As a young teenager a friend and I used to tape a Zebco 33 reel to our compounds with aluminum arrows and a finish nail drove through the end and no slide. We would come home with a garbage bag full of fresh frog legs many nights. I too am struggling with the expense of the AMS system but have yet to try the old set up. It seemed to work just fine from what I remember! I may try it again.

WVeer, I like the simplicity with not much bulk.
How well does the string stay on?

I also have used the Zebco 33 taped to the front of an old C-bow years ago. Never had an issue other than forgetting to press the button. Mount it upside down, and you can press the button with your pinkie on your bow hand. Cheap, easy, and very effective.

I'm having trouble visualizing your set up.

Which end of the arrow did you put the finish nail?  How was line attached to your arrow?

How and where did you attach the reel to the bow?

Thank you!
God bless,Mudd

Bowferd,

The string stays on good and comes off well when shot. I get a small package of rubber bands and after the string is wound up, slip a band on it.  Use thin ones that can break easy.  I still like to use my Zebco 808s and 33s but this works well too.  I think the Zebcos now made in China are not nearly as good as old ones made is USA. I have broke 2 808s when someone forgot to push the button. (could have been me but I'll blame my son   )

My setup is almost identical to Gregg's.  I used pop rivets to connect the L brackets to the bucket top instead of bolts.  Also, I just cut a slit in the edge of the bucket reel to hold the line.  Slips out just fine on the shot and didn't require any extra parts!

One of the really nice things about a bucket reel is that you can retrieve and reset in nothing flat.  four or five turns around the reel, clip the line into the slot, arrow back on the string and off you go again.  Also used electrical tape to attach the reel to the bow.  Just pull off a four or five foot strip, double over the first third with the l bracket in the center, then wind it on the bow.  The doubled over tape will lay against the bow finish and protect it from the gummy tape residue.

I've done homemade fishing arrrows as well out of ash and a number 8 finishing nail, but after seeing a few pictures of guys who caught a nock between the eyes when line snagged, I won't use another arrow without a slide.  Cheap is great, but an intact skull is better than cash in the bank!

I'm centering in on the bucket method. Basically for two reasons.
1: If I have this correct? The reel ( bucket lid)
is attatched to both upper and lower limbs and you actually shoot thru it?
2: During retrieval you have far fewer wraps around the reel which would seem to require less time landing the fish.
Am I correct to this point?

I tried the soda bottle one, it worked pretty well. It wasn't pretty either but it sure was cheap,it worked and nobody got hurt! I found it on YouTube I think it was...

Well like someone else stated I can't imagine 11 kids rigged up bow fishing at the same time! I'm thinking rigging up a few kids and trading off. With that said the cheapest safest way to rig up is using pop bottle floats stuck into 1" rubber chair leg bottoms mounted to the bow. IF all else fails the pop bottle float will pull out of the rubber chair leg cover. The problem with wrap around reels is after you miss, and you will miss bow fishing, is in the excitement you wrap back behind the intended reel. With the pop bottle float this is almost impossible but if you do it just pulls the pop bottle float out of the rubber chair leg bottom!
For a string holder I simply use the end of a nylon tie strap end taped on the end of the pop bottle float pointed towards the fish!