Bowfishing: 7 Tips to Help You Shoot More Fish This Summer by Beka Garris

______________

Bowfishing is a hunting season for the summer months, and it’s extremely addicting. Hunting carp, gar, and suckers on the river is a great way to get outdoors and keep your archery skills sharp. And, it’s a whole lot of fun. But after you get into it, you’ll soon want to step up your game and start piling up a lot of fish.

1. Get Good Grass

If you bowfish a lot in the daytime, make sure your polarized sunglasses are, in fact, polarized. I’ll admit I’ve been guilty of buying that $5 pair of “polarized” sunglasses at the drug store or Walmart, thinking, What the heck, I’m just going to break them anyway. But to be honest, these cheap glasses aren’t even worth $5 to a bowfisherman. Before purchasing a pair, try them on and compare them. Most sporting goods stores will have a hologram to test the glasses so you can see what strength they are. I’ve always preferred a warm tint, but it all comes down to personal preference. Ensuring the glasses fit your face and you don’t get a glare at the edges is also crucial. If you can’t see the fish, you can’t shoot the fish.

2. Pick the Right Tip

Make sure you are using the right bowfishing tips for the species of fish you are targeting. I’ve learned this the hard way: I’ve lost a lot of fish and some big gar by simply using the wrong tips. Small-prong tips don’t work well on large, soft-bodied carp and will rip right out. Flimsy blades will snap off in big gar, thanks to extremely tough scales. My go-to is a 2- or 3-prong with sturdy, spring-loaded blades that are wide enough to hold a carp and stout enough to hold a big gar. Cajun Garpoon or Cajun Sting-A-Ree Tournament points are two of my favorites. Test out a few different tips to decide which work best for you.

3. Stay Sharp
Keep your bowfishing tips sharp! If you shoot in rocky, shallow areas, you’re going to eventually dull your tips. Once the tip dulls, it will create a much larger hole on impact, allowing the arrow to pull out more easily and the fish to slip off. The points on the end of a lot of bowfishing tips can screw off and be replaced, or you can simply use a file or grinder to sharpen them.

4. Switch It Up
Don’t be afraid to get out of your comfort zone—and out of the boat. If you are primarily bowfishing from a boat, you are missing out on a lot of great shooting in small coves and creeks that are too tight for a boat. These small waters can hold a lot of fish and, occasionally, some really big fish. My biggest gar to date was shot out of a little creek inaccessible to any boat. Likewise, if you are primarily wading and bank fishing, you are also missing out on all the access a boat can get you. This situation can be a bit harder to remedy—boats are expensive and it’s not always possible to just run over to Bass Pro and buy one on a whim. But, there are cheaper alternatives. Canoes, row boats, kayaks and even paddle boards are great choices for bowfishing. They’ll get you onto new waters without breaking the bank.