Alright guys, if there is anything more exciting than bow hunting i have to find it, would really like to get into this bow fishing stuff, have a creek behind my house and i see Drum all the time, seems like it would be awesome to get into, the only thing is that i don't anything about the sport and would like some advice, and help would be nice, maybe some links to some sights or something would also be good, thanks

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.

To see the equipment, go here...[/align]http://www.sullysbowfishing.com/default.asp[/align][/align]Click on the equipment catagories at the left of the page.[/align]For a traditional fishing reel, look under 'reel seats' andyou'll see a 'fuzz mount' that screws to your bow's sight holes, and some very short fishing poles that screw into your bow's stabilizer hole. [/align][/align]Go to 'reels' to see the retreiver. It's very lightweight, and a very popular way to go, but also the most expensive.[/align][/align]Onideas are a brand of bow with a very unique design. They have the power and letoff of a compound,with the smooth draw of a recurve. See... http://www.oneidaeaglebows.com/[/align]

Look through the forum archives at bowfishusa.com, you'll find tons of info on everything about bowfishing. (welcome to the greatest sport in the world!)

The others have steered you in the right direction with the websites mentioned. You can visit mine for some video clips that may interest you as well. Be careful with this...you are going to be hooked for life!

Run the other directin as fast as you can. This is a very expensive addiction with no known cure and no 12 stpes.

What part of the country are you in?

Do you actually eat these things?

I'm kinda' picky - I won't shoot it if I won't eat it. No carp, gar, buff or drum is safe. All very good eating with a few simple steps in the cleaning process. Come down to Columbia, MO june 24th for the Bass Pro Carp Cookoff.

Im from KY,

No i have never ate a drum, they really dont look all that satisfying,

Im going to visit some sites, do some homework, and hopefully I can get a chance to take some this coming year,

thanks for the responses

How is bowfishing expensive. All you need to get besides the bow is a reel($40-$60) and a bowfishing arrow($20 & up). It only cost me $70 to get started. As for advice on bowfishing. Most of the time don't use your peep sight to shoot unless they are farther than 15 feet away. Just shoot instinctively. If I try and use the peep and the pins, then since you have to aim underneath them,I usually lose track of the fish so just judge the shot. Oh and in case you didn't know, you have to shoot under the fish because water refracts light making the fish appear higher than they are. For 2-3 feet of water, I'd shoot about 6 inches below them. Just judge how far below you have to shoot by the depth of water they are in.