Archery fishing is also known as bow fishing and it is as ancient as the bow and arrow themselves. We in the West are inclined to think that only poorer tribesmen in Third World countries go bow fishing, but that is not quite true.
These days the hunting of mammals is strictly controlled and so some people who like to hunt with a bow will switch to bow fishing if the animals that they like to pursue, say deer, are out of season. Some other people, who would not hunt a deer or bear are quite happy to hunt fish in this fashion.
Bow fishing is a skilled sport, but the paraphernalia need not of necessity be hi-tech. The fact is that you can use whatever bow you have or you can just make one. It does not have to be powerful, because the quarry is seldom more than ten feet away. You categorically do not have to have a 100 lbf longbow to kill a trout.
Having said that, any bow used for fishing will need to be adapted slightly – you will need to affix a reel to it, but it does not have to be anything fancy. There are three main types of reel for use in bow fishing: hand-wrap, spincast and retriever and the line is normally braided nylon of about eighty pounds although you might require six hundred pound breaking strain line for alligators or sharks.
It is worth checking out the regulations with regard to bow fishing in your country or state, because sometimes bow fishermen have to be licensed and sometimes getting that license involves having attended a safety course.
Some regions will even have regulations concerning the kind of gear you can use in bow fishing and of course, some fish have seasonal limitations.
Bow fishing is a mixture of fishing and hunting, so you could have to learn some new skills like tying knots for example. You will need to be able to tie the line to the reel and the arrow and those knots will need to be able to put up with the tremendous acceleration that an arrow leaving a bow goes through without failing.
The bow may not be different much from a standard bow, but the arrows certainly do. Arrows for bow fishing are usually a lot more substantial that air-flight arrows. They also have barbed tips to stop the fish escaping or just dropping off when you reel it in. The arrows do not have flights either because flights are apt to avert the true course of the arrow in water – the reverse of in the air.
There are three main techniques used in bow fishing: 1] you can put down ground bait and lie in wait. – an over hanging tree or high boulder is good for this; 2] you can float down stream in a boat while sitting or standing in the bow; 3] you can walk into the river like a salmon fisherman.
Compensating for the refraction of the water is the most difficult skill to learn and that means knowing the stream well too.
Owen Jones, the writer of this article writes on several subjects, but is currently concerned with archery recurve bows. If you would like to know more or for special offers, please go to our website at Kids Archery Set.