Bowfishing opener is closing in!!!!

[live_2_fish]

I just started my countdown to bowfishing opener and it is coming quick. 36 days and the fiberglass will fly and the fish will die. I was just checking to see if I'm crazy or if there are other people that have the bug as bad as me, if there is anybody out there that thinks the same lets hear about it. I already have my boat set for the river. I prefer bowfishing out of my boat out on the river because those spots are untouched unlike the bridges that get pounded all day long.

[waterbound]

Never bowfished before, but everyday that passes I get a stronger and stronger urge to go buy a bow start skewering some carp.

[hhguide]

I got my spot pick out already. Well I go to the same spot every year! haha

[OTBASSER]

I am getting the itch too...the bow and boat are ready!!!

[ec30_06]

Ready to go here! I will have two bows rigged with ams reels this year.

[Waterwolf22]

Does Minnesota have a opening date which you can start bowfishing for rough fish like carp? I thought you could do it year round? Do you need a fishing license to bowfish in Minnesota>?

[TylerS]

Yes they have an opener: May 1.

Yes you need a licese: standard fishing license will do.

[Moonie]

I'm pumped! I think this year I may upgrade my gear too! either way... I love the sport. Thinking of trying it at night this spring with a spotlight. Something different.

[carpshooter]

There will be guys that will be going out of state bowfishing in the near future, as soon as the water opens up. I might be one of them.

May 1st is a bowfisherman's holiday in Mn. For me I cant wait for June 1st and to start wacken fish at night again.

[hondarider550]

Is there an opening date for bowfishing in Iowa? Or is the season open all year for us?

[carpshooter]

Is there an opening date for bowfishing in Iowa? Or is the season open all year for us?

its open year round in iowa

[OTBASSER]

Well maybe an Iowa trip is in order than.

[Tip Up Rookie]

Why is there a protected period on rough fish in MN?

[mrklean]

that i never got, crappie is open all year but we cant shoot carp? oh well i cant wait to go this year, maybe ill actually make it out

[BuckKiller]

you could still catch them with a rod

[benbosh]

that i never got, crappie is open all year but we cant shoot carp? oh well i cant wait to go this year, maybe ill actually make it out

i think its because by then most of the protected fish (walleye/northern) that have seasons are done spawning in the same areas that fish that are shot by bowfishermen/women are typically shot in, so people don't mistake them for that species because once they are shot they proly wont survive but you can still fish with a rod/reel cause they can be released.

[wakeguy]

I'm headed up to Fargo tomorrow for a few days of work. Too bad the ND season doesn't open 'till May because my buddy says we could shoot them out of his backyard in the field behind his house right now

[Mclovin]

how many days now?

[carpshooter]

May 1st will be here before you know it. Hopefully we will have open water this year by opener. Last year our lakes were still hard up north.

[broken_line]

i was driving my truck around last night and parked by a small bay and accidentillay hit the peddle with my foot and the carp were flying out of the water left and right! i cnat wait till may 1!!!!!

[TylerS]

Originally Posted By: mrklean

that i never got, crappie is open all year but we cant shoot carp? oh well i cant wait to go this year, maybe ill actually make it out

i think its because by then most of the protected fish (walleye/northern) that have seasons are done spawning in the same areas that fish that are shot by bowfishermen/women are typically shot in, so people don't mistake them for that species because once they are shot they proly wont survive but you can still fish with a rod/reel cause they can be released.

In all my years of bowfishing I've never mistaken a game fish for a carp...in fact, I've never even heard of someone "accidentally" shooting a game fish. I say the same thing about shooting rough fish as I do about hunting in general: Always be sure of your target. And with carp, its next to impossible to confuse them with any other fish

[Neighbor_guy]

From what I have been told, there are a couple of reasons for the May 1st opener.

1. Is to protect the pike run up the creeks.

The other is...

2. To protect the sucker run that happens right around the pike run.

It would be nice to get out right away, but I can wait. May 1st has become such a tradition I am not sure what I would do if I could just go shoot.

[Neighbor_guy]

It's comming

3.5 days and counting down.....

I will have to go someplace on friday, even if it is only for a few minutes to say I did. I think I even know where it will be...

anyone else???

[fishkid]

i dont think it has anything to do with the sucker run because we shoot and spear them all of the time on opener. infact thats the only thing we can shoot on opener in the northland

[Ralph Wiggum]

Always be sure of your target. And with carp, its next to impossible to confuse them with any other fish

A lot of guys can't tell the difference between a carp and a buffalo. Heck, there are a lot of guys that don't even know they are completely different fish.