Fairdealing man sets bowfishing world record

A Fairdealing, Missouri, man has set a new bowfishing world record, and broken a nearly 20-year state record.

Mitchell Dering brought in a 4-pound brown bullhead March 14, while bowfishing at Duck Creek Ditch 105, according to information released this week by the Missouri Department of Conservation. His recent brown bullhead beat the current 3-pound, 4-ounce bowfishing world record. The previous state record brown bullhead was a 2-pound, 7-ounce fish caught in 1994 from Wappapello Lake.

"I got off work that day and went out to one of the ditches in Duck Creek and just got lucky honestly," Dering said. "We shoot a lot of smaller fish. I knew it was a bullhead, but didn't know if it was a brown bullhead. But I knew it was large for its size."

Dering contacted the MDC Southeast Regional Office the next day to get his fish weighed. MDC staff verified the fish's weight on a certified scale in Wappapello, Missouri.

Dering is no stranger to holding state records in Missouri. He briefly held the state record for spotted gar back in 2019, according to MDC. But qualifying for a world record is a new accomplishment.

"That's honestly pretty awesome," laughed Dering. "I've bowfished for quite awhile. We've won a few tournaments in Kentucky and Tennessee and have placed in numerous other tournaments."

In Missouri, the only confirmed self-sustaining natural population of brown bullheads occurs at Duck Creek Conservation Area and nearby Mingo National Wildlife Refuge in Stoddard, Bollinger, and Wayne counties.

Dering said he's now working on his collection of state records and plans to get his bullhead mounted.

"I've never mounted anything before," he said. "I broke the state record for spotted gar a few years ago, but some guy broke the record two years later so it's not in the record books anymore. But I'm working on getting me a collection of state records. I guess potentially world records now."

Missouri state record fish are recognized in two categories: pole-and-line and alternative methods. Alternative methods include trotline, throwline, limb line, bank line, jug line, gig, bow, crossbow, underwater spearfishing, snagging, snaring, grabbing or atlatl.