Bow fishing ?

[lpcjon2]

Guys I want to try it out but don't want to spend the money on arrows and such I like the home made things.I have a reel And my ? is have any of you guys cut the back part of a snuffer or woodsman broadhead off to make a barbed head? And I have a few Hill heads that I can do the same.Will this work?   :rolleyes:

[Jerry Jeffer]

Well, those things can work, but for a small price you can get one fishing arrow, a slide set up, and a fishing head with it from 3 rivers. I have been using the same arrow and head for at least 15 years now and have shot many carp. Just got for it.

[Bush]

If you don't use fiberglass arrows you have to attach the line to the head or the arrow will bend/break on the first fish.  If you attach the line to the head, you don't get very good flight.  You can buy a fiberglass arrow with an AMS slide and a Muzzy fish point for under $20.  THat is well worth it.

[Stone Knife]

Don't mess around get the Muzzy fish arrow with a gar or carp point. The cheap ones will break when you get a good fish on or if you hit a rock.

[Dean Lintz]

I agree fiber glass fish arrow also will need the added weight for penitration especialy if you shoot in 2 or 3 feet of water. The ams slide keeps the string off shelf out front of the bow.

[Hookeye]

I've killed hundreds without "fish arrows". I have a containment area at my local res, maybe 2.5 ft deep, cement bottom, has cuts in wall to let lesser volume exit, keeps it pretty constant in level as water rolls over the dam.

There I just shoot my regular hunting arrows, Goldtip carbons. I don't shoot steep angles from me ledge (where the water leaks out). There my feet are right at water level........I take shots 10 ft or more away from me.  Back at the slope of the wall it's maybe 15 yards.

It's murder on feathers, but the shafts hold up well.

I had three swimming with arrows sticking out of them, before my bud got his arrow reeled in on his AMS after a miss. Think the slam into the concrete bottom helps stun the fish (outside of that hole they get).

If they do swim off, there's a trick to "landing"
them. I sneak in, and let them swim by. I grab the arrow by the fletch and shove the tip to the bottom hard. I then with a quick flip of the qwrist bring the tip up (after I slide my hand 1/2 way down the shaft).

You'll get a lot of slime and blood on ya, but that's half the fun.

I've also just waded pond/lake edges, creeks, with my carbons. Lose some fish, but not many. There I try to stake the fish to the bank or bottom. Works most of the time..........suprisingly well too.

One thing I did learn...........use a bow you don't mind damaging. I got by with using my SA2 for a good while and then took a nasty tumble. Ended up boogering a limb, they fixed it, but untilmately it needed replaced (held up through deer season).

I love killing carp. I love Blackwidow bows. But I won't be mixing those two again.

BTW, Roger hooked me up with a replacement bow for a very reasonable cost......built to whatever I wanted, since my old handcrafted SA2 wouldn't get the best fit from the new machined limbs. Excellent customer service, in the repair, and later replacement.

[Hookeye]

Oh yeah, my GT55/75s weighed in at 480 grains. I smoked fish at 3 ft of depth with no problem.
I was shooting 55+# though, hitting 200 FPS.

[Hookeye]

Like another has said, go Muzzy if equipming standard fish arrows. From recurve and compounds, slamming rocks and concrete, those Muzzy fish tips are great. I've run some for years, look like crap, and still work fine.

Only problem I had, was using glass arrows and slamming lots of rock and concrete from compounds. There the edge of the tip would eventually damage the shaft after flexing too hard, too many times.

Lesser efficiency gear might alleviate that problem.

I did get a lot of shots from those arrows, probably ran too high of # in my wheelies......so I deemed the damage/cost to be acceptable.

[Cyclic-Rivers]

Pay the up front cost and murder the fish. I have shot the same arrow for 5 years.  I bought what was deemed and indestructible arrow and I have broke 4 or 5 in fish heads, They were all replaced free of charge. I see they dont make the "indestructible" arrow anymore. I have shot hundreds of fish with each arrow. I have shot them into rocks and everything else. they hold up great.

a $25 investment is well worth the up front cost.

[frank bullitt]

Tim, f you have the Desire to do it, go for it! I learned to never say you can't, to anyone, and for sure don't say it to me!

Alot of folks have done it without a "fish arrow"!

Don Thomas wrote an article in TB about shooting fish with Old arrows and Broadheads. He was shooting fish in a small stream!

It's your fun and adventure, have at it, and post some pics!

[Bowmania]

Anybody try a Blackhawk 2213?  Is that the Muzzy?  I broke one in the second year.  3 Rivers doesn't carry Muzzy in their latest catalog with Dale fishing on the front.

Bowmania

[Cyclic-Rivers]

Bowmania No I haven't tried that arrow.

When we were kids we could only afford the 4.00 arrows from Fleet Farm. They were green fiberglass arrows. The cheap heads would always break so we would drill a hole and put a bent nail through it.  

I once invited an older gentleman with me bowfishing. He was using old hunting arrows with a balloon tied to a string .  I thought he was nuts, he never did connect with  a fish but they shot pretty well out of his old bow.

[Chris Shelton]

I use a old "zebco" style reel, WITHOUT the safety slide system.  If you forget to push the button and you have the safety slide you can draw, without the safety slide the arrow will just pop off the string when you try to draw, saves alot of frustration:), dont think anyone mentioned that yet . . .

[Bush]

I prefer the Zebco setup, but I saw someone take a nock to the forehead, after forgetting to punch the button, and I decided that it wasn't worth the headache.