ive been thinking about doing some bow fishing but i dont know anyone who does it and no local stores stock bow fishing equipment so i need to order mine so what reel do ya`ll use?

Retreiver reel IMHO is the only way to go. No remembering to push a button(Zebco) and no wraping the line back up(old wheel type) and no drag. I have made really long shots with this reel. I think they run around 50 bucks.

DeerT

Rusty;

The reel I use is the AMS Bowfishing reel. It can be purchased at most of the good archery shops. Can't remember what I paid for mine since I've had it for awhile, and can't find the receite.

I haven't ever used a reel yet. I've just been going with the old spool method. I would guess that may not be adequate for the big big ones, though.

How much line does one of those spools hold?

The AMS reels are awesome for compounds, i shoot a bear kodiak with a tape on spool style reel and it works ok for lakes and rivers, would like to get the PSE coyote recuve and put an AMS on it someday when i upgrade.

I mounted a zebco 404 on my bow. It works.

retreivors are great...but the big shakespear synergy is great too. gets the arrow back fast, sometimes you can get a second shot,[i need that alot these days!].......just dont forget to push the button!

I use a Retriever on an old recurve. It is attached with ty wraps and leather is used to keep from scratching up the bow. It is always on my boat or goes with us on camping trips in the summer. I bought a Zebco 808 on Clearence at Walmart which I am using on a strap on holder I picked up from Three Rivers Archery so I can strap it on my longbow and will be trying that rig this summer. It is hard to beat a Retriever though.

I'm still using the old Bear handreel that I got way back when. I don't remember if I was still in high school or if I was in college by that time. Sometime between 68 and 71 tho. Guess I've gotten my nickle's worth out of it, but it's still in great shape and does the job. It ain't broke so...

I've got a plain round drum on my bow.
Holds about 15 yards of string(fortunately that's just a bit longer than my basement).

I'd love to get an AMS retriever. My friend has one, simple, easy, and fast, but pricey at $80 around here.

I grew up bowfishing with my Dad's old Bear brushbow that had a 20 year old homemade drum on it.
It was basically a 1" x 4" board mounted to a 1" x 1/2" board that was taped to the front of the bow.
It had an aluminum tab nailed to the side of it to grab the end of the string. Worked great, lasted a LONG time, and cost about 25 cents.