Gettin' started again

Hey guys, I'm new to the forum and wanted to get some input from the experts! I grew up here in Fl bowfishing with my Dad's old recurve, just spool line and arrow. I used to attach the arrow with a simple loop tied in the end of the line, but now I'm seeing some different ways. I am wondering what they are attaching to the arrow shafts, I think it is a safety device of some sort. I am getting my 10 year old son started and need advice on retriever reels vs regular reel. He will be shooting a compound bow and I remember having arrows come back at us when my buddy shot 'em with his zebco reel. Thanks for any help, I'm just tryin' to get caught up with the times.

 

http://www.bowhunting.com/shopping/Products/Ams-Retriever-Pro-Rh__2551.aspx
By far the best thing to buy for bowfishing. I tried bowfishing with the spool and line, but it takes much longer to reel in line than with one of these reels. I wont fish without this anymore

 

get a ams retriever pro kit, you dont want a reel type, like zebco, ive shot tons of fish with my retriever pro, never had any problems, you can get them around $75 from backwaterbowfishing.com, and gander mtn. has the whole package with arrow, for $114
and the "device" is called a saftey slide, theyre legit,
let me know what you end up getting!

 

Thanks for the info, I have never seen a safety slide in person. What is the concept? I always used a metal spool and fast flight line, used a glove to haul the line on bigger gar. If we were gettin on some really big ones we would use a jug line. I've heard good things about the retriever reels, just never used one.I'm hoping my sons new bow will put a muzzy in a big gar with a 35 pound draw.

 

Here's a gar we shot a few months ago, my first trip in about 7 years.

 

well, its basically a slide, where you tie your line onto, and it has a slide stop that screws into a hole in the arrow, when you reel in, your slide hits the stop, and comes back to you as your reeling in, its kinda hard to explain
its a MUST have for shooting gar
i used hand-wrap reels before, and i lost many fish because its too slow
spend a bit more to get quality that works great!

 

welcome to the club