bowfishing

for a budget set up:

older compound bow that can be turned down somewhere around 30-40 lbs. I would not skimp on a reel so get an AMS retriever, maybe find a used one on Ebay or craigslist, a roller rest (some folks shoot off the shelf) a couple arrows.

I have 5 bows set-up, my favorite is a twenty year old Bear Whitetail II
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Bow fished for years!! What a fun sport. Number 1 choice for bows- light poundage recurve, 40 to 45 pounds, 2nd choice would be a light weight Onieda Eagle or any other cheap bow cause it will sooner or later end up in the water. A bunch of arrows. We alwys used the big heavy Zebco reels. Most of us had boats that were set up with decks and lights for night fishing. My boat got ran over by a little ole' lady and I never replaced it. Kinda put me out of the game. Fun Sport, about as addicting as chasing coyotes!!
 
We stand on shore alot and use boat and night shoot as well.Alot of people just use old compounds like said up above I have one of the supposed best bows and my old browning bow gets used more.I would buy good arrows and tips before a high end bow.My set up is a Hydrostrike with innerloc arrows and three blade grapple tips best arrow out there not much gets off of them.Hydrostrike is a good bow just had its problems out of the box but all taken care of now. Go buy a cheap bow with a innerloc arrow and a AMS reel and you should be good to go.
 
Any old cheep wheel bow or recurve and a Zebco 808 reel with 200# fast flight will work fine. I use Retrievers but only shooting aligator gar in heavy cover. If you arn't going after Gator Gar than any bow in the 30-50 pound class is fine. I shoot a onida at 55 pounds or my 50-60 pound recurves for gator gar. The only real advise I can give you is If you are married don't start. next thing you know you will be out all night long coming home smelling of fish.

If you want to start out cheap you can make reels out of any soup can. Just drill a hole in the back and bolt it on your stabalizer hole. It will get old in a hurry hand winding your line but it will tell you real quick if it is something you want to do.

have fun, drscott

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245# from trip last july
 
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Why not? Carp are one of the most eaten fish on the planet. And, honestly they are quite tasty smoked, best time for them is early spring before the shallows warm up a great deal. Up to about 6 - 7 pounds is best, beyond that they get a little big to smoke whole, and you have to steak them out.

Have also grilled them early spring, little seasoning salt, lemon pepper, lemon juice and butter to baste. And, they were quite tasty. But again, this was early in the year before the shallows warmed up, and it wasn't a real big carp.

Typical recipes for larger fish would suggest boiling them in a court bouillon, then flaking the meat to make fish cakes or patties. If you go this route with larger fish, trim the darker flesh along the lateral line from the fillet before boiling. It harbors most of the heavy oils, and likewise toxins from run off into the lake/river/stream.



Older compound... Mine was a Bear - Black Bear II. Boat is cool, but wading is a blast, and much more affordable. You can get right up in the middle of them, have fish bouncing off your legs and feet as they swim through, it's way cool! If you're thinking about wading, look for a bow with short limbs. It allows you to get deeper and crowd the fish to shallower water for shooting. Been down the handwind reel route, and you couldn't give me another. Used a stubby rob screwed into the stabilizer hole, and a Zebco 808. Allows for much quicker recovery on missed shots, and thus more opportunities to shoot before the school passes.
 
thanks guys looks like a blast i have gigged carp before thought this would be a fun summer deal. i dont like to fish that much and i dont chase coyotes in summer.
 
I use to use a Bear Polar LTD. You could string it or unstring it by flipping the bus cables on and off the rollers. You could also set poundage by adjusting the same rollers. We used to wade small creeks and rivers or hunt the high banks. It is a blast, and we ate some grilled too. Use to fry the eggs if we had a big female. Aim low and get a good reel and simple rest. Brush tangling our free line was our biggest obstacle. I miss those days on the river.
 

Originally Posted By: emtpredatorwhat bout a youth bow?

As long as it's got a fairly serious draw weight. Big carp have thick scales and hides! Hit a big one square in the head between the eye and the gill, with a 40lb. draw, and you will not blow through it 90% of the time. Can be a real pain recovering your arrow on those too!!


Originally Posted By: ARCOREYAim low and get a good reel and simple rest. Brush tangling our free line was our biggest obstacle.

A "cheap", simple rest, occasional line snag on the rest can, and often does, remove them.

That was another advantage of the stubby rod and zebco reel; you didn't need a whole lot of free line dragging. You just have to make sure the button is pushed before you draw; line will feed. I typically didn't run but about 8 - 10 inches of free line, just enough to get you started in your draw, because if the button wasn't pushed and you released, you generally lost an arrow!
 
thanks rocky i have been watching some you tube and trying to learn as much as i can. thought it would be somethin cool to do this summer here at home and when i take the fam south in the summer i usually get to stay at home while they see micky and shop and the beach. other than my one night of hog hunting while im in fla.
 
try bowfishing country.com Hope to go with a friend in a few weeks. Look forward to it. Good company good fun.
 
Oh yeah... If you do decide to wade, you'll need a good stringer!! You might try 1/4" nylon rope, about 12 - 15 feet long, if the carp are as thick as they are in Lake Audubon, up in ND. Filled mine several times!

We buried a lot of big ones, but we ate a lot of smoked carp too!

That one I acquired in an auction sale tackle box, not sure who made it but it worked good. The spike you stick through the gills was made out of a piece of copper tubing, just big enough to get the rope through, about 8 inches long. They stiffed the rope through it half way, then squeezed it flat in vice. Hammered the end together tight and ground to a nice smooth point and soldered it up. Then took a punch or an ice pick, and punched about 4 - 5 holes along each side of the end holding the rope.

Rope never did slip out of it, and I used it for several years. Length of the point made it convenient for slipping behind your belt and down in your pocket. Belt loops don't cut it wen you're dragging hundred plus pounds of carp behind you!!
 
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