sold to pharmaceutical interests.
The process is something Auburn University developed to dispose of catfish offal.
"The catfish offals were being put in landfills where it rots, pollutes the ground water ... to their credit they figured out there had to be a better mousetrap to render this stuff," Holden said.
"I contacted them and asked if you could throw a whole fish into it," he said.
In 2007, Holden's son and some of his friends pulled up at the Redneck Fishing Tournament in Bath - an event where fishermen compete to get the most and biggest of the jumping Asian carp.
"They showed up with a U-Haul, a couple barrels, got some ice from the tavern there and they got a bunch of fish," Holden said.
They then drove 13 hours to Auburn, Ala., "pitched (the Asian carp) into the machine and the product that came out was sent to a lab in New Jersey.
"We were looking for heavy metals, (pollutants), etc., things that would downgrade the quality," Holden said. "The stuff that came out was pristine. It's worth its weight in gold."
Holden signed a contract with the Auburn folks to build five plants in the next five years.
"The plants will be in the Mississippi River basin, and always in economically depressed areas with the greatest fish populations," he said.
Initially, about 12 people will be employed at the Havana pilot site, a 4,000-square-foot former warehouse on the city's north side that the company purchased for $150,000.
The building is located in a TIF zone, but Holden said that's as much assistance as his group has received.
"I'm not interested in taking government money or taking handouts. I just care about myself and my investors," he said. "We're environmentalists, and that's what motivates us. The fact it'll be profitable, that's good for the community."
Cliff Banks of Spring Valley, a trustee of the Spring Valley Walleye Club, is hopeful one of the five plants will be built in his town.
He's been working for more than a year to do something about the Asian carp population and has met with Holden about plans for a possible plant in Spring Valley.
"The Asian carp is depleting a lot of our game fish and other fish in the river because of the amount of algae and small fish they eat," he said. "Asian carp is overrunning the river systems - not just in Illinois. It's just a constant battle with these fish."
The most recent figures from January 2008 indicate a conservative estimate of 18,260 pounds of Asian carp per mile in the 80-mile stretch just between Peoria and Beardstown, according to the Illinois River Biological Station and Illinois Natural History Survey.
"It's something that has to get stopped," Banks said. "It's a problem that has to get taken care of or it's going to be out of control."
Holden said that's what motivated himself and his friends.
"There are people who talk the talk and walk the walk," he said. "This is something my friends and I decided to do. There's been a whole lot of, hand wrangling, but it came down to who is going to do it."
Beyond that, Holden will be putting money in the pockets of those who need it.
"While the Havana plant will employ about a dozen people, the bigger plants will have three, four times that - and that's just people processing the product," he said. "We're going to need a lot of fishermen to supply us with a great amount of fish."
Havana plant to try steaming method to reduce Illinois River's high number of Asian carp
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By LISA COON
of the Journal Star
Posted Feb 21, 2009 @ 11:32 PM
Last update Feb 22, 2009 @ 09:26 AM
http://www.pjstar.com/news/x445346104/Fishing-for-a-solution
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HAVANA — A novel rendering process that reportedly doesn't produce waste water or foul odors could be one approach in helping to control the Asian carp population in the Illinois River.
At least that's what Heartland Processing is banking on.
"It's much more energy efficient than the 4,000-year-old rendering process. It's neighbor friendly and environmentally friendly," said Dr. John Holden, a Rockford reproductive endocrinologist and environmentalist who heads Heartland Processing.
The company plans to have a pilot plant operational in Havana on April 1.
"The whole fish is put in, steamed off and then the fish meal and fish oil" are separated, Holden said.
More specifically, the equipment developed by Auburn University will heat the fish until excess water turns to steam. What remains
would then be pressed. A proposal by the company says about 36 percent of the fish's weight would result in fish meal and 4 percent in the rich fish oil Omega-3.
Holden said the fish meal will be marketed to animal feed producers, while the Omega-3 oil will be sold to pharmaceutical interests.
The process is something Auburn University developed to dispose of catfish offal.
"The catfish offals were being put in landfills where it rots, pollutes the ground water ... to their credit they figured out there had to be a better mousetrap to render this stuff," Holden said.
"I contacted them and asked if you could throw a whole fish into it," he said.
In 2007, Holden's son and some of his friends pulled up at the Redneck Fishing Tournament in Bath - an event where fishermen compete to get the most and biggest of the jumping Asian carp.
"They showed up with a U-Haul, a couple barrels, got some ice from the tavern there and they got a bunch of fish," Holden said.
They then drove 13 hours to Auburn, Ala., "pitched (the Asian carp) into the machine and the product that came out was sent to a lab in New Jersey.
"We were looking for heavy metals, (pollutants), etc., things that would downgrade the quality," Holden said. "The stuff that came out was pristine. It's worth its weight in gold."
Holden signed a contract with the Auburn folks to build five plants in the next five years.
"The plants will be in the Mississippi River basin, and always in economically depressed areas with the greatest fish populations," he said.
Initially, about 12 people will be employed at the Havana pilot site, a 4,000-square-foot former warehouse on the city's north side that the company purchased for $150,000.
The building is located in a TIF zone, but Holden said that's as much assistance as his group has received.
"I'm not interested in taking government money or taking handouts. I just care about myself and my investors," he said. "We're environmentalists, and that's what motivates us. The fact it'll be profitable, that's good for the community."
Cliff Banks of Spring Valley, a trustee of the Spring Valley Walleye Club, is hopeful one of the five plants will be built in his town.
He's been working for more than a year to do something about the Asian carp population and has met with Holden about plans for a possible plant in Spring Valley.
"The Asian carp is depleting a lot of our game fish and other fish in the river because of the amount of algae and small fish they eat," he said. "Asian carp is overrunning the river systems - not just in Illinois. It's just a constant battle with these fish."
The most recent figures from January 2008 indicate a conservative estimate of 18,260 pounds of Asian carp per mile in the 80-mile stretch just between Peoria and Beardstown, according to the Illinois River Biological Station and Illinois Natural History Survey.
"It's something that has to get stopped," Banks said. "It's a problem that has to get taken care of or it's going to be out of control."
Holden said that's what motivated himself and his friends.
"There are people who talk the talk and walk the walk," he said. "This is something my friends and I decided to do. There's been a whole lot of, hand wrangling, but it came down to who is going to do it."
Beyond that, Holden will be putting money in the pockets of those who need it.
"While the Havana plant will employ about a dozen people, the bigger plants will have three, four times that - and that's just people processing the product," he said. "We're going to need a lot of fishermen to supply us with a great amount of fish."
Friday, February 6, 2009
'07 shoreline
As you can see from this shot from our '07 run, the water was substantially lower. Hopefully this year it will be lower as well since I believe that is the reason for not catching a single fish!
ah, success!
This was '07 when we actually caught a TON of fish. Ok, not a ton, but about 45..average was probably 7-10 pounds, so maybe we caught about 400 lbs of fish!
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Boat ramp next to the Boat Tavern
Just some of the fine spectators along the boat ramp for the launching of the fleet!
Photo of the Boat Tavern from the River
Here's a shot from our boat of Betty's Bar (the Boat Tavern), the Home of the Official Redneck Fishing Tournament. We were just happy the boat started. I still don't know the name of the fella next to us who just happened to be a boat mechanic and show us how to start the motor (on our $400 boat), but THANK YOU!
Photo from the bank of the Bath Chute of the Illinois River
We managed to get the boat started and pull away from the boat ramp and pulled into a slot on the bank.
Video of the fish
Ok, here's the video that hooked us on the event. If you watch this and think it just looks like a blast, I suggest you attend. It's even better and more amazing in person.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGWiaqGjQaU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGWiaqGjQaU
Welcome to the Blog
This blog is solely set up to act as a forum/communication tool for the Official Redneck Carp Tournament in Bath, IL. I'll post photos and videos of the event where possible. For those who have not been to the event (or seen the jumping carp), I would strongly encourage you to attend this year's tournament. It will be sometime in late July/early August.
In the tournament, contestants run up and down the river in 4 heets of about 50 boats. The object is to catch as many of the carp as possible using only a net or club.
My buddies and I have been two times. The first year (2007), we caught about 45 fish in our two hour heet. Last year (2008), we didn't catch a single fish. I suspect it was due to the water level being so high. I guess we'll find out this year if we were just lucky in 2007 or whether 2008 was more indicative of the normal catch.
In the tournament, contestants run up and down the river in 4 heets of about 50 boats. The object is to catch as many of the carp as possible using only a net or club.
My buddies and I have been two times. The first year (2007), we caught about 45 fish in our two hour heet. Last year (2008), we didn't catch a single fish. I suspect it was due to the water level being so high. I guess we'll find out this year if we were just lucky in 2007 or whether 2008 was more indicative of the normal catch.
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