bow fishing

[Genofish]

My 13 yr old son is interested in bow fishing. What type

of equipment do i need to buy?? and what are the reqs on

bow fishing??

thanks

[cyberamish]

I'm sure someone else will pop in here and give you a better run down but all we have ever used is a 45# recurve with a bow fishing reel mounted on the front. I think I paid $20 for the bow at a garage sale and the reel, line, and arrow came in a package for like $25 (that was years ago at Holiday). I've seen complete bowfishing packages at Fleet Farm and Gander for around $100. It is a BLAST!! whether you stalk them along a creek or hunt 'em out of a boat/canoe.

As far as regs, they are listed in the fishing regs under spearing.

[Genofish]

great quote, aching to be

[poutpro]

I would stronly suggest that you DO NOT get the type of line mount that just comes off like a spinning fishing reel. These are very dangersous because the line will get caught and snap back at whoever is shooting. I use an old recurve bow that I bought off of hsolist, and mounted a good bowfishing reel on it. They usually have these at all the sportingoods stores ranging from $50 on sale to around $75 regular. These are the ones with an actual reel and a canister underneath it.

[Redwalleye]

I definately agree. the spool style that mounts in the stabilizer hole can be dangerous. I've been slapped by arrows after tangled line, luckily havent been hurt too bad. I shoot one of my old compounds at 55 lbs and it does the trick.

[so haaad]

If money is an issue, the spool style that mounts in the stabilizer hole works just fine. I would just recommend against using a fishing reel, like the Zebco's that you sometimes see. You can get more hangups using these, but not using the old hand spool type. You actually have a higher chance with failure by getting the string wrapped around the riser or on a finger. My first bowfishing system was a Fred Bear 45 lb with a hand spool on the front. That was more than 20 years ago, yet you still see many similar bowfishing systems today. That should tell you something.

[poutpro]

Just because they are still around does by no means make it safe, but if you don't care about safety, then it will be cheaper to get that style then the reel style.

[so haaad]

I think what Poutpro is trying to say is that the canister style is a higher quality product, but more expensive than the spool. Like any product, common sense and paying a little detail towards safety goes a long way. If your 13 year old son wants a starter unit without paying a lot of money up front, then the spool would work just fine.

[poutpro]

No, more what I am saying is to not get your son the spool style for his safety. I would not trust anyone with this style of rig.

[Ryan Berger]

they have the jug style reels at scheels for 29.99 I got one put it on a cheap bow and love it

[poutpro]

That is a really good deal. I bought mine for $50 on sale, and I thought I had found a bargain.

[so haaad]

Yep, $29.99 is a steal. They are usually around $60-$70, just for the tube.

[norm]

What Scheels is that at? I might have to make a run to St. Cloud tonight and check it out.

[Ryan Berger]

dump maybe I was wrong... but I swear I seen it for $29.99 at scheels in Cloud,, I bought the whole kit from Cabelas for $100 and was [PoorWordUsage]ed at myself

[CHUBBYDARTER]

I'll triple that with old style hand reel. Not safe for a youngster who will get excited and will have less attention to detail that is required to use such a reel. I've been bowfishng for three years now and everyone i know who uses this style has problems.

[Gep]

Here is the type of retriever I used when I was pretty heavy into bow fishing.

Worked great.

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/product/standard-item.jhtml?id=0004839410274a&navAction=push&navCount=8&indexId=cat600364&podId=0004839&catalogCode=IF&parentId=cat600364&parentType=index&rid=&_DARGS=%2Fcabelas%2Fen%2Fcommon%2Fcatalog%2Fitem-link.jhtml_A&_DAV=MainCatcat21424&hasJS=true

[JJB]

Is a compound ok to use for shooting carp????? I would love to start shooting my compound but have olny used recurves for carp. If so is there anything special you have to do with you compound(draw weight, arrow rest, ect...) I see some of you use compounds but for some reason I have always believed you have to use a recurve But I dont know why.

Right now my compound is set at 67lbs and I am shooting out of a biscut cut for carbons so I might need to grab a cheap arrow rest?

[jake125]

Hey, i am interested in getting into bowfishin myself and i was wondering should i buy a new bow or will it hurt if i use the one i use for deer hunting, thanks

[frabillfisher]

Well first off yea it perfectly fine to use a compound for bowfishing in fact thats what I use but if you could drop the poundage to about 50 to 55 pounds i think is best also yea about the rest I would pick up a ams channel arrow rest not sure about 15 bucks,Jake...I wouldnt use your deer hunting bow for bowfishing unless you like beating the dump outta nice stuff...get a cheap compound ,I recomend the PSE Nova Extreme ran me around 200 bucks if thats to much maybe pick an older one up at a pon shop hope i helped you guys some

[half2fish]

i just bought a starter kit from fleet farm. for 16 bucks. came with one arrow a spool and 50 feet of line. i have already shot 2 dog fish with it and love it.

[SlaPPy]

my freind uses a recurve and i have shot fish with it but i like the compound better . get a roller rest they are like $10