Bowfishing

[Diamond Archer 01]

I dont know if this belongs in here or the fishing room, but I thought more people would see it in here. I was wondering how many of you guys have ever gone bowfishing. My dads friend is bringing me and my dad bowfishing next month some time to try it out. I was wondering if any of you guys do it and what you think of it? My dads friend loves it and says that me and my dad will too.

[JimPic]

I look forward to it every spring.

[Prairiepredator]

I am very tempted to try doing it this spring, becuase it looks like so much fun. We have a place about an hour from here that has some carp and the water is fairly shallow so it is apparently pretty easy. A friend of mine used to do it several years ago but hasn't done it in a while so we would like to try going down there now that he knows he has someone to go with since both my brother and I are interested in it. He told me that is a blast and it is so addicting...he also said it is was probably the funnest kind of hunting he has ever done.

[dbHunterNY]

the girlfriend and i are thinking about getting into it.

[hunterbobb]

I've always meant to try but haven't gotten around to it yet. I imagine it must be great practice.

:gun2:

[mallard_drake85]

I love bowfishing and have enjoying doing it for a few years now. My brother and I shoot carp in the summer that we'll use as bait on the trap line in the fall. It is good practice on form, but not much else as you don't really use a sight as the majority of your shots are under 10 yards. It does take some getting use to shooting lower than the fish appears due the light refaction off the waters surface. After a couple (dozen) misses, you'll get the hang of it and be skewering more fish than you know what to do with. Personally I shoot my old PSE Nova set less than 50#, no sight and no release. Use to shoot a borrowed Bear with an ancient Pearson wrap around spool. You can't beat a tocart tip for shooting those bone fish, however expect to damage several beyond repair if you are hunting in rocky areas.

Its a whole different ball game to shoot into a 20 or 30 pound fish!

good luck

mallard_drake85

[hatetomiss]

i do it every year and now i want to buy a recurve to shoot frogs

[redkneck]

I bet it would be a blast. I would love to do it one day, wish I knew someone around here that did it. Frogs are a ton of fun too, but I prefer to just grab them, can't see shooting one.

[Stone Cold]

I wish I was bow fishing the other day! Here are some big fish! The one picture you can see a small bass in front of the carp! But I ended up getting a few small bass!

[huntinman802]

ohh geeze, its too much fun!! i love going out on a sunny spring or summer day and hammering some huge carp. i think you will like it alot, in fact i dont know too many people that have tried it and dont like it. i usually get between 300 and 500 carp a year

[TBow]

One thing that's nice about bowfishing is that you can take it to any level you want depending on your pocket book and time available.

I've seen guys lay out some major cash in a bowfishing boat, elevated platform and all and have a separate bow set up for purely bowfishing. Then I've also seen guys that may make it out just once during the spring/summer spawn and use nothing but a pair of chestwaders and an old bow that was kicking around just going to waste.

You can even make your own fishing line spool. You just have to be a little ingenious and creative with what to use. I used a discarded large tomato juice can and a 5/16" threaded rod to make my spool, then just screwed it (or you can make a bracket and duct tape it onto the riser) into the accesory bushing in front of the bow. I would however suggest buying 2 or 3 fishing arrows with actual bowfishing tips. They usually run $10 to $20 each depending on the quality of the tips.

For string I just go to the local hardware store and get 100 lb braided nylon line.

Make sure you have the required lisence. In some states/provinces, you require a fishing lisence and/or a small game lisence. Just check your game regs to be sure and also check for the season dates. Some have them, some is a free for all.

My preferred method is wading though the rushes along the shoreline or in small bays. Walk slow and keep looking for movement such as a dorsel fin or tail swishing in the catails. Then let 'er fly, and hold on to your britches. And trust me, you're gon'na get wet. There's more floppin' and thrashin' than at a mud wrestling event.

It's a great way to introduce kids to archery because it's a real hoot and if the fish are in to spawn, you'll be shooting just about as fast as you can rereel your line.

Good luck and have fun!

TBow

[TN Bucknasty]

I've done it several times here on the TN river system. It's a lot of fun. The easiest and most efficient way I've found to do it is to us a light after dark. The fish are usually mesmerized by the light.

[Muleyman]

I really hope to get out this spring and get some carp. That would be great.

[MichiganHunter]

I started last spring...it's amazing, every year I try to add something new to my hunting or fish to spice things up a bit. IT'S FREAKING AWESOME. I picked up a set of 600w spot light and use a power inverter on 2 extra boat batteries and am able to stay out for 3-5 hrs depending on how hard I run everything. I shot 25 carp, 10 gar and 4 dog fish.

you will love it.

OH and if you get your own stuff I bought an AMS retriever pro kit and it works great, aint broken anything or had to replace anything

Edited April 26, 2010 by MichiganHunter

[NBomb500]

It is amazing!!! My friend took me out last year and I had a blast. I love the challenge. Bet you will too!

[Hoytguy]

Be prepared to be hooked for life.

[Diamond Archer 01]

The season for it here in NY opens on May 15th. My dads friend is going to take us out and I think it is gonna be a blast!!!!

[Cory D stroyer]

Anyone know of what line to use on a closed face bowfishing reel im just using monfilament now