The 4th annual Houston Bowfishing Classic (HBC) will be held June 20 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. in north central Indiana.

"Our shoot focuses on ridding our waters of invasive fish," said tournament organizer Dustin Houston of Burrows.

"With the growing concern with invasive fish in our local waters, a lot of people throughout the state and the nation are focusing on the topic of bowfishing and the removal of invasive fish," he explained.

"We shot dozens of them in our night shoot last year," he said. "Besides the Asian carp, grass carp and bighead carp are becoming a huge problem in our rivers. There are no natural predators for them in our waters because they are not native to our waters. They are a serious threat to game species of fish and are reproducing at an alarming rate in the lakes and rivers in our area."

Check-in for the June 20 HBC will be at the Houston farm near Burrows. All shooters will need to be registered by 7:30 that morning. Shooters in two-person teams will leave at 8 a.m. after they have been informed of all rules and regulations.

Legal shooting will be any tributary of the Wabash within the boundaries which are anywhere north of I-70 in the south to I-30 in the north (all shooting to be done in Indiana).

Legal fish will be all species of carp, buffalo (no other sucker fish), gar, dogfish (bowfin), and shad.

Awards will be a mix of cash and prizes. According to Houston, one of the prizes will be a new AMS Fire Eagle bow.

Excess proceeds will be donated to Fishing Has No Boundaries, a national organization with a local chapter, that takes people with special needs boating and fishing.

"We have rid our waters of thousands of cancerous fish in the past three years with the small number of teams we have had," Houston said.

According to Houston, since the HBC was organized in 2006 it has grown to be the biggest bowfishing tournament in the state, gaining national recognition and drawing shooters from all over Indiana and surrounding states.

Houston said a 2-3 person night shoot will be held Aug. 15 and he is working on a third shoot on the Missessinewa Reservoir for September.

For information on the HBC and the June 20 tournament, contact Houston by phone at (765) 714-4638 or email dchouse22@yahoo.com.