Howdy CP!

If you like hunting with your bow, then you'll love bowfishing.
Lots more action and shooting than bowhunting for deer.

The first thing to find out is what you can shoot in your area.
Each state has it's own rules. Where are you at?

Although you do not need a boat, you will need some specialized shooting equipment. You can bowfish with any bow provided you are willing to get it covered with fish slime and blood. Some shooters like the power and holding time of a compound, while others opt for the quick shots offerred by traditional setups. Oniedas are also quite popular for spearing fish.
Most people dedicate a bow for bowfishing instead of changing their setup for deer or whatever. If you want to start out cheap, use your existing bow, or buy a dirt cheap used recurve on-line.


You'll need special fiberglass or carbon fish arrows with special barbed fish points. Then you need some braided line made for the sport and some kind of reel or spool to house the line.

An inexpensive basic setup, not including the bow, could cost as little as $30 if you go with a hand wound spool. However,you'll want spare arrows, and you'll almost certainly choose to upgrade to a easier to use, faster to retreive spin-cast reel or Retreiver. A spin-cast reel is cheaper and faster than a Retreiver, but is heavy and uses tiny line that can cut your hands if you get a big fish.