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Post by Rick Barbee on Jun 10, 2022 11:06:58 GMT -6
I decided to bite the bullet, and get me an AMS bow fishing reel. I love it. Went this morning, but went to late, and it got to hot to stay real quick. Two for two. 
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Post by Rick Barbee on Jun 10, 2022 11:35:07 GMT -6
I'm not overly impressed with the line retrieval on these reels, but it's ok. I am however very impressed with how they shoot.
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Post by timothy cousineau on Jun 10, 2022 12:12:03 GMT -6
Well done! Can the skins be used to back a bow?
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Post by Rick Barbee on Jun 10, 2022 15:41:53 GMT -6
Well done! Can the skins be used to back a bow? Thanks. No clue on the skins, but I have heard of folks using fish skins for backing, so maybe. |
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Post by ronaldcz on Jun 11, 2022 9:54:51 GMT -6
I know they are boney like a Northern Pike, but is the alligator gar (I think that's what they are) edible? The Pike as I remember were tasty.
I'd have to drive 70-80 miles to water I can do some bow fishing (and essentially fish). And that round trip is a bit painful on the wallet these days.
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Post by Rick Barbee on Jun 11, 2022 10:06:33 GMT -6
I know they are boney like a Northern Pike, but is the alligator gar (I think that's what they are) edible? The Pike as I remember were tasty. I'd have to drive 70-80 miles to water I can do some bow fishing (and essentially fish). And that round trip is a bit painful on the wallet these days. These are "long nose gar". We call them "needle nose gar". They have two back straps, that are very good eating, and are boneless. But, they are a pain in the butt to get out. You pretty much have to use sheers to cut the skin down the back to get them, and these are really to small to mess with. About twice the size of these would make it worth while. It's a 40 mile round trip for me to where I am shooting these, and that's painful enough to keep me from doing it very often. |
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Post by ronaldcz on Jun 11, 2022 11:12:47 GMT -6
With the bow fishing threads lately the itch to go is there - I broke out the old Sage a couple weeks ago with the thought of bow fishing, and to get the feel for it again.
If I get my chores done today, maybe, I make the drive tomorrow and go wading with a bow for some carp....and hope the toxic blue-green algae isn't in there. South Fork of the Kern River into Lake Isabella.
I don't have a reel set-up but it will be pretty shallow and clear water, so I'll use some old arrows and should I hit something it would likely stick/pin to the bottom.
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Ramjet
Junior Member
Posts: 55
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Post by Ramjet on Jun 12, 2022 8:06:29 GMT -6
Check your regulations, here in Wisconsin you have to have a line on your arrow
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Post by ronaldcz on Jun 12, 2022 11:03:46 GMT -6
Ramjet, Good Call and Thanks!
That is the law. I also had "the guy at work" saying how they do it without looking into it more, and I know a place. Not too good of advice and my bad for taking his word without some double checking.
While I was only thinking carp/sucker is legal, I also found that my chosen lake is actually one of very few places in CA that allows for catfish & bullhead to be taken.
And I forgot I'm in CA now and everything has a law, fee and/or tax associated with. What the heck was I thinking.
Now I get to buy some new stuff, so I guess Rick's initial post is kind of a review.
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Post by Rick Barbee on Jun 12, 2022 14:47:12 GMT -6
Ramjet, Good Call and Thanks! That is the law. I also had "the guy at work" saying how they do it without looking into it more, and I know a place. Not too good of advice and my bad for taking his word without some double checking. While I was only thinking carp/sucker is legal, I also found that my chosen lake is actually one of very few places in CA that allows for catfish & bullhead to be taken. And I forgot I'm in CA now and everything has a law, fee and/or tax associated with. What the heck was I thinking. Now I get to buy some new stuff, so I guess Rick's initial post is kind of a review. Yep, it's easy to get yourself into a pickle these days, and all while you think you are doing it all right. I love to bow fish. Used to do it all the time, but time got in the way, and I stopped for many years, and the regs changed during my off period. Texas changed the regs several years ago, making it legal to both noodle, and bow fish for catfish, and my recent getting back into it I was excited to have the opportunity to shoot me some catfish. BUT, a second thought had me check the regs before going, and to my disappointment I saw where the regs had changed once again, where they still allow noodling for catfish, but they no longer allow bow fishing for them. I'm glad I checked too, because had I not, I would have been hauling a stringer with a fairly large number of catfish on it back to the house, and if I had been stopped & checked it would have bankrupted me. |
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Ramjet
Junior Member
Posts: 55
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Post by Ramjet on Jun 13, 2022 9:31:08 GMT -6
Glad I could help. Happy fish hunting. I too love bowfishing don't get out as much as I like too. Usually end up going by myself a little tough in a canoe alone, but did manage to shoot about 10 carp earlier this year.
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Post by ronaldcz on Jun 15, 2022 21:13:44 GMT -6
I was at a different lake over the weekend, without a bow, and a 3' carp was cruising a few feet off the shore. I think it was taunting me.
I'd also say the CA reg's do not allow any noodling, except for eel and certain sucker fish for a designated tribe.
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eddiec
Junior Member
Posts: 57
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Post by eddiec on Jun 16, 2022 9:55:03 GMT -6
I still use the spincast reel setup. Educate me on the AMS setup. My understanding is after you stick a fish you have to pull the fish in by hand. Is fish correct?
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Post by Rick Barbee on Jun 16, 2022 11:18:51 GMT -6
I still use the spincast reel setup. Educate me on the AMS setup. My understanding is after you stick a fish you have to pull the fish in by hand. Is fish correct? That is correct. The reel is only for easy line retrieval. BUT, it does hold pretty well for dragging the fish up, so I have been squeezing the trigger down, pulling in a few feet of slack, then reeling that slack in before the fish takes it back. On a really big fish, that might not work well, but on these smaller ones it works just fine. Whatever you do, don't fight the fish by cranking the reel. It'll wear grooves in the rubber wheels. If I were going to be going after really big fish, and/or tournament bowfishing, I would definitely look at one of the reels you can fight the fish with.
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Ramjet
Junior Member
Posts: 55
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Post by Ramjet on Jun 17, 2022 9:49:11 GMT -6
I will have to look at the rubber wheels on mine because I always fight the fish but most of the fish I shoot aren't that big. One of my reels is probably 25 years old.
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Post by ronaldcz on Jun 18, 2022 15:22:16 GMT -6
How does the line release on a bow fishing spincast reel work, is it different than a Zebco fishing reel? It sounds a little dangerous and with-it being Father's Day and all, you don't want to shoot yourself there.
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eddiec
Junior Member
Posts: 57
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Post by eddiec on Jun 18, 2022 16:54:36 GMT -6
How does the line release on a bow fishing spincast reel work, is it different than a Zebco fishing reel? It sounds a little dangerous and with-it being Father's Day and all, you don't want to shoot yourself there. Mine works just like a Zebco, just a different brand. I haven't had a problem. I don't have the slide setup on the arrow. I use the Muzzy tournament line that doesn't stretch and haven't had an arrow to bounce back. It has just stopped and drop if I take a long shot and reach the end. I keep the line tight from the front of the reel to the back of the arrow when on the shelf. If I forget to punch the button, the arrow will drop off the string when I draw. I got excited during some hot action one day and let some extra line drop out of the reel one time. It wrapped on my bow hand and when I shot I got string burned between my thumb and wrist on my bow hand. Now I wear a glove on both hands, which have been handy when handling the fish by the gill plate and hand lining the fish in when needed.  |
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Post by ronaldcz on Jun 20, 2022 19:09:43 GMT -6
Wow Eddie you still have a nice scar as a reminder.
I found a lefthand AMS reel and put the order in.
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Ramjet
Junior Member
Posts: 55
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Post by Ramjet on Jun 21, 2022 9:01:10 GMT -6
Don't fight the fish with the AMS reel, I finally remembered to look at my oldest reel and it has a groove in the rubber wheel. I think I can get a rebuild kit for it.
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Post by ronaldcz on Jun 25, 2022 11:29:06 GMT -6
Rick's call on not fighting the fish is a good one. I likely would've done it.
My AMS set-up came this week....along with a sore shoulder - darn it! So I won't be getting any testing in this weekend.
I found that the provided mounting screws (short and long) do not work on my chosen bow, a warfed Black Bear riser. The short ones only grab a thread or two (and one on my holes was already buggered up on the first threads) and the longer ones bottomed out before tightening, even with the provided spacer. Not a big deal and for $2 I found the correct stainless steel allen head screws, but the short screws would likely be the same for any bow - grabbing 1 or 2 threads and too short where it could strip out if you are not careful.
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