bowfishing!

[Fatpat_33]

Hello there everybody, I have a few questions, I am interested in bowfishing, ethically of course, I have a 2012 bowtech carbon knight and was wondering 1) if anyone knew of a solid bow fishing kit to use for that bow, any recommendations? 2) some spots to start as a beginner 3) what fish to go after 4) any tips what so ever! I have bow hunted my entire life (turkey, deer, competition) and want to expand my expertise with bowfishing. Rhnks again yall

[Saltwaterwalt]

You didn't mention the poundage, but I'm assuming your bow is the same one you bowhunt deer with? If so, that would NOT be the bow to bowfish with. Most use higher poundage for deer. For fish, ideal poundage would be 45-55 lbs max. You want to punch the fish arrow head through the other side, but not shoot entirely through with the arrow, resulting in "threading" the fish. That's a pain in the butt to get untangled from that mess. And speaking of mess, it's a messy sport with lots of blood, scales and slime - something I would not want my high dollar deer bow sliding around on in the bottom of the boat. Find a cheap used bow in light poundage and go have some fun. Lots of videos out there on setting one up. Watch out though, lots of people wanting to sell you all sorts of stuff. Keep it simple, your average shot will be about 5 yards. I never use sights for bowfishing, just point and shoot.

I've switched from bowfishing for carp to flyfishing for carp, but I still go a couple times out to whack some of those crazy Asian carp (Silvers and Bigheads) and buffalo too, they get really big and don't bite flies worth a darn.

I leave the common carp alone anymore as A. They're too easy a target B. They're the best roughfish game for flyfishermen and C. Brian Dunigan would be upset with me shooting such a sporting fish. (inside joke, B.D. is a moderator and a master carp angler)

One last piece of advice, don't dump what you shoot back into the lake, bad PR stunt for sure. Barrel up what you shoot and dump them on a field somewhere (with permission!). The buzzards and coons will love you for it.

[TNBronzeback]

If its something you really want to get into, there are, or were a few guides on jpp and o.h. that do guiding for bowfishing. My bow of choice was always the PSE talon take-down recurve. I had the reel attachment. Not the closed face spinning, but the glorified spray bottle with the crank to wind the line.
at night during the spring and summer ive shined carp and gar around the Rockland Recreation area fishing dock/sidewalk in hendersonville. That may be a starting place for ya.
If your gonna get heavy into it, spring for the better arrows and especially the heads, the kind with the barbs that can turn backwards are great for sliding off the arrow into the boat.

[Reel Tune]

I think you're a little over gunned per se' with your outfit. Like said before, go lower poundage, and disposable. Bowfishing is hard on gear, bows getting dropped, slime, blood, guts, mud and more.

My wife and I have matching outfits, but my riser and limbs are black and hers are camo.

Mathews Mission Craze "Easily adjustable draw length" mine is set at about 35#, and her's at 28#. The reason for the low draw weight is we might take 200 shots a night and that can be very taxing on the shoulder. We also shortened our draw lengths from what we normally shoot. Our reels are Muzzy XD reels with 150# string. The AMS cans are just fine though. We use F&D Pro reels seats that our reels are mounted to and the RPM Breakout Rod. The rod is not needed but I like to think I'm really fishing:). We use the Muzzy points, and have a bunch of different arrows. WE always carry spare tips, and arrows when we go out. We use the quick Draw Bowfishing arrow rest, it is one of the safest and strongest. We use the Glow in the Dark Quick Shot Finger Savers. It's very fast paced and no release is needed, that takes time, and something that could possibly fail. The Finger Savers protect your fingers from damage, taking many shots with bare wet hands can be hard on your fingers, and slippage can be an issue.

Oneida are popular bow fishing bows, but I would recommend an older bow that the draw weight can be cranked down to as low as at least 30#. Craigslist there are always cheap bows for sale. I would definitely inspect "limbs, and cams, or wheels" carefully if buying a new bow, and possibly replace the strings.