Would something like this be worth it? Just to see if I am going to enjoy it? http://www.backwaterbowfishing.com/onlinestore/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=182 I would be putting it on my Sonic XL (Antique, I know). But with the two wheels, it is just an easy pulling bow. Is the price worth the product? or is it snake oil? Just curious?!?
I definitely recommend going with the retriever reel. That combo is a good one. Old compounds are better than the new spiffy ones when it comes to bowfishing. (unless you buy a new bowfishing compound ) Bryan runs a good store too.
I do have a recurve, and some old equipment that my dad has around. I'm not too sure how to assemble the thing he has for this though. It's just this round thing (hoop?) with the line attached to it. Looks like you mount it on the front of the bow? It has legs on the top and bottom of it that you could mount it with. I don't know. It's another antique, like him. I would like to find out if I could sit on the fishing dock at the state park, across the hwy from me, and shoot them. In the summer time, we see them basking, and cruizing around there all the time. In fact, when my wife and I went fishing the very first time after we came back to MN, she was using a Nightcrawler, and was set way too deep. She ended up catching one of them. It was priceless. I will not forget the look on her face. She wanted to keep him. I couldn't get it out of the water though. Line snapped.
Does the the old equipt. look like the shoot through reel on the right? There is a bowfishing association in Minnesota. They would know the laws on bowfishing better than myself. http://www.landoflakesbowfishing.com/
OMG! It is. lol. It's the same color and everything! They had color photographs when those were made?
I will have to deffinately agree with Christine on this one.....you can't go wrong with a retriever.....well, that is if you don't talk to the spincast guys...LOL I use the same kit you are looking at. I have nothing but good to say about it
I am looking to get into this too. Just a newb question... A retriever is like a fishing reel on steroids right? I mean its a heavy reel with a barrel that holds the line right? And a spincast is a mounted heavy reel? And the hoop is all wound manually, even when your pulling in your quarry? Am I correct in all this? There has to be pros an cons to each, what are they?
A bowfishing spincast reel is a fishing reel on steroids. A retriever is a bottle that dispenses line when the arrow is shot without drag and without having to push any buttons before you shoot. (you have to remember to push the button on the spincast before you shoot) There is a lever on the retriever that you squeeze with your bow hand when you want to reel in the line. The lever just puts pressure via a wheel to the line, the line then stacks back into the bottle. It's very simple and very sturdy. For bringing in bigger fish, it's easiest to just set the bow down and pull in the line by hand. Then after the fish is in, just reel up the loose line. I can give you a hands on demo at the Deer Classic. We'll be raffling off a retriever reel start up kit at the show too.
So, you shoot through that hoop thing huh? That's cool. How does one attach it to the bow? Is that electrical tape? lol
It's a tape-on, shoot through reel. You tape it on and shoot thru it. You may use the tape of your choice.
OK another question. Is your standard bowfishing rig accurate enough to take a bullfrog? I would assume it has to be. If it is, does anyone know the legality? Because if I didnt have to wade through crappy mississippi mud for frogs that would be AWESOME!
I've shot at two frogs and killed them both. I'm that good. Or lucky. But yeah, the equipment can do it. (For some reason both frogs gave award winning death performances and made me feel bad about shooting them.)
I had a bad experience with the AMS retriever reel. The bottle kept falling off and the string would go EVERYWHERE. My buddy had the same deal and has never had a problem. Guess I just had a bad one. From that bad experience, I bought the big ZEBCO closed face reel. I really like it better than the AMS even when the AMS worked well. Just personal preference though. Have fun with it!
Finch, you probably had a broken cap for the bottle. When they're cracked, it's tough to keep the bottle on them. I have used the spincst set-up for a long time, but I will always steer newbies toward the AMS reel for it's simplicity and toughness.
