Need help with some GIANT carp!!!!!!

[joevan125]

Me and my daughter went up to my dad's place saturday to do some fishing.

Several years ago my dad put some of those grass eating carp in his 12 acr lake and i haven't been there in a while but i was amazed.

I saw 15 of them at one time and these fish are huge, at least 35-40lbs.

Can someone please tell me what kind of bowfishing rig i need to go after these monsters.

I have several bear bows i can pick from so i guess i just need the eguipment to go with one of my bows.

I'm not kidding about the size of those suckers so i will need something with some pretty good backbone to get one of them in.

These fish will be easy to get close to, i had some 3 ft from me while i was fishing so im really excited to go after them.

Thanks

[swp]

Sounds pretty risky Joe, better let me come down and take care of them for you.
Honestly any type of rig will work, just depends on what you want to spend $ and if your bow has a stabilizer insert or if you are going to have to strap it on.

Goodluck with the fishing!

[joevan125]

I have several bear bows with the stabalizer inserts.

[bowfiend]

That sounds pretty awesome. I don't have any info for you, but I'd love to see some pics when you get after them!

[Fletcher]

I've had penetration issues on big grassies with my low 40's bows, so I would recommend 50+ lbs.  A Muzzy or Cajun point on a regular glass arrow will work well.  Squeeze the barbs down some to help with penetration and leave the point just loose enuf or work the barbs so that the barbs can go off to the side at least 60 degrees to prevent a pulloff.  Stingaree and Warheads are good, too.  I like a Retriever style reel, but a big pushbutton with a drag is nice as long as you are close.  Wear a glove on your string hand as big fish can give some wicked string burns.  With big fish, it will help a bunch if you have a buddy along who can get a second arrow in it.

Have Fun!!

[frank bullitt]

Joe, do a search on hear for bowfishing. You,can use a simple wind on reel or go with an Ams retriever. Depends on want you want to spend. Simple fiberglass arrow, Muzzy, or Sure shot arrow tip, and a safety slide, you can buy this as a kit or individually. Good pair of polarized glasses are great too!

Oh, and when you get one of those "whales" in, they say the grass carp are good eats. Also the skins are super for bow backing! All the above equipment can be bought from many of the sponsors here! Have fun!

[owlbait]

Kustom King Pro Bowfishing kit, has reel, reel seat that will fit into your stabilizer hole and a Stingaree tournament arrow set up with slide. order a couple extra arrows and have at it. They ship quick, aim low, and like above, wear some gloves!

[Gun]

I always like Bows in the 50-55# range for bowfishing. Biggest problem I had was landing the real big ones. We did most of ours from a boat. We would try and get a second arrow into a big fish. Put a no-glove or peep sight tubing on your bowstring instead of using a glove or tab. I liked the Zebco 808 reels. Use some kind of tip that will penetrate scales (beveled or trocar). Stay away from rounded type heads.There is a lot of info out there now. Good luck and post some pictures!

[nkw880]

they are tough when they are that big i shoot them with compounds and they are hard to kil so i just snag them its way more fun that way

[bmb]

i use a 55# k-mag. but i probably only draw it to around 48-50#( if i even get to full draw). if you look at my thread from last week, when we shot a bunch of fish one night and 5 big grassies that were all around 50# or over. i went thru 2 zebco 808s that night:) yesterday i went and got an ams reel and im heading out right now to try it. but i know they work b/c all my buddies used them last week and it handled these big guys fine.

btw- the week before one of my fishin' buds shot and reeled in a 64# grassy!! and it took 3 arrows total to get him in.

[Smallwood]

http://www.3riversarchery.com/Bow+Fishing_c56_s0_p0_cat.html

 

[Stone Knife]

We shoot ones that size quite often, My bow is an old Grizzly 45@ 28 my son shoots less poundage than that. we both have AMS retriever reels on our bows and bring in the big ones by hand. You will need decent points on your arrows we like the Muzzy carp or gar points they have really tough barbs on them, that is what you need the cheaper points will have the barbs break off too easy.

   

   

   

[joevan125]

Thanks guy that is some good info, i will be going after these giants in a few week, i cant wait.

[Spectre]

Steel Force has some nice fishing heads.

[Weasel]

8 weight flyrod and a small crab pattern.  Then hold on!!

[canoeman]

Are you sure you want to shoot them?  If they are grass carp, they may be helping you out and they likely won't reproduce.  Remember that they were put there for a reason.

[coffee]

Weasel I am going to give it a go with the fly rod. I am blessed with good carp hunting being surrounded by the waters of Green Bay and Lake Michigan and we have taken our share.  The problem we have is that we have to remove them and that can be a job!  Other guys have been telling me about the using the fly rod too so will give it a go.

[joevan125]

I wasnt going to shoot that many of them, but i think there are way to many in there.

Those things are everywhere and i think i read somewhere that once they get a certain size they need to be taken out.

[OkKeith]

Joe,

You are right, once grass carp get that big they really don't help out much in a pond. One 30 pounder doesn't eat nearly as much as 30 one pounders. Those big dudes can actually keep the water muddy when they feed.

I have caught them on a fly rod as well. I regularly fished a pond on the campus of a small local University. The best time to fish for them was right after they mowed the grass and flung the clippings in the pond. Those fish would feed like crazy on the bright green grass clippings. I tied a fly with mariboo that floated in the film. I would find a crusier that was slurping grass and cast just ahead of it, THEN HOLD ON! Those things can make some blistering runs.

A spool type reel that you just wind the string on might work good, or rig the bow with a pop bottle float.

Bowfishing big grass carp sounds like a great time, good luck and post pics when you can.

OkKeith

[Chris Shelton]

Originally posted by Weasel:
8 weight flyrod and a small crab pattern.  Then hold on!!

I want to try that so much, but I just cant get one, Ive caught pike on my 8 weight ugly stick fly rod and that was fun so I can only imagine, lol.  

Joe make sure you get some pics.  I myself hope to crest over the 40# mark this summer, I have seen them but always miss the big ones, lol!  Any bowfishing rig will be just fine!