“That’s the biggest fish we’ve taken all season!” gushed guide Dennis Mitchell, known as “Redbeard” for reasons that were obvious an hour earlier when there were still a few rays of scarlet sunlight illuminating the Dells’ waterfront canyons.
“You sure you haven’t done this before?” Mitchell inquired as he subdued the fish with a carefully placed swing of the lead-corked wooden “priest.” He then deftly separated the barbed point from the shaft to remove the tethered arrow from the 40-pound buffalo that lay prone on the pontoon boat’s deck, glistening in the ambient glow from the rack of lights on the bow.
I assured him it was not only my first bow-shot fish, but my first such experience angling with archery equipment, and did my best to downplay the lucky shot that moments earlier had our able-bodied guide engaged in a lively hand-over-hand battle to muscle the behemoth boat-side.
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