Fishing Forum

ive been fishing my whole life and i am wanting to try something new so i decided why not bowfishing? i am totally new to the sport and need ANY info in general. im looking for a decent bow and setup and was wondering about and special laws, locations, etc. any info would be GREATLY appreciated thanks
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[#502800]Do a websearch on Utah Bowfishing Association.....They can answer any question you have.....They also have answers and sources for all the equipment you might need......WW[/#502800]
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Since you are just starting out, I would go on ksl and find a cheap bow. They work great and if you drop it in the lake no big deal. Then you can get a reel seat that will screw into the front of your bow and put a zebco 808 with 60 lb braid on it.

Or if you have some money buy the AMS retriever, it is a bottle that mounts on the bow where the sight pins would go. They work great but are around $80. The zebco, line and reel seat will cost around $40-50.

Then all you need is some fiberglass arrows. Get the ones with the slides on them. Utah lake and the jordan river are full of carp as is Cutler reservoir and the Bear river.

Good luck, but it's addicting. The weight of the combined total of fish I take a trip is usually triple digits!
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awesome thanks. just 2 more questions: if i already have an old bow layin around (bear whitetail II) i could buy that reel seat and screw it in the bow? and is there any special rest or anything? thanks again
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[cool][#0000ff]Murdering carp with arrows is therapeutic and lots of fun. Good for the ecology too.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]A couple of suggestions. First, no need for a high powered compound hunting bow. All you need is about a 25 to 30 pound recurve or flat bow. Plenty of power to put an arrow into a carp at the close ranges typically involved. A lighter bow won't beat you up as much during a full day of shooting either. Most guys who shoot a heavy compound bow crank the power down for carp shooting.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]A good place to shop for carp killing bows is at pawn shops. Visit a few and look at what they have. Check the strings for wear and look for cracks or damage. There are plenty available most of the time so there is no need to settle for something that won't hold up.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]If you are not already an experienced archer, get some qualified instruction on proper technique. Then do some practice shooting in the park, with cheap target points...just shooting dandelions or other spots on the grass...at distances from 5 feet to about 30 feet. Usually not much need for longer shots. Then you can practice on real fish.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]There will be plenty of reports on the board to let you know when and where the carp are showing up. And you should be able to get some carp killing accomplices to go with.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]In the meantime, fire up your browser and start looking online for bow fishing sites. There are a bunch of them. They can give you a good idea of the type of gear you have available and how to use it. Then you can plan around your personal budget and how serious you wanna get about it.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Let us know what area you live and we can pinpoint some of the closest good spots.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]As a general rule the carp start getting rowdy in April...and the frivolity often carries over through the early summer. After that you can almost always find a few carp along the shorelines of most carp habitat...especially early in the mornings.[/#0000ff]
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thanks TD. i live in the draper/sandy area so i was thinking maybe UL?
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The rest can be a simple roller rest or whisker biscuit makes a strong one for heavy fiberglass arrows. There are many different styles.

I am currently welding up an elevated deck for my boat to shoot carp from. I'll pm u when the time is right and show u the ropes. Come on spring!
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ya if you would that'd be awesome i'd greatly appreciate it. i cant wait for spring now!
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[quote slayed_em18]thanks TD. i live in the draper/sandy area so i was thinking maybe UL?[/quote]

[cool][#0000ff]Yep. UL is definitely the closest and most productive carp condo. There is good access at Lindon, Provo Boat Harbor, AFBH, Pelican Bay and all along the whole Knolls area. All less than a half hour from the southern part of the valley.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Plenty of other spots along trails that you can hike or bike to and just follow the noise of the splashing carp to the scene of the slaughter.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I spend a lot of time at the other end of the lake. Lots of good twangin' from Spanish Fork River to Lincoln Beach and on around to Goshen Bay. Wherever you find shallows with some brush or reeds you will usually find plenty of carp.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Dependiing upon UL water levels this spring, you may also see some flooded fields near the lake. Sometimes the carp swim up onto those shallow water areas by the bajillions. Too easy. I once strung 5 carp on one arrow by holding the bow low to the water and shooting into a mass of lust crazed carpoids.[/#0000ff]
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Here's some carp porn for ya.
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this too will be my first year "twangin" carp. I've asked this before, but haven't got a definite answer.

What do you do with the fish? seems like a lot of people just let them go back in the lake and add to the feed chain. i see the "carp porn" kept them and had a cool trash can set up. what did you do with them?

that last one was a dinger.

i have a 24ft pontoon that we'll be shooting from, but it's too new to trash with carp slime and blood, so i think we'll buy a huge tarp to cover the front half of the boat.

will be watching for other posts...
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What do you do with the fish?

[cool][#0000ff]I admit that I have not always been "ecologically friendly". Like many other carpinators I have done my share of "love 'em and leave 'em". Hate to say on a public forum that I have left large areas of the lake red with buglemouth blood and strewn with expired scaly carcasses. Just cain't hep mysef.[/#0000ff]

[#0000ff]In more recent times I have made the effort to gather up the carp carnage into a heavy contractor bag...inside plastic containers...and properly dispose of those I don't cut up for my own use as bait or garden enhancement. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]They make great midnight presents when left on the doorsteps or inside the vehicles of people (or businesses) you don't like too much. I usually don't hang around to see the expressions of joy on the faces of the recipients but I am sure they are ecstatic with the gift of free garden protein.[/#0000ff]

[#0000ff]Seriously, that is always a consideration...what to do with the proof of your prowess. And, that is one of the things I presented for consideration at the Utah Lake meeting...when suggesting that the public would probably be more willing to engage in wholesale harvest of carp too, if they had a place to dispose of them...and if there might even be some prizes or bounties involved. Don't know how far the discussion has progressed at that end but it will be a topic for review at the March 10 meeting.[/#0000ff]

[#0000ff]PS...if you need any help in "blooding" your lovely craft let me know.[/#0000ff]
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As far as setup goes you can not beat a recurve setup. I use a 50 lb. Spend the extra money and get the AMS reel. They are 100 times better than anything else. I use the whisker biscuit bowfishing rest and in my opinion it is top notch. Just set up a bow for my wife and the PSE kingfisher is a great bow. Not real expensive either. As far as what to do with the fish, we put most of them in the garden.

That pile in the pic went to Idaho to feed bears at my baitsite. Others I get go to the dump, or are used at cut bait for catfish.

I am thinking of using some cut into strips for some sturgeon fishing this year.

ripnlip, I would get two tarps to be safe they are slimey stink bad.
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[font "Verdana"][#ff0000]Planning my first time carp-cabobing this year as well. Few more questions for the masses. I have a bunch of beat up aluminum shafts I was thinking of destroying the rest of the way, anyone tried that? Whats the best point? Do you use practice tips, small game springs, (I have some dull and bent broadheads) or go straight for the fish points? I'm thinking anything that pokes a hole should be adequate. I have also heard that there has been some safety concerns with arrow bounce back using the Zebco reels if the line snags up inside the reel and doesn't come off clean. Any one with some experience there? That is what I was planning on using but was wondering if I needed to review my first aid skills and keep 911 on speed dial. [] Is is just me or do they smell like rancid black licorice - and then begin to rot? I've placed them in the garden in the past but make sure it's downwind of your house and don't answer the phone. The neighbors are not pleased for about two weeks. They haven't forgiven me when I load their porches up with zucchini in the Fall either.[/#ff0000][/font]
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I used to shoot them with my bent aluminum arrows. Nothing fancy just the arrow and a practice tip. Most of the time the arrow would go right through and pin the carp to the bottom of the lake. This only works in shallow water though. In deeper water it helps to have a fish arrow and some kind of line attached to it. If not they swim away with your arrow.
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[cool][#0000ff]I have probably shot more carp with plain old field tips or target points than with heavy fiberglass fishing arrows. This is a much better plan for shooting in shallow water fields or inshore areas that do not go into deep water suddenly. But, as has been mentioned, you can lose arrows in fish that swim off with them. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]It is good to bring a long handled net to help reach and scoop them. The have a maddening way of swimming just out of reach. Of course you can put other arrows into them too. A fishing buddy and myself once put 7 arrows into a huge carp just south of the Provo River inlet. It kept racing around with it's head out of water like a boat trying to get up on plane. We were in the middle of the circle firing one arrow after another until we finally stopped it. It weighed over 30 pounds on a farmers scale.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]If you want a good source of cheap carpin' arrows hit the swap meats and pawn shops. As long as they are spined right for your bow you can slide on the length. Often you don't need to pull back full draw to git 'er done.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Slightly bent aluminums are okay for short shots on big nasty fish. If your arrows weren't bent before, they get that way after a couple of rowdy buglemouths.[/#0000ff]
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Any arrow/tip will work but your are more likely to have the fish get off without fish tips. I like "sting a rees" from cajun archery. easy to get the fish off.

The arrow has to be attached to your bow via string to be legal.

There is a risk of bounce back with the zebco but that is usually due to failure to remember to PUSH THE BUTTON. That's why I prefer the AMS retriever no worries with it.

This is definetley the year to get into bowfishing, there's 3 tourneys this year with the winner getting $1000 at each one!
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My personal opinion is to outfit with all gear made for bowfishing. Arrows, tips reels, ect. It really isn't that expensive. I have been using the same fish arrow for 3 years and it has gone through hundreds of fish. Sure you can get by with other equipment but when you are sitting in the boat messing with crappy gear and your buddy is shooting fish you will wish you had ponied up the extra cash. Again just my opinion. I get most of my stuff off of a bowfishing website.

One thing not mentioned is the refraction level of water. If the "vessel" is submerged, you must aim lower... at a rate, I'm guessing here, about 3 inches per foot of depth (of the fish) in clear water? In stained water it don't matter...2' deep and they're out of sight anyway. Then ya just shoot ahead of their "vapor trail"[cool] and hope for the best.
What someone said earlier about the dangers of "rebounds" is true. I'm 50yrs old and have a scar on my chin, from the age of 12 when I had a rebound. String on the arrow got wrapped around the bowstring thing...10' of string, a sudden stop, and the arrow came backwards toward the aiming point. MY FACE! I had one of the original "end of a coffee can" type of bow reels...YOU were the retrieving device. It had the little wire to hold the string in place. More of a pain in the a** than an actual help. Got lazy. BAM.( Always wanted one with the handle to "reel" the arrow in.) That was in Kansas, and I have only hunted fish here in Utah once. After I found out you can ONLY shoot trash fish, I QUIT! Why just shoot carp? Why not a slimy or a wally or a ??... I don't think to many "game" fish are going down at the hands of a bowfisher!! In Kansas and Nebraska there used to be a "season" like Utah used to have yrs ago...only for bow fishing, and it was kinda COOL to be able to shoot a "Trophy" rather than TRASH! The season was usually in the Summer months, but at least you could have an alternate form of gathering a "LIMIT OF FISH" (get it?)
Talk about a new twist on "fishing a wiper boil" !! The only difference between a pole and a bow is that the fish doesn't decide that it's time to die! [angelic]
It would be fun to someday FINALLY be able to do that (like in the "good 'ol days") at selected lakes, even. Anyone on board with me yet?? I got on a ramble here...thinking of swallowing my pride and just set up anyway, for whatever fish, again. I have many bows from the "day" but my favorite is still the 45# recurve. Lots of punch power, and a decent workout, by the end of the day. Not to tired, not to sweet.
Oh, and one arrow not metioned yet is wood. Cedar arrows made good fishing arrows. Sorta...
Cheap and they float. Those are the ONLY 2 advantages. The shaft would hold up pretty good, but not the feathers. And a richocet, of wood off stone, is less dramatic than that of fiberglass!! Never did get over the feeling of fear watching fiberglass exploding! I guess that could be a 3rd advantage.
YEP, that does it...gunna bury a bow in the boat for on those days when the fish aren't biting ... and I'm bored. NOW THAT SOUNDS FUN!! And theoroputic!! Like TubeDude said.
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