Bowfishing Basics

Although bowfishing shares many similarities with one of the most popular bowhunting activities, hunting whitetail deer, it has many different nuances as well. Bowfishing can be done either alone or with friends and family. It can be done on the spur of the moment without requiring scent-free clothing, perfect wind direction or a long hike to a treestand. You can bowfish for an hour after work or all night. Shooting opportunities are usually plentiful at peak times of the year, and oftentimes archers can have dozens, even hundreds, of shots in a single outing. Talk about excitement. Bowfishing has been around for a long time, but it has grown by leaps and bounds over the last decade or so. More and more people are learning about the excitement of bowfishing through magazines, video and television shows. Bowfishing tournaments have proliferated too, ranging from local club outings to state and national events. As a result, the archery industry has devoted much more attention to equipment, and there is now a wide and growing range of specialized bowfishing equipment from which to choose. If you’ve ever wanted to give bowfishing a try, there’s never been a better time to get started than right now. Spend more time outdoors, hone your shooting skills and have the time of your life with this oh-so-fun sport.

Bowfishing Equipment

Obviously, the first thing you’ll need is a bowfishing bow. Many entry-level bowfishers will choose to convert an older hunting or target bow or look at purchasing a cheaper bowfishing crossbow. This is a cost-effective way to get started. There are also a number of affordable bows currently on the market designed specifically for bowfishing. These bows are made to endure the rigors of bowfishing and can help you  be more successful as you jump into the sport. The main thing when choosing a bow for bowfishing is that it has a smooth draw and is light enough in poundage that it can be drawn quickly. For that reason and the fact that shooting is done instinctively, many people like to use traditional bows such as recurves. However, compound bows work very well, and many of the specialized fishing bows on the market today are of the compound variety.

Bowfishing requires a very heavy, sturdy arrow to slice through the water, penetrate the fish and hold it during the ensuing fight. The bowfishing arrow must also be tough enough to withstand impacts with rocky bottoms or other obstacles. For those reasons, bowfishing arrows tend to be made from durable fiberglass, although arrows made from other materials are also available. The arrow is fitted with a special point to pierce and impale the fish. Points come in many varities these days with certain heads designed for special uses. You’re looking for a strong point that can hold the fish while still allowing for easy removal of the arrow once you’ve landed your quarry.

Another necessary accessory is a bowfishing reel. Reels come in many variations. Many beginners will start with a reel that feeds line off a spool and then must be rewound by hand. These are inexpensive, but are cumbersome and most people will quickly decide to go with something better. One of the most popular setups utilizes a large spincast fishing reel mounted on a short fiberglass rod that is screwed into the stabilizer hole on the bow. This system works just like rod-and-reel fishing. The main downside to this setup is the archer must always remember to mash the button on the reel so it can release line when the shot is made. If the archer does not do this, the line may be snapped at the time of the shot or there can even be a much more dangerous bounce-back of the arrow, which can lead to serious injury.

A retriever reel by AMS is another very popular reel in use today. It is also known as a bottle reel because the line is stored and fed out of a plastic bottle. This reel allows the line to fall freely from the bottle during the shot. Archers pull back on a finger trigger to engage the reel and then the fish may be reeled in by turning a crank very similar to a standard fishing reel. The upshot to this reel is that the line is constantly in free spool unless the trigger is held, which eliminates the possibility of arrow snap-back. The tradeoff is that line can sometimes fall from the reel and become tangled or otherwise cause problems.

For bowfishing line, fast flight line is used by most folks, but other types, such as braided dacron, are available. The line must be strong and resist abrasion to be effective. The line strength used for most bowfishing should be at least 200-pound-test, and many archers will opt for 400-pound-test line. This is not because of the size of the fish, but rather the abuse the line takes. It’s constantly in contact with foreign objects while in the water – not to mention the strain it withstands with each shot. The line is attached to the arrow via some type of sliding device, which must move freely along the arrow shaft. In years past, the line was attached to a barrel swivel that slid along a braided steel cable, which was attached to the front and back of the arrow. Although this system is still in use, most people use a slide that attaches directly over the arrow shaft. This eliminates the steel cable and other apparatus, creating less drag and reducing the possibility of errant shots.

An arrow rest is the only other required piece of hardware for the bow, and a wide variety of bowfishing arrow rests are available on the market today.While additional accessories are not mandatory, they are helpful to have along. Polarized glasses will reduce glare and help an archer spot fish below the surface. A hat and sunscreen might be needed for daytime fishing, while lighting is obviously required for nighttime. A large tub or bucket is needed for fish storage. A fish gaff, waders, rubber boots and gloves might also be considered.

Although you can assemble a workable bowfishing rig using items on hand with with a few additional purchases, you can easily purchase a complete bowfishing rig already set up and ready for the water. Lots of companies now offer a wide range of bowfishing kits complete with bow, rest, reel, arrow and more. These kits are available from youth and women’s models all the way up to heavy-duty versions that can handle an alligator or shark.

Bowfishing on Lake Erie
Don Dolph bowfishing on Lake Erie. Looking like an alien spacecraft approaching out of the night, Don Dolph´s 25-foot TriToon pontoon boat ”Black Cloud Bowfishing” slowly creeps across the water on a calm, cool night in June.The only source of light on the otherwise pitch-black surface, Dolph and his seven passengers are on the prowl. The boat is rigged with eight 70-watt metal halide spotlights in hopes of attracting prey close enough to the boat to strike.Spotting a carp, Dolph rises up next to a makeshift platform 32 inches above the deck and fires a fiberglass arrow with a Muzzy Stingray tip into the water. As he reels in the carp, a youthful exuberance comes over his face.Dolph and his passengers are bowfishing, a small but growing sport in Michigan that´s making traditional fisherman forget about the rod and reel.Bowfishing, or archery fishing, is the technique of hunting fish with a bow and arrow. Bowfishing combines the thrill of hunting with the skill of archery and the sport of fishing.Bowfishing is most effective at night using lights. The biggest challenge to fishing at night is that the refraction of light through the water distorts the shape of the fish, requiring the hunter to compensate when aiming.

How Bowfishing Is Done

The beauty of bowfishing is it can be done virtually any time of the day or night and at a variety of locations. You can shoot from the bank or off a bridge or culvert (where legal). You can also shoot while wading or from a boat. You can bowfish in the ocean, a creek, a river, a lake or simply some flooded backwater. Bowfishing is such a diverse sport that almost anyone can find opportunities close to home.

Bowfishing freshwater fish species is by far the most popular and accessible for most of America. Species such as carp, gar and bowfin (grinnel) are prime targets, especially in the spring. During spring, these fish are looking to spawn and will move in the shallows of flooded or backwater areas, stagant sloughs and swampy areas. In lakes, the fish can be seen cruising in shallow bays or flooded areas.

Bow-anglers either wait in likely spots or search for fish with a boat or by wading. Rough fish are generally easy to distinguish from sport fish. When a target species is spotted within range the archer must quickly draw and shoot before the fish disappears from sight. A hit results in a tremendous fight, which at times can be much more exciting than hooking a fish on rod and reel.

However the old phrase “easy as shooting fish in a barrel” does’nt come into play with bowfishing. It takes a lot of practice to learn to shoot fish below the surface. Light refraction causes an optical distortion, making fish appear at a different depth than their actual depth. For that reason, archers must learn to aim much lower than what seems correct to the eye. Most misses are overshots, so shooting adjustments should always start with a lower aiming point. A common piece of advice given to newbies is, “Aim as low as you think you should, and then aim even lower.” A lot of bowfishing is done at night. That’s when things get really exciting. Fish move more when the sunlight isn’t penetrating the water and shooting can be fast and furious at times. During peak conditions, an archer can literally have more than a hundred shot opportunities per night.

Bank shooters or those who are wading usually have two choices for lighting. Some people will use a headlight, which can be effective if it casts a strong enough beam of light. The other method involves a very powerful handheld light which casts a tight beam of light reaching a million candle power or more. Typically one person scans the water with the light while another readies for the shot. Once a fish is spotted, the light is held on target while the shooter aims and makes the shot. After a certain amount of time or a certain number of shots, the two trade lighting and shooting responsibilities.

The use of boats for bowfishing is widely popular. In fact, many bowfishing addicts have boats set up for bowfishing and nothing else. Some of these rigs are converted johnboats with a simple raised platform and basic lighting. Others are very elebarate and expensive rigs with all the bells and whistles. Accoutrements may include carpeted aluminum platforms with padded safety rails, portable generators supplying power to intricate lighting systems and remote control trolling motors. The boat may be driven by outboard motors or it may be propelled by a fan motor. Some of these top-shelf rides cost many thousands of dollars.

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