bow fishing with a recurve bow?

[silvergma]

about 1 1 /2 years ago one of my hubbys coworkers gave us alot of stuff from his garage/basement.. good survival stuff.. one of the items was a recurve bow that he gave me..OH YAH.. I'd like to know if there is a way to rig it for bow fishing..seeing as how I will be using a sling bow for hunting.. easier for me to carry while horseback,,and what type of arrows would yall recommend and what kind of heads..my hubby will not be using it as he has torn up his rotator cup and bicep while working flat bed driving..so its up to me to git er dun......

[wtrfwlr]

Hi Silvergma, recurve bows are considered by many to be the best for bowfishing. They are very easy to rig-up for bowfishing. The arrow you need is a simple fiberglass shaft with a spring barbed tip. Here is a link to 3-Rivers Archery. They have everything you need to get you set up and it's pretty cheap too. I have dealt with them in the past and can recommend them as a 1st rate company. You can get a whole set up reel, arrow, string, instructions for $32.95 and the reel tapes onto your bow. They have a top of the line kit for about $100. They even offer a Starter Kit with bow and everything for $120.
Good luck with it and if you have any questions just let me know, I'll help out however I can.

http://www.3riversarchery.com/bow+fi...473_thumb.html

[silvergma]

ty ty ty ty ty

[wtrfwlr]

You're very welcome, like I said if you need anything lemme know. Would love to see some pix of your rig when you get er lined out!

[Old Professor]

Just remember to aim BELOW the fish to allow for light refraction in the water. I prefer a broadhead type point on bigger fish. 3 Rivers is an excellent company to deal with!!

[kyratshooter]

We used to do a lot of bowfishing for carp wading in the shallows when I was a kid. Prefered tools were a recurve or fiberglass "longbow" and the fiberglass arrow.

We dispensed with the reel rig entirely. The arriow would go completely through the carp and pin them to the bottom, the reel just slowed us down. We'd run the arrow completely through the fish to remove it and sling it up on the bank and go to the next one.

[canid]

With a line; in the event that your arrow passes through and fails to pin the fish to the bottom, your fish is still retrievable, rather than mortally wounded and lost to die. As a matter of fishing ethics, I would not recommend bow-fishing as described above.

[kyratshooter]

Carp fishing ethics?

Bad ethics in carp fishing is cheating on your count of dead fish on the bank. It they swim off to die you don't get to count them.

I'll bet you think you are supposed to eat the carp after you kill them too?

[COWBOYSURVIVAL]

Actually Bowfishing is becoming alot more than just Carp. Catfish are fair game, so are Rays and Sharks and even Redfish and Flounder in some states. They say the Snakehead are delicious! I now.... know how to dress and fry a gar...The sport has a bad name. We are here to remove the invasive species from our waters. Last week a 30 pound goldfish was killed at Lake Murray by a bowfisherman. Bowfishing on horseback, now that is an interesting proposition. So far as the bow...I'd highly recommend get a PSE Discovery 2 and a Muzzy reel. Compound fishing bows have come a long way since the 90's. Watch for a post of Cowboys 1st trip out, I have spent a small fortune getting into the sport.

[Batch]

I should post a thread on snakeheads. I wonder how many on here have them in their local waters. Along with cichlids, oscars, peacock bass, various tilapia, pacu and piranhas.

Cowboy, you eating just the back strap on the gar?

[COWBOYSURVIVAL]

You got it Batch, just the backstrap. We talked about this not too long ago. I believe it was you, that explained the backstrap to me. Since then I have confirmed it is edible and actually good. As we discussed before it is the eggs that are poisonous, even though hogs eat them readily whole...

Are snakeheads in FL?

[COWBOYSURVIVAL]

By the way Batch.. Did you know sharks urinate through your meat if you don't gut'em right away? One exception though...the Mako has a seperate urinary tract.

[canid]

Hey; I even eat squawfish and jack smelt. Waste not; want not. But certainly; there is no sportsmanship in mortally wounding an animal and not doing your best to retreive it and dispatch it fairly.

[COWBOYSURVIVAL]

Hey; I even eat squawfish and jack smelt. Waste not; want not. But certainly; there is no sportsmanship in mortally wounding an animal and not doing your best to retreive it and dispatch it fairly.

Your spot on Canid. Like I said, Bowfishing has a bad name, I'll use the same ethics I have always used. There are people that willl dump a barrel of carp at the landings. But, there are those that care just as much about our fishery as any sportsman, that are bowfisherman.

[wtrfwlr]

Carp fishing ethics?

Yes, Fishing Ethics. That is the ability to know what is morally right or wrong.
Most people, including myself, believe it is morally wrong to wound any creature and allow it to suffer until it's eventual death. That conduct is considered morally wrong or practicing bad ethics. It has alot to do with compassion and being humane. There are individuals that kill for the joy of seeing something die then equally or worse are those that do not even care if another creature dies or continues to live for a time being maimed or in pain.

If you chose not the consume what you kill that is another thing, nothing in nature is ever wasted. Something will benefit from it, that is the cycle of life, it is set up that way. Nusiance animal must be controlled that is a given but that does not mean wounded maimed or tortured.

I personally cannot allow anything to suffer I don't care what it is, it deserves to be humanely killed. Consequently I don't hunt or fish or even associate with others who are not morally or ethically of the same belief. I have a respect for all living creatures. And yes I am an avid hunter and fisher and this compassion only makes me a better one.

[COWBOYSURVIVAL]

There are ethics even when giggin' frogs! I am dissapointed in the prior response to bowfishing carp. I am sorry for you man.

[oldtrap59]

There was an article on the net here a couple weeks ago about a Tx bowman that landed a 300lb plus gar. Thought I had saved it but I guess not. If I remember right the fish was 8'2" and bottomed out the scale they had available. (Went up to 300lbs) I've done enough bowfishing to know that had to be a heck of a fight.

On another note. If carp are taken from decent water and in the 5=6 lb range they aren't bad smoked. Smaller they're all bones and much bigger they're kinda greasey. jmo Ya have to understand. I'm a guy that loves fried muskrat.:>)

OT

[crashdive123]

Here ya go. http://www.grindtv.com/outdoor/blog/...alligator+gar/

[Old Professor]

When I was in graduate school in Ypsilanti, Michigan, the Huron River ran right through the middle of town and was bordered on one side by a city park. The river is shallow and wadeable. For relaxation, I would bow fish for carp. One day I shot about thirty 3-5# carp. Not wanting to waste the fish, I drove over into the poor section of town and looked for a middle aged man out on the street, stopped and offered him free fish. At his house, as I pulled out the long string of fish, with a passel of his kids looking on, all he could say was "Boy' are we going to eat good tonight", over and over again!
I have eaten them and they are very tasty but thirty fish was way more than I could use. This way I helped feed a large low income family and did not waste the fish.

[oldtrap59]

Thanks Crash. That's the one I was talking about. I want to note also that if you look at the pic with that story, you will see the type of bow reel I use. The bow I use is a #47 lb Bear Grizzily.

OT