Well first off hi to you all. Just started looking at the posts here and figured I'd sign up. Used to go carp hunting with my pops years back but haven't been able to get him out in a couple years. I absolutly love carp hunting whenever I can get a chance to get out........and thats rarely. Went out last weekend to a place my pops took me that have some monster carp and no one that fishes or hunts for them here. The only bad thing was it rained all freakin' week and it wasn't worth my time. The water was so murky you couldnt see 2" under the surface. I saw about 150-200 mud kick-ups in about 1' of water. Not one glimps of a carp. I hate that. You know their all around you and you cant see'um, no backs, no nothing......It even sucked more cause you cant get a boat in there. I take my dads 16' with a platform and its great. This time I was in a canoe, not very fun and not very comfortable for my situation.
I don't use any of the fancy gagets they have out now. Just have an old Dyna-bow (recurve top limb and oval cam on the bottom), 50' of decoy line (I am a big duck hunter and have lots of it laying around), and a spackel bucket for the line. I do have a bunch of carp arrow's though if you thought I was that crude to use alluminuim. Even though I only had one shot in 2hours that weekend I still had fun, I want to get more into it and get some off the latest stuff. I figure ducks in the fall/winter and carps in the spring/summer.
Heres a few things I plan on getting. Any advise or different products that I could look into would be appreciated.

I will still use my bow since I love it but might look into a recurve.

The AMS Retriever Reel. Looks like everyone who's everyone has one. I dont feel like using a dang bucket no more for my line. Any other suggestions or is it a great product???

The "Whisker Biscuit" rest. Read about it on this forum I believe and looked it up. Perfect for my set-up since I have carp arrows with rubber slide on fletching. Seen the roller rest but dont think it would be better then the WB. Thoughts???

I know points are really own personal preference, what do you guys use???

Ok, now moving on to shooting techniques... well only like two questions.

When you spook a carp do you take a chance at shooting in front of the V-line?? Never done this, always get up on'em. Just when the waters murky and you cant see a thing I'd like to still take a blind shot in front of the V. I know the carp are about 2'-3' in front of that even. Just looking for some thoughts or experience.

Seen some place on the internet people bait for carp, true?? Does it work?? Dog food or Bread in a minnow trap and float it. This would be great if it does work to bring the fish up to the surface to see. Well, that is kinda cheatin' the sport, ain't it??

Thanks for your advise and information ahead of time.........

Hi! Welcome to the forums!

Use whatever bow you have, recurves are light and fast.. but anything that flings an arrow works. I was using a regular old heavy compound but this year I've switched to an Oneida. It's an older one and still heavy but I like it alot better than the regular compound.

I use the AMS Retriever reel and am a big fan of it. Many people also use a big closed-face reel too. (A Zebco 808 or a Synergy reel) They both have thier advantages and disadvantages.

Whisker biscuit makes a biscuit just for bowfishing. (heavy duty whiskers to hold heavy fish arrows) I just use a plain brass roller rest. Some people just make a rest using epoxy.

I do recommend you take that plastic fletch off your fish arrows, it serves no purpose and just gets in the way.

I use Muzzy points, but the Penetrator tips look good too.

When I know it's a carp making a V-line, I'll sometimes shoot. (those are cool when you get them)
If I have any question about what kind of fish it is swimming away, I'll pass on the shot. Better safe than sorry.

My river sounds a lot like where you bowfish. Too muddy to see the carp unless they are sticking out of the water. I have tossed corn right at the shoreline in order to get the carp up where I can see them. It works great, but the carp (and many other critters) make short work of the corn. So the action doesn't last more than a day or so. I just used regular feed corn. I wouldn't worry about 'cheatin' when it comes to bowfishing. These are carp.. not elk or something... heh heh



Good luck!

Retriever will work, and any bow you don't mind getting muddy and bloody. I agree with the Princess of Pain - get rid of the fletching. Use the AMS safety slides as well - you'll get a set with the retriever. I'll use different points. I'll use the Muzzy carp point for common carp, but for the softer-bodies asian carp, I prefer the 4-barb screw-on tip.

Thank you both for the advise. I will take the fletching off. I figured it doesnt matter since all the pics I see no one has them. As for the reel, I like the looks of the AMS retriever and dont really like the Zebco so I will get that. Just have to wait two more weeks for payday to afford it. I hate that. lol
Thanks again