Anybody here ever gone bowfishing? I was reading a magazine while looking for a compound bow to go hunting and came across an article on it. I'd never heard of it before, but it looks fun and I'm considering picking it up. I've got a buddy at work who does it and he says it's awesome.
No, but I bowhunt, and run into people who do it all the time. They say it's a lot of fun. My only problem is that you're only allowed to bowfish for non-game fish, mostly gar. I wouldn't eat gar, so I wouldn't be crazy about shooting them. (I would do it, though, and donate them to a local charity "soul food" kitchen. They make "gar balls", which are good.)
Never tried it myself but it sounds interesting and difficult. Do you sit in a boat waiting for fish to swim by to shoot, do you use bait to lure them in or shine a light? I'm guessing with water resistane you have to shoot them at a fairly steep angle and close in.
I haven't been yet, but from what I've been told, you just shoot the fish in shallow water. My buddy shoots Tilapia, he doesn't mess with the Gar, they are very bloody.
I have not done this, but my nephew does. It requires a lot of equipment. You need a large flat boat. You put a generator in it to run the floodlights that you mount all around the front. In addition to the regular motor, you get a motorcycle engine and mount a prop on it, like an air boat. This allows you to skim over the weed beds at a slow speed looking for fish. He says it is fun. I believe that this year in Texas they let you shoot catfish. I don't know if it will become permanent or not.
^ In the Upper Midwest many Native American tribes can still spearfish and it sounds like that is the way they do it. Sort of takes away the image of indigenous people in birch canoes with Clovis point spears subsitence hunting.
