For most boating anglers, a day on the water means a chance to relax and maybe even catch a few fish.

Experienced boaters know how to avoid hazardous situations. By exercising smart boating practices, any fishing outing should end in a pleasurable, satisfying manner.

A sturgeon takes to the air on Florida's Suwannee River. These prehistoric fish often top 100 pounds. Photo courtesy of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

Well, don't tell that to fishermen on a number of waterways in the Midwest and South -- such as the Illinois, Missouri and Suwannee rivers.

Instead of returning home with only their day's catch, some anglers are returning with bruises, black eyes and broken noses! More and more boaters are falling victim to a circumstance that is beyond their control -- being struck by airborne fish!

SOMETHING TO CARP ABOUT
Gary Hoskins of Nelson, Mo., had just started up the Lamine River with his daughter and son-in-law, looking for catfish, when he was "sucker punched" by a leaping carp.

While Hoskins' daughter was directing his attention to the left, a 30-pound silver carp shot out of the river and struck her dad's right cheek. After knocking a molar out of his mouth and slicing his arm with a fin, the big fish fell to the boat's deck.

Not very far downstream, near the town of Hartsburg, another boater fell victim to a similar encounter.

Vivian Nichols, her husband Edwin and some friends were cruising the calm water behind a wing dike when a silver carp leapt through the air, striking Mrs. Nichols in the face and breaking her nose!

As she lay across the center console, Nichols' husband didn't realize that the blood streaming from her face was her own blood, not the fish's. (Continued)

The boat's other occupants were caught up watching the large fish leaping around in the boat, until Mrs. Nichols exclaimed that she was hurt!

These were not isolated incidents on the Missouri River. Hoskins said that at least 50 times, he's experienced fish landing in his boat.

It used to be rare entertainment, but it's not funny anymore.

The sound of a boat's engine is what encourages the carp to leap as much as six to 10 feet into the air. Folks now think twice before heading out on personal watercraft. Water-skiers have all but disappeared from the waters where these invasive jumping species thrive.

Mark Pegg, research biologist for the Illinois Natural History Survey, said he dodges airborne carp on nearly every trip on the Illinois River near Peoria, where he conducts his fieldwork.

When Pegg signed on for the position, little did he know that dodging 15-pound flying fish would be part of the job! He and his crew also frequent the Mississippi and its tributaries, where they often get struck by those flying fish as well.

Silver carp are one of four species belonging to a larger family known as Asian carp. Other foreign carp species that have been introduced to our waters -- grass, bighead and black carp -- have proliferated throughout waterways of the Midwestern states, including the Mississippi and Illinois rivers.

About 30 years ago, fish farmers introduced the Asian carp to control vegetation and algae blooms in their ponds. Unfortunately, those voracious eaters fish began to escape, consuming large amounts of plankton and vegetation and reducing the food supply for native sturgeon, bigmouth buffalo and paddlefish.

Once established, Asian carp reproduce at a fast pace and grow quickly, reaching weights up to 100 pounds. The silver carp is slightly smaller.

Boaters on the Missouri River now take precautions to handle their likely encounters with leaping carp. You'll commonly see nets strung out to catch jumping fish, lawn chairs used to duck behind and even homemade spears for impaling the flying fish.