Bowfishing

[Whitetail Addict]

I'm almost ashamed to admit that in all the years I've shot and hunted with bows, I've never bowfished. Do those of you that do, use a different bow than what you hunt with? I know you can buy reel mounts with rubber straps, but I'm scared to mount a reel on my hunting bow. It's the only bow I have right now, I love it, and I'd hate to scratch it all up. I had a recurve that would have made a nice fishing bow, but I gave it to a young man last year that wanted to get into archery and couldn't afford a bow. My bow is a very slim longbow, and I'm not even sure I could make it work. Any suggestions as to mounting a reel on it? Should I even try it on a nice bow? Thanks.

Bob

[mangonboat]

Any bow will work, but I favor recurves with a factory-installed ferrule in the lower face of the riser for a screw-in Bear or Bohning bowfishing reel..old school but my preference. You can do a lot of shooting in a short span of time and the shots are usually short, so a light bow in a  weight you can shoot all day is nice. I love to wade the shallows rather than shoot fish from a boat or dock, so there's always a risk of falling in with your bow or needing to use it as a prop. You can pick up a perfect bowfishing bow on the auction site or trade a dozen arrrows for one.

[Doug_K]

I use a cheaper 50# takedown recurve only because I don't want to abuse my longbows, and the takedown is set up with a stabilizer, so the old bear reels can just screw in. You could just buy a Sage for $130 and use that, you wont have to worry about beating it up.

But I know they make strap on/tape on reel adapters if you really want to though.

[Gordon Jabben]

This is the method I have used for years but I'll admit it isn't the best but I didn't want a reel on my bow.  I take a Zebco 808 or 404 reel and put the handle part of the reel in my blue jean pocket with the reel pointing forward.  It works ok but does tend to make the arrow skip on longer shots.
 

[Cyclic-Rivers]

Use the strap on adapter that 3 rivers sells. I also use it for my string tracker too.

[shag08]

I think Doug K had a good idea...buy a Samick Sage for a dedicated bowfishing rig...a good bow that comes with all the right holes for a reasonable price. I'd also recommend an AMS Pro. I greatly prefer the AMS to a Zebco reel or an old school, hand winding drum style....I have all three and the AMS is all I use now.

[Whitetail Addict]

Thanks for your input everybody, you've given me some good ideas. I think I'm going to try Gordons setup for the time being, just to get my feet wet so to speak.    Looking at your picture reminded me that I have an old leather belt that I could cut two slices in to hold the reel base too. Might work. I'll check my local trad shop when funds will allow, and see what's available in used bows too. Thanks again, I appreciate all your help.  

Bob

[mangonboat]

I just had an idiotic image come into my head of a  tip-eye that you could slip over your upper bow tip after you get a good fish on and maybe get some leverage to "pump" your fish in while cranking on your bow-mounted reel.

One of the best bowfishing stories I ever heard involved a buddy of my Dad, a wiry little guy who was on station in Panama and shot a big tarpon passing by the dock at night...the tarpon promptly jerked him off the dock into the canal, he let go after being dragged a bit and lost his bow, all in a matter of seconds.

[Gordon Jabben]

Shooting a good size grass carp and fighting him with just the reel is something everyone should experience.  LOL
I hunt small creeks and I'm in and out of the boat a lot looking for arrows that I have shot at squirrels and such so this set up works good for me.

[Pine]

Saw a film with Howard Hill and he was bow fishing . He would coil the line in about an 18" coil and hang it from his bow hand pinky finger and when he would shoot he pointed the finger straight out .
That film made my knees quiver , keep in mind he shot very heavy draw weights .    

[LBR]

Dedicate a cheap bow for bowfishing...it's going to get banged around and covered in mud, blood, fish goo, etc.  A Samick Sage or Journey is great.

If you are the least bit serious about it, an AMS reel is well worth the money.  

Use the fishing arrow slides.  Think you get 2 with an AMS reel.

Bowfishing for stingray is a BLAST!  I use Captain Danny Allen from Cedar Key Outfitters in FL.  Great guy, and if the conditions don't allow for bowfishing you can always use a rod for redfish.

[LBR]

Almost forgot--IMO Muzzy makes the best bowfishing point.

[tracker12]

Pictures of your bow fishing rig would be great.

[KenH]

I use a setup similar to Gordon's -- an old cheap spin-cast reel and handle sans rod.

[sheepdogreno]

you'll want a cheaper beat around bow...or at least that's what I prefer. bowfishing is one of my bigger hobbies and I can beat up a bowfishing bow really fast. between rattling around in the boat, being in the bed of the truck, tossing it down when you shoot a monster grassie, and getting wet having a beater bow is ideal. not to mention it gets covered in fish guts and mudd almost immediately. AMS reels are great. Ive used AMS reels and PSE Kingfisher bows with nothing but good things to say. The PSE kingfisher will take an absolute beating! Im going to outfit an older 52in Bear Kmag this year to help with clearance over the bowfishing deck rails.

[Whitetail Addict]

I looked at a few used recurves at my local trad shop last night. When I can afford to, I'm going to pick one up just for bowfishing. I've got some old fiberglass arrows around here somewhere, they should work ok shouldn't they? Thanks.

Bob

[mangonboat]

Bob, for bowfishing you need solid fiberglass fishing arrows  with indestructible slide-on plastic vanes ..they are heavy and you have to get used to them, but they wont deflect as much on contact with the water and they wont break every time you hit a rock on the bottom or a big fish gets frisky with your arrow sticking out both sides. Also note that fishing arrows have a hole in the shaft just front of the nock AND a hole in the steel tip. Always tie a knot in your line about 36" from the end, run the line through the hole in front of the nock up to your knot and then knot it snug against the shaft  through the hole in the steel tip. If you want to use a spincast reel like a Zebco, you probably want to use a heavy braided "leader" at the arrow and tie that into your monofilament about 1 foot behind the arrow.

As noted above, I'm old school and use a drum-type reel and #8 floating fly line..its nearly unbreakable, easy to see, floats on the water which minimizes tangles. This set up is great for carp and small gars but wouldn't work for big game like stingrays or alligator gar, where you need plenty of line to fight a big fish.

[Tony Sanders]

Whitetail Addict. I use an old Bear magnesium handle take-down recurve bow. I use this for all my bowfishing. I have painted it up some to help protect against the salt water. I have been using this same bow for many years. Taking Carp, stingray and even snapping turtles. Here is a pic of my bowfishing rig.


 


  This is the same bow in this pic with the stingrays.
 


  Tony

[Chromebuck]

That's cool Tony.  Do you eat stingrays?  There was a proposal here in Alaska last year to allow bowfishing for terminal(hatchery reared)salmon.  It did not pass.  So no bowfishing here...

[Tony Sanders]

Yes Chromebuck, I do eat the stingrays, and they are quite tasty. You cut the meat out of the wings, and you can bake, broil and deep fry them just like you do scallops and fish. They are more closer to scallops than fish, but they are really good deep fried.

  Tony