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Help with bow fishing
Bowfishing
Contributors to this thread:
Bow junkie 13-Aug-15
Lucas 13-Aug-15
BoggsBowhunts 13-Aug-15
Bow junkie 13-Aug-15
OkieJ 14-Aug-15
BSBD 14-Aug-15
QQ Archery 14-Aug-15
From: Bow junkie
13-Aug-15
I live in Florida and have been hunting and fishing my entire life. After pretty much every weekend on my boat when it's not hunting season, it surprises me I'm just now getting the itch but it happened. I frequently see tarpon, Sharks, and snook cruising the flats and I'm dying to stick one. I'm very experienced with archery but have never even picked up a bow fishing rig. Any suggestions as to where to start would be greatly appreciated. P.s. I'm looking for something high quality . Thank u fellas

From: Lucas
13-Aug-15
None of those species are legal in Florida. Bowfishing is a great time, and it's pretty easy to get started. Your regular hunting bow can be used, then all you need is a reel(simplest is a hand reel better is a spincast or a retriever) and a solid fiberglass arrow with a fishing point. AMS safety slides are a good idea too. As you get into bowfishing you may want to set up a bow just for shooting fish

13-Aug-15
If you wanna go "All Out" then get an Oneida bow and a Muzzy spincast reel. I never use safety slides because if the bail isn't clicked on your reel it can turn real dangerous real fast (arrow going 200+fps then coming to a dead stop 2 foot in front of you isn't a great scenario) if you dont click the bail and you're just using the hole drilled in the arrow it will pop off the string mid-draw and no harm will be done. The Oneida bows are around $700, a great bow for a lower cost would be the PSE Tidal Wave which is around $350-$400. I highly recommend Muzzy Reel, Tips, and Arrows with a PSE Snapshot rest. I use them and have had no trouble. Chase

From: Bow junkie
13-Aug-15
Thank you both, especially for the regulations. I haven't looked into at all yet. I love catching all those fish so figured even better with a bow. Either way I know gators are big with the bow as well as gar so should be fun.

From: OkieJ
14-Aug-15
Bowfished for over 30 yrs and used nothing but a recurve. Use what you are comfortable with. Recurve and a retriever reel are more than enough if there is a budget. Good luck with what ever you choose.

From: BSBD
14-Aug-15
I've bowfished with a 65 lb recurve for 35 years. My current bow is a T/D recurve that I paid $65 for. I use an AMS pro retriever now but have shot hundreds of fish with a hand wind reel. I like the AMS retriever with safety slides much better than spin cast reels.

From: QQ Archery
14-Aug-15
welcome to bow fishing a good time for sure , your in good hands here with whats already said,you will be gator hunting before you no it ,enjoy

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