No grief given here from me. Bow fishing is a great way of catching carp. Most people that don't agree with you are strict catch and release fishermen. I catch and release mostly because, I am lazy and don't feel like cleaning the fish that I catch.
I use carp for catfish bait. I fillet them and vacuum seal the fillets. I don't believe in wasting things, but as long as they are being used for some purpose I would have to say, good fishing.
I like to run jugs, limb lines and trotlines for catfish. You should hear some of the grief that I get for doing this. The funny thing is, that I do this mostly for fun and release almost all of my fish. As I said before, I am lazy about cleaning fish.
I will be doing some bow fishing for carp this year myself. Sometimes they are a real pain to catch on rod and reel. Any way that someone legally catches fish, should not be criticized by others. Obey the law and fish however you want.:thumb:

 

Totally agree with you. I am a total catch and release guy, only because I don't like sea food, just love the sport of it. I used to bow fish all the time, and give the fish (mainly carp) away to people camping nearby, that loved to eat fish. They really appreciated it and I usually got hooked up with some beer, bonus points! Anyway, I used to really love bow fishing and really hauled in a lot from shore with just a simple Bear brand reflex long bow, and factory reel. This thread brought up great memories, I might have to go try it again soon! Bow fishing is just another sport,so yea, let the guys who do it enjoy it, as long as it's done legally.

 

I like bowfishing. But it takes a lot of work and prep-time. Also in the dark, it leaves you wide open to dangerous situations (if it is that type of SHTF). Carp is a great source of food though. It is one of the fastest breeding fish and you can eat it. Some people complain about the bones or the taste, but I like it if prepared right.

Honestly, it would be less work/danger just fishing for carp off the bank with some mealworms or corn using traditional line and gear. That is my view on bowfishing for survival.

 

It's not that dangerous if you just watch where you're walking. And I don't think it takes any more prep-time than bank fishing. Grab your bow and go. Having spent a ton of time fishing over the years, I can tell you bowfishing is much more productive than traditional fishing. Remember, we're talking about doing this for survival. Bluegills, bass, carp, musky, whatever is in the water and is edible will be fair-game when you need to feed yourself.

Here's what I rigged up for bowfishing off the bank at night;

The reel was $15.00, the reel seat (that blue-thing) was $30.00 and the flashlight was $25.00. 90 lumens of light. You come to full-draw, aim towards whatever you want to shoot at (in the spring carp splash all over in the shallows), squeeze the pad to turn the light on, aim and let go. Light goes out as soon as you release your grip a little. All you need is a couple arrows and you're set.

 

Well to be honest with you steve, you were the one that put me on to the idea. I'm doing some strength training to prep for a bow, and practice comes in the summer. My intermediate bug out lair is really close to several large lakes. We will see what happens.

 

I think the reason is its cheaper to just get a 15 dollar rod n reel combo at wallyworld than get bowfishing gear for your bow

but that said I do enjoy the primitive stuff and enjoy using my bow

 

It would be cheaper, but it's so much more productive than bank-fishing with rod and reel. I went down to my lake one morning before work and in less than 15 minutes I shot 3 carp that totalled over 30-pounds. There's no waiting to see if they'll bite, no worrying about what bait to use, or if you can find said-bait. Look into it a little. If you have a bow, you're 3/4 of the way there.

Something else to keep in mind guys; if the SHTF, you can shoot anything in the water. Carp are what's legal, but if it was a matter of starving or hitting that bass out there that won't bite your bait, then at least you'll have the gear to get him and have a decent meal. Carp will be around for ever, but with bowfishing you can shoot whatever's out there.

 

I was out for about 5 hours this day. How many times have any of you caught this many fish this size in that amount of time? Carp and gar.

 

How many of those carp and gar did you actually eat? I can catch 10x that in bluegills with a rod/reel with a fake leaf worm and eat every one.

 

Funny this popped up today, I literally went last week and targeted an odd species....Stingray....They're everywhere and to be honest they didn't taste too bad. Just something we tried in case we're ever in a dire situation.

 

 

my dad use to bowfish for carp out eat. it works well. takes a bit of getting use to but it works. also works for salmon in shallow streams in the fall. (i would only bow for salmon in an emergency, because of the salmon shortages in the last few decades). otherwise, best of luck.

 

I didn't eat any of them. I don't shoot them to eat. I shoot them solely to remove them from the waters I fish. I did it so that some day I can go there and catch 10x that amount in bluegills myself. Right now this is the only fish we find there.

 

The pse kingfisher is an awesome package deal.got mine last year and love it

 

its hard to bow fish, its not for everyone and i had a browning barracuda fishing bow and only caught 1 gar .. fish are hard to see in water..