Earlier this month, a fishing tournament was held in Illinois that for one, has a REALLY cool name.
The annual Redneck Fishing Tournament brought fishing enthusiasts from around the country to Bath, Illinois, along the Illinois River, to snatch Asian Carp from the river.
The Asian Carp get scared by the sound of motor boats and literally launch themselves out of the water as boats go by.
Crews in the boats then try to catch Carps as they fly through the air.
To view participants catching the fish, see the videos above from John Patterson.
Click or tap here to view a longer video of the event itself on YouTube, courtesy of Patterson.
The top team caught 346 fish in just two hours, according to organizer Nikki Gregerson, but that team wasn’t the biggest winner of the event.
One winner was the community, which got together for a weekend of fun that included food, music and fishing fun.
Another winner was the surrounding lakes and environment, because the main purpose of the event each year is to remove invasive Asian Carp from the river that cause damage to the ecosystem of the Illinois River and area lakes.
Gregerson said a total of 3,367 invasive carp weighing roughly 20,000 pounds was caught and taken to a processing plant.
The biggest winner of all might have been veterans in the area, since proceeds of the event went to benefit homeless programs and other charities for veterans in Illinois.
Gregerson said there was a worldwide element to the event because a media crew from South Korea flew in and was part of the event’s coverage.
“It was a chance to catch up with old friends and make a lot of new ones,” Gregerson said.