Ok hers the deal, my sons best bud started bow fishing for the first time this year and purchased a AMS reel for his bow and in turn got my oldest son hooked on bowfishing now, and he went out and bought himself a AMS reel to. I mounted my sons on his old Parker hunter mag, bought him a roller rest that i modified so the arrow cant fall off during draw. Now it comes down to me :d I got out my old recurve, and found my 15 year old Bear spool fishing setup and found out just how bad these things are after shooting my sons AMS. Dont get me wrong, i have killed alot of fish years ago with this set up but on a compound, but man it has some drag issues making for shorter shots. I have been looking at some AMS reels on fee-bay but have seen some pretty nice Zebco--Muzzy reel setups to. How do these compare to the AMS reels?? Are they bad about reel hang ups during launch? I mean when arrows are $15 bucks a pop, i dont want snapped string issues. Thoughts?? any one have a used AMS that has some issues for sale cheap?? Im good at fixing things! just askin!! signed bowfishing fever again in Indiana after a 15 year hietas!! :d
I've had experiences with both the AMS and Zebco 808 reels. I thought I would love the AMS retriever but the bottle kept falling off leaving the string tangled in weeds, etc. This could have been fixed easily but I decided to take it back. I mean, it shouldn't have done that in the first place for the kind of money these are sold for. I also didn't care much for pulling the trigger in to reel the line. I'm extrmemely happy with the Zebco 808. I can reel the line in super fast and I have not had any problems with losing arrows b/c of drag issues. I did lose a couple but that was because the line was not wrapped on the reel correctly in the first place. Ever since I respooled the line...haven't had a bit of problems. I guess the only downside to this reel is pushing the button each time before you shoot. Usually, I don't have a problem remembering that though. How did you modify the roller rest so the arrow does not fall off? I'm curious.
I still use an AMS. My first one lasted at least 12 years. I'm on my second one now. In all those years of shooting it, I've only lost two arrows. (one because my slide stop came off, one recently because my knot came untied) A spincast will cost you arrows and won't last as long. I always recommend the retriever over the spincasts to newbies. The spincasts definitely do have thier place... they're a bit faster on the retrieve. You can shoot slightly farther. If you forget to push the button tho', you'll either lose your arrow at the shot or the arrow will pop off the string and cost you the shot. The muzzy reels (buy the '09 model if at possible) are heavier duty than the zebco 808's. If you go with the spincast, don't buy a cheapo reel seat if you plan to do much shooting. ...but it's simplest to just buy an AMS. :D
Christine...you ever had any problems with the bottle coming off? Oh and I learned the hard way on the reel seat. Bought a piece of crap from sportsmans and it didn't last any time. I just bought a quality seat from backwaterbowfishing.com It is made extremely well. I know you've been bowfishing A LOT longer than I have but I still think my zebco is the best. :D Guess I just had a bad experience. Happy fishing!
I only had a problem with the bottle falling off when my reel was about 10 years old and I accidently crushed the threaded collar that holds it. AMS sent me a free replacement collar and the bottle didn't fall off any more. The very newest Retrievers have a really heavy duty threaded collar. You'll like your zebco right up until the pick pin breaks when you've got that 30+ pound fish on. :D
30lb fish??? Guess the Zebco is going no where then. :D We're gonna start hitting some of the rivers up around here in hopes for something bigger.
Well it sounds like im talked into a AMS soon:d thanks for all the input...Finchster, ill post a pic of the mod i did on the roller. ill try and get that done tomorrow for ya.
I lost three arrows in one night shortly after using my zebco 888. I guess I am too dumb to use one. I have two NON pro model retrievers, and they both work flawlessly, and there is nothing to forget to push for the newbs on the boat. I have modified my 888 now to where it works REALLY well. I beefed up the drag, cut away the rubber line pincher above the spool, widened the hole in the cap, and tightened the handle to keep it from rattling. I love the way it performs now, but still not as much as my AMS.
