Not sure if this is the right place to put this, but here goes: Fathers Day, being by Myself, I decided to strap a Reel to a Recurve, Removed the Line that was on the Reel, and Replaced it with 20# Test Stren. Rigged up my Arrow with a Double-Thick Stren Safety Loop. Proceeded Outside an shot a few at Various things, No Problem,Reeled Back Dirt and Grass, Worked Great!
 Proceeded down to Sugar Creek to Wade in an try My Luck. Made Sure the Thumb-Release had been Depressed, or so I thought, Rared back & let Her Fly! I watched the Arrow go like mad!! THEN I started to Reel it back. I cranked, & Cranked, until I Noticed the Broken Line that was just sitting there looking at ME!
 Lesson One: Take MORE than One Arrow Your First Time Out.
 Lesson Two: Scratch Head Wondering What the Heck Happened?
    I am Leaving Myself Wide Open For Chastisement, But I Really Dont Understand WHY??  :confused:

Use nylon line. I find the stuff they use for planer boards to work well. It's around 60# test and it's cheap.

Did you use monofilament fishing line?  If so, thats what did it.  

Need to use that nylon line. I use 300lb test on my rig.

150# Braided fastflight on my reel. Even that'll snap if I forget to push the button!

What reel are you using? I've found that with my Zebco 888, at certain rotation points of the spool, the button won't fully depress & disengage the pins. You need to check, re-check & then double check!

Monofilament is awaste of time. You need proper bowfishing line.

Sounds like you are using a push button type reel.  For bowfishing, you need the big ones that normally come spooled with 20 lb.  Take that off and spool up with 150 or 200 lb fast flight line.  130 or greater Power Pro works pretty good, too.

Keep pushing the button.  I find it easy to bump the handle without knowing it and the reel will be reset to crank mode.  I like my retriever and think it cheaper in the long run.

what about 100# braided fishing line for use with a zebco? the stuff you use for normal fishing.

Well, I guess that Answered My Question. Yet Another "Newbie To BowFishing DumbArse Attack"    . After it was all Over, I just poured the Water out of My Boots  :rolleyes:  , Swore to get Waders, and Just Laughed at Myself.      

I use 150lb fast flight with the 808's, but prefer 400lb fast flight in my ams reels, with that you can get away with lots of stuff and hold big fish and gators.

If your using a reel like a zebco make sure and turn the anti reverse off too.

I would suggest that 150lb line is plenty, especially for a push button reel.  The one thing that you DO NOT want to happen when you shoot with the reel engaged is to have a line strong enough to bounce the solid fiberglass arrow back at you.  

If you are serious about bowfishing and your lacka-casha clears up, spend just a little more and get the AMS reel.  it's worth it.  No push buttons to worry about.  They also make a "strap on" adapter for the AMS

Dont have any problems with 400 in the ams, but wouldnt use it on spools or a spincast(you couldnt get enough on it anyway). I like the ams with a jug for these 7ft gator gar we been running into, got 4 arrows into one over 200lbs the other night and still broke off and pulled out.

The zebco 33 is a pretty good inexpensive fishing reel, but is NOT suited for bowfishing.  I tried zebco's bowfishing model but was not happy with it so went with the AMS and could not be happier.

WOW!!   :eek:    Thats A Monster Big Gar! I Believe That Just Might Turn  ME  Into A "WaterSkier" in Waders!   :eek:  Sounds like AMS is the Way to go. Thanks Folks!!     I Appreciate The Input!!