Me and my daughter went up to my dad's place saturday to do some fishing.
Several years ago my dad put some of those grass eating carp in his 12 acr lake and i haven't been there in a while but i was amazed.
I saw 15 of them at one time and these fish are huge, at least 35-40lbs.
Can someone please tell me what kind of bowfishing rig i need to go after these monsters.
I have several bear bows i can pick from so i guess i just need the eguipment to go with one of my bows.
I'm not kidding about the size of those suckers so i will need something with some pretty good backbone to get one of them in.
These fish will be easy to get close to, i had some 3 ft from me while i was fishing so im really excited to go after them.
Thanks
Sounds pretty risky Joe, better let me come down and take care of them for you.
Honestly any type of rig will work, just depends on what you want to spend $ and if your bow has a stabilizer insert or if you are going to have to strap it on.
Goodluck with the fishing!
I have several bear bows with the stabalizer inserts.
That sounds pretty awesome. I don't have any info for you, but I'd love to see some pics when you get after them!
I've had penetration issues on big grassies with my low 40's bows, so I would recommend 50+ lbs. A Muzzy or Cajun point on a regular glass arrow will work well. Squeeze the barbs down some to help with penetration and leave the point just loose enuf or work the barbs so that the barbs can go off to the side at least 60 degrees to prevent a pulloff. Stingaree and Warheads are good, too. I like a Retriever style reel, but a big pushbutton with a drag is nice as long as you are close. Wear a glove on your string hand as big fish can give some wicked string burns. With big fish, it will help a bunch if you have a buddy along who can get a second arrow in it.
Have Fun!!
Joe, do a search on hear for bowfishing. You,can use a simple wind on reel or go with an Ams retriever. Depends on want you want to spend. Simple fiberglass arrow, Muzzy, or Sure shot arrow tip, and a safety slide, you can buy this as a kit or individually. Good pair of polarized glasses are great too!
Oh, and when you get one of those "whales" in, they say the grass carp are good eats. Also the skins are super for bow backing! All the above equipment can be bought from many of the sponsors here! Have fun!
Kustom King Pro Bowfishing kit, has reel, reel seat that will fit into your stabilizer hole and a Stingaree tournament arrow set up with slide. order a couple extra arrows and have at it. They ship quick, aim low, and like above, wear some gloves!
I always like Bows in the 50-55# range for bowfishing. Biggest problem I had was landing the real big ones. We did most of ours from a boat. We would try and get a second arrow into a big fish. Put a no-glove or peep sight tubing on your bowstring instead of using a glove or tab. I liked the Zebco 808 reels. Use some kind of tip that will penetrate scales (beveled or trocar). Stay away from rounded type heads.There is a lot of info out there now. Good luck and post some pictures!
they are tough when they are that big i shoot them with compounds and they are hard to kil so i just snag them its way more fun that way
i use a 55# k-mag. but i probably only draw it to around 48-50#( if i even get to full draw). if you look at my thread from last week, when we shot a bunch of fish one night and 5 big grassies that were all around 50# or over. i went thru 2 zebco 808s that night:) yesterday i went and got an ams reel and im heading out right now to try it. but i know they work b/c all my buddies used them last week and it handled these big guys fine.
btw- the week before one of my fishin' buds shot and reeled in a 64# grassy!! and it took 3 arrows total to get him in.
http://www.3riversarchery.com/Bow+Fishing_c56_s0_p0_cat.html
:archer2:
We shoot ones that size quite often, My bow is an old Grizzly 45@ 28 my son shoots less poundage than that. we both have AMS retriever reels on our bows and bring in the big ones by hand. You will need decent points on your arrows we like the Muzzy carp or gar points they have really tough barbs on them, that is what you need the cheaper points will have the barbs break off too easy.
(http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y275/420W/0522091426-1.jpg)
(http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y275/420W/IM000076.jpg)
(http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y275/420W/IM000063.jpg)
Thanks guy that is some good info, i will be going after these giants in a few week, i cant wait.
Steel Force has some nice fishing heads.
8 weight flyrod and a small crab pattern. Then hold on!!
Are you sure you want to shoot them? If they are grass carp, they may be helping you out and they likely won't reproduce. Remember that they were put there for a reason.
Weasel I am going to give it a go with the fly rod. I am blessed with good carp hunting being surrounded by the waters of Green Bay and Lake Michigan and we have taken our share. The problem we have is that we have to remove them and that can be a job! Other guys have been telling me about the using the fly rod too so will give it a go.
I wasnt going to shoot that many of them, but i think there are way to many in there.
Those things are everywhere and i think i read somewhere that once they get a certain size they need to be taken out.
Joe,
You are right, once grass carp get that big they really don't help out much in a pond. One 30 pounder doesn't eat nearly as much as 30 one pounders. Those big dudes can actually keep the water muddy when they feed.
I have caught them on a fly rod as well. I regularly fished a pond on the campus of a small local University. The best time to fish for them was right after they mowed the grass and flung the clippings in the pond. Those fish would feed like crazy on the bright green grass clippings. I tied a fly with mariboo that floated in the film. I would find a crusier that was slurping grass and cast just ahead of it, THEN HOLD ON! Those things can make some blistering runs.
A spool type reel that you just wind the string on might work good, or rig the bow with a pop bottle float.
Bowfishing big grass carp sounds like a great time, good luck and post pics when you can.
OkKeith
QuoteOriginally posted by Weasel:
8 weight flyrod and a small crab pattern. Then hold on!!
I want to try that so much, but I just cant get one, Ive caught pike on my 8 weight ugly stick fly rod and that was fun so I can only imagine, lol.
Joe make sure you get some pics. I myself hope to crest over the 40# mark this summer, I have seen them but always miss the big ones, lol! Any bowfishing rig will be just fine!
QuoteOriginally posted by Weasel:
8 weight flyrod and a small crab pattern. Then hold on!!
Yeah!!! I landed a 40#r on a 5 wt once. When I set the hook he took off. Ran 50 yds straight through my backing non-stop before I got him back. I'd sure pay attention to the line and make sure its not wrapped on anything when you shoot just in case!!!
Not sure if this is legal or not but when we feed the catfish there are some 20 pounders that come to the surface and they would be easy to shoot.
Can you shoot gamefish with a bow????
You will have to check your local regs. Some states do allow shooting catfish with a bow. Here in Ohio, it's currently illegal. There has been talk of adding catfish but it hasn't happened yet.
I have shot a lot of grass carp and you have good information as far as equipment. So I will discuss the shot placement. A grass carp, silver carp and bighead carp all have soft fleshy meat.
I have used every fish point made on them and the larger fish shot in the midsection will tear the arrow out. I have seen them actually be torn almost in half. For that reason on bigger fish try to hit them in the head or along the backbone for more holding power.
The grass carp is the worst one of the three, I have had them pull off and part of their stomach or air bladder is still stuck on the point.
I had always heard grass carp do not re produce. I think that is a myth because the back water and Illinois River is full of all different sized ones now.
I use the AMS system. Great rig and easy to use. I also use the Muzzy tips made for carp and gar.
Elmer,
As a former Fisheries Biologist, I can attest to the problem of lose and reproducing non-native fish like grass carp. Early on folks figured out that not only would it be bad to have these things reproduce everywhere but some said that the only thing they needed to migrate was "wet grass". They surely can get around and through some pretty skinny water as well.
Early stockings resulted in escapees when ponds over flowed during spring rains. Most states quickly tried to prevent their inevitable spread by passing laws that said only triploid fish who could breed but not produce offspring, would be stocked. Too little, too late, those early stockings had already done their damage.
As I said in an earlier post, once the fish get big they really don't do the job they are stocked for, which is controlling aquatic weed growth. Unfortunately, most folks are misinformed and stock them to get rid of what many call "moss". "Moss" is actually a type of filamentous algae and the grass carp won't eat it. If it doesn't have leaves it's not on the grass carp's menu.
Now, as a consulting biologist/ecologist, I NEVER recommend putting the dang things in a pond. They just cause more trouble than they are worth. It's better to address the cause of the nuisance plant growth than use a non-native species as a band-aid, and a poor one at that (just my opinion, no charge).
I guess they do make for great bow-fishing though. Kill 'em all and make room for native populations, I say.
OkKeith
Kill em with a tradbow, save the flyrod for trout and panfish! After all this is tradgang. :thumbsup:
Bowfish those biguns :thumbsup:
This pond is on my dad's land in my home town and i moved off 10yrs ago.
When i lived close by i always made sure that the lake was getting everything it needed to control the grass and i also controlled the amount of fish being taken out.
I didn't even know my dad was putting the carp in his ponds.
He has 4 ponds ranging from a 10 acr to a 3 acr being the smallest.
When they brought all the fish there was a misunderstanding and they put all the carp in the 10 acr lake and i can tell you there are way to many in this pond.
I use to catch a lot of 6-7 pound bass and have even caught a 13-8 a 12-7 and at least 10 over 10 pounds.
Ever since those carp were put in it has become really hard to catch a big bass out of that lake. I worry they might be destroying the bass beds or just plain keeping the bass spooked.
Anyway when i was up there saturday i counted at least 50 and in one buch there was over 10 and i could nearly reach out and touch them they were so close to the bank, talk about a easy shot.
The 50 i saw were in one area of the lake so i can only imagine how many i would see from a boat.
I have got the fever really bad about shooting some of these GIANTS and i plan on doing it just as soon as i figure out what to do it with.
Hey Joe,
Sounds like you have a great place to go fishing on your Dad's place! A few grass carp are no big deal, but that many could be a problem. Does it seem like the pond is muddier than it used to be as well?
What could be happening (hard to "diagnose" without seeing it) is the carp could be rooting out and eating up ALL the plants in the pond. Kinda like too many cows in a pasture. Baby bass need good places to hide just like rabbits or deer. Without this protective cover, they simply all get eaten up by Bluegills when they are really small or bigger bass when they get a year or so old.
Even the larger bass can be harder to catch if cover is scarce. They tend to hang deeper and be less aggresive without a place to hide. They are simply too nervous to act normal.
I have a buddy who does a good job of cleaning grass carp out of ponds with his bowfishing gear. He uses either the AMS sidereel set up, or his trusty old Bear wind-on rig. I think the wind-ons are pretty inexpensive. That's what I have. He dumps a sack of Alfalfa Cubes (calf cubes, or whatever) in a spot in the pond where he can get good shots and waits a few days. Just like deer over a pile of sugarbeets. He can seriously lower a population in a weekend.
Like a lot of the guys have said, any rig will work. Be safe and have fun. There have been lots of recipies and suggestions for carp posted here on Tradang.
OkKeith
OKKeith
I believe what you just said is exactly what is happening to my dad's pond.
Give me a couple of weeks and i will let ya know how it all works out.
Sweett carp, cant wait to get out
AIM LOW! Then readjust a little lower:)
Stick em.... Good Luck, Bridog
joe, just let me come out there and handle them for you:) you dont want to worry with them anyways.
btw- it is legal to shoot catfish with a bow, here in alabama
Brandon
Let me know when you want to go and we will see if we can boat some of these monsters.
Cell 205-913-2674
sounds good! im gonna send you a pm too.
if you know anyone who builds self bows look at this link...these are grass carp.
http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php?topic=12215.0
stan