Hi Folks, new to the site and sorta a newbie to bowfishing. Have shot a little for the last few years and quite a bit last spring. My question is "how soon do fish move into clear flooded backwaters in the spring?" The last few years I have shot some gar in Il. River backwaters just as maple leaves start to open. I want to hit the water asap and not miss any shooting! Any thoughts? thanks

Some guys are already shooting fish farther down south. With it being 69 degrees today will not be long.

Already shot a few bigheads and silvers on the miss. They are moving reeeealllly slow and you wont get but a few shots but they are there. Need to wait for a sunny calm day.

thanks for the help. I drove by a couple of my favorite spots near Peoria yesterday just to check. All the water in the timber is still iced in and very shallow. Do you think with some rain and higher water I will find fish right away?

after the rain maybe. they like spots where water drains into the river from a decent size source. if its still froze up a bit it may take a week or so after it thaws out. we didnt see any fish until the ice was gone for about 1-2 weeks and we had a few sunny days. Keep checking though, they are starting to move around st louis.