Bowfishing

[manxxcatt]

Anyone do any bowfishing? I'm looking to get into it. Looking for any tips or tricks, recommendations on retrievers, arrows, points, etc.

[fmrleatherneck]

Ahhh, yet another branch of the "Archery Tree"... Manxx, you are going to get yourself hooked if you're not careful!! (I suspect I'm a bit too late with that advice...!)

Unfortunately for me I can no longer shoot, period, but you'll absolutely LOVE bowfishing, I have no doubt.

I was bowfishing in the '60's with a recurve and a #10 tin can taped under the front of the grip! Eventually, I graduated to a "shoot-thru" hoop reel. At one time or another, I suspect that I tried most, if not ALL, of the retrievers on the market, at least those available until the late '90's. (I'm tellin' ya'; it'll get addictive...! )

The one I liked best (and had several of...) stored your braided line loose in a "big mouthed" plastic bottle. I've been trying, but can't remember the name of it... at least not yet! The line pulled from between two 2" or so rubberized rollers at the shot, then you pulled a lever, which brought the two rollers together to retrieve the line with a 3 or 4" long crank that drove one of the rollers against the other. The line just dumped loose into the bottle, shot out clean with very little drag and was extremely quick and reliable on the retrieve. (Hey, I'm thinking it might have been called "The Retriever", or something like that...)

Over the years, I competed in all kinds of archery, with all kinds and classes of equipment... Bowfishing will bring you back to basics in regards to technique, at least it always did for me.

When I started bowfishing, my recurve was my only bow and "instinctive" was the only way I knew to shoot. Before long, I had switched to a lighter draw-weight, fiberglass recurve (waterproof... I was also on shore or wading at that time...), over the course of time, as I developed wider and more technical "archery interests", I continued to shoot "instinctive" whenever I was bowfishing. Very basic; LOADS of fun!!

If you are "interested"... I think you're in trouble!

[fmrleatherneck]

BTW: I guess I figured you know you're going to need barbed fishing arrowheads (2 or 3 to start, at minimum), fiberglass arrows (a couple will be enough to get you going), I'd get a spool of spare line in at least 60# braid.

I think you can pretty much pick an arrowhead design until you find one you prefer. You want penetration, and FULL penetration is best but NOT 100% necessary as long as you get through one side of ribs. The heavy fiberglass arrow helps drive penetration.

[manxxcatt]

I've been doing a tad bit of research, I think the bottle type is the one I was looking at, has a bottle thingy on the offside of the bow with the retriever built above/front of it, sort of. A few bux, but looks well worth it.

[manxxcatt]

and, yes, I am already an archery junkie. I went to AA and they said it was for alcoholics, not archers.

[fmrleatherneck]

I should have just stayed with my first post...

You may shoot 70+ pounds of draw-weight deer hunting, (like I did), but, I guarantee you, if you were to get into this enough to get into tournament fishing, at its best, the action can be so quick, you'll be exhausted by the closing bell, even with a 40# draw!

You can count on virtually ALL of your shots being within 30' or less, too. If you have a small, shallow draft boat, you'll raise your action A LOT. I built a shooting platform on the nose of my carp boat. Being higher up is a great advantage.

Not being able to shoot anymore, I don't really look for spots... You must know where there are some relatively shallow, slow moving bodies of fresh water full of carp? Have you seen them rolling on the surface? (Not now, of course...) Spring has to be the best for that kind of sign, but then once you've got them located, then you can get them patterned and you can follow them for great action all summer, at least until the water cools.

[fmrleatherneck]

LOL...

Funny you should mention AA... You know how some job applications ask if you've ever lost work "due to being hungover" or something like that? Well, I never lost work for that, but... I'd skip out on work for carp shooting! and deer hunting... and shad fishing... and stripers... I guess you get the idea! I probably wasn't a very good worker, or at least I tried not to be there a lot!!

I think those retrievers were relatively expensive when I was buying them, too, but THEY WORK! That was always a big selling point with me. Plus, I felt I'd gone through all of the stuff that DIDN'T work...

[fmrleatherneck]

Hey, I like the avatar you switched to, too.

[manxxcatt]

I was thinking more along the lines of Coastal Fishing, saltwater type. The boat is already setup for flounder gigging, lights, etc. I've seen more speckled trout and drum, just cruising along, and thought, now why couldn't I shoot them with an arrow......or for that matter, bowfishing for flounder....

[manxxcatt]

(Hey, I'm thinking it might have been called "The Retriever", or something like that...)



something like this?212

[fmrleatherneck]

That looks like the rig! They must've figured a way to "improve" it a little bit, although, I thought it was pretty close to perfect! I usually find a way to "tweak" stuff to my own liking, but I never did modify one of the ones I had, at least, not that I recall.

Bummer for me that you are looking at bowhunting in terms of Coastal Fishing... I don't know anything about that... Except that I'm finally learning to cook the spec filets my neighbor gives me! He fishes for them about 4 days a week...

[fmrleatherneck]

BTW: Another nice avatar!

[manxxcatt]

yeah...they run about 65 bucks or so. looks like a solid rig.

Coastal isn't much different really. Fish are fish.

[fmrleatherneck]

Not really... To me, carp are fertilizer. lol

[SongDoghunter]

I hate to "pee" on your cornflakes Catt but any of the fresh or saltwater gamefish are illegal with a bow! Trout, drum, bass etc.! The reel you are referring to is an AMS Model 310R. That's the original retriever model. I have one I will sell you for $25.00 if you're interested and a PSE Bow with a Fishing arrow and stainless barb. I'll take $125 for the whole outfit. I used to be into the carp big time before I had my back and neck surgeries. You want the bow set at 20lbs. Otherwise, you'll drive the arrow right thru the fish and out of sight into the mud bottom of the lake and can't get it back. The last time I went was in April of 2004 up in Caswell county. Turkey hunted in the morning and bowfished the rest of the day and most of the night. We stuck over 100 on my last trip on Lake Farmer in Yanceyville!..Great fun after you get the art of sighting down the arrow without a peep sight or pins.

[fmrleatherneck]

I wondered if anything other than carp were legal, but hadn't looked it up. I was thinking if saltwater stuff was legal for spearfishing they may be legal for bowfishing... Not so?

[manxxcatt]

that's odd...I called once as a joke, and asked Marine fisheries if it was illegal to shoot at jumping mullets. They said no. Not to dispute ya Doghunter, but I'm gonna call Marine Fisheries and double check that. I'll update later.

[SongDoghunter]

October or hard head mullets are not a game fish.

[manxxcatt]

I looked high and low in the NCDMF rules and regulations.. I didn't find a single thing about bowfishing at all. Now, for inland, it is non-game only. Coastal (saltwater) fishing, isn't regulated by NCWRC. As I said, I'm not disputing ya here brother, just gonna double check it. I'll call NCDMF on monday and clarify it.

[fmrleatherneck]

Post your answer, ok, manxx? May not participate, but I'd still like to know. You had me looking forward to a healthy "bowfishing" conversation!!


(Oh, yeah: I've noticed we lost our "spell checker" but we're NOT going to start editing for spelling are we?)

[waltoxie1]

I know you cannot shoot at fish with a firearm at all, even a bang stick. You can use a gig, spear and bow on some species. Red Drum are non-game fish but it is illegal to gig them. You can gig Speckled Trout, Flounder,Black Drum, Mullet etc. Any game fish cannot be speared, gigged etc. It can only be taken by hook and line. When you call Marine Fisheries you will most likely end up getting a return call from Adam or Neil. Be straight forward with your questions to them and they will steer you straight. They are great guys to deal with.

[manxxcatt]

Got the skinny on this. According to marine fisheries, bowfishing falls under the same regs as spear, or gig. Therefore, you can bowfish for game fish, just not certain species, e.g., Red Drum, Striped Bass. Flounder, etc, are fair game.

[newhornet]

When I was able to use a bow...and I guess I COULD rig up the crossbow.....I bought a cheap, older Bear Blacktail for @10 bucks and a ZEBCO 270 BRUTE Reel. I used Muzzy points for fishing and the fiberglas shafts. I have used the round type line storage reels, smaller zebcos that were made for rods and the one mentioned earlier that stores the line on a plastic bottle. In my experience, the Zebco 270 brute is by far easier and more reliable than any of the others I tried. It WAS made for bowfishing and it utilizes the large braided line which I think was rated @90lbs. I don't know if they even make it anymore. I am sure the internet could let you know. A close second would be the plastic bottle type as compared to the more primitive methods.

[Capt_John]

I bowfish for mahi mahi, jacks, and even cobia when I can. it's alot of fun if you have the right gear.

[dixieguns]

I bowfish for mahi mahi, jacks, and even cobia when I can. it's alot of fun if you have the right gear.

That sounds like fun. I bet it gets kinda fast paced. You must be a better shot with a bow than me.

[Capt_John]

That sounds like fun. I bet it gets kinda fast paced. You must be a better shot with a bow than me.

i just chum them up and it's like a 3 foot shot. LOL

[Nitehunter]

Manx, did you ever get set up for bowfishing?... I've got all of what you're needing here in Sneads Ferry if you're still looking...