Equipment for bowfishing

[blakeman]

What to buy? Bow new or used? what rest? Sight or no sight? What arrow? What kind of tips for arrow? Is it safe to say you are going to spend $300 to $600 for a set-up? Where to start? Is it worth it to bow fish, if you don't have a boat? Where are some good spot to bow fish in central Mn area? or other areas? Any and all tips or hints on bowfishing? Thanks!!!!

[HD]

I bow fish quite a bit....

My set-up is a used bow that I picked up, you don't need anything fancy to get started.
Mine has just a flipper rest on it, cause you will have a line attached to the arrow for retrieval.
One of my set-ups has an old drum style line holder on it and the other has a reel with a canister.
I prefer the bow with the reel canister better, cause you can reload faster. The older arrows with just the hole drilled in them, tend to get lost easier because of it being tied in the one spot which frayes the line faster. I switched the the arrows that have a slider on them, when shooting it, leaves less stress on the main line. Also, the arrows with the slider flys straighter, with less drag from the line. Sights.....I don't use any.... once you get started, you will find that you don't need them... shooting a target under water is way different than shooting normally. The angle of the shot placement is decieving because of the water (unless the fish is rolling on top of the water) More often then not, you shoot over the fish. I takes alot of practice, that's why it's so fun!

The best spots are shallow areas on lakes when the carp and suckers are spawning. If you don't have a boat you can use waders to walk in the shallow areas. We have a river up here, that has stretches of areas you can walk with a bow and shoot fish in the deeper pools. It's how I started before I had a boat.

Hope, this helps...

Hunter

[bowhunter73]

[mahmoodmahi]

you definatly don't need to spend that much, pretty much any set up will work. Also most bow reels aren't really reels, they are just ways to hold the line, with the force of the arrow stripping line off the "reel". You could get away with spending 100 total, if you bought a used bow.

[Jdrummer]

or do what I did and just help a buddy move and when you are moving his stuff tel him you want his bow for partial payment 

[snow]

Lots of places to bow fish once the water warms and they start to spawn up shallow or below small damns,older compond bows works the best but any will do in a pinch,we shoot mostly in lakes in deep water so we crank up the poundage to penetrate big fish better,we also found that "stingery" tips work the best,longer shanks/barbs to hold the fish better than wire barbs and you don't have to remove the arrowhead to release the fish,just unscrew counter clockwise and pull the arrow out,the arrowhead never leaves the arrow,the slider arrow attachment as mentioned is the way to go,the bottle retriever is the best setup,complete with break so you don't get a rope burn when you stick 30+lb fish,check out the dandy pic hanging in "bald eagle bait" 85lb bruiser from bald eagle lake,seen'em even bigger,had some pull our boat around and then get lost in the mill foil. Also,"no fletching" fletching will hydroplane  the arrow.I f you plan on really getting into it (which will happen) always bring a repair kit along including extra arrows,nocks,glue,arrowheads and such.

Then just as important as your bow and arrow is polarized glasses,you need to see under water and not just a shadow.


Almost forgot,shoot instinctive,no release for this shooter either

[bowhunter73]

As I am not huge on fishing I thought the  polarized glasses where a joke when I hear the rant&rave about them but then I tried them. Now I have a Expensive pair of prescriptions for bow fishing it’s a must. The cheap ones will work just fine as well

[Mayfly]

Polarized glass are a must for bow fishing. I actually prefer the cheap ones because I always lose them!

I like the lindner ones you can get almost anywhere.. fleet farm, gander, wal mart etc...

http://www.anglingedge.com/edge_store/product.php?productid=2

[stevejedlenski]

my suggestion is to start as cheap as you can to see if you like it, then start to spend the money if its something you like. i would find a cheap bow that goes up to 30-40lbs because the real cost is in the arrow, tips, and spool.

i don't use a sight as the refractive index makes for a guess on the shots anyways, and they are usually pretty close using a peep will just slow you down. you can use fingers or a release, fingers will let you get a shot off faster though.

no need for a boat as long as you can find a stream or RR bridge or docks etc. i have bow fished from shore, bridges, and paddle boats.

its all about having a good time (like fishing for sunnies with a bobber) no need to have top of the line gear.