As with anything, it depends the method to your madness and your budget. Around here in Arkansas 80% of our bowfishing is done from bridges on back roads, in spill ways, anywhere water can be. We typically go at night. That said, for bridge bowfishing I would use the 60lb bow you have set on 55. I would have finger savers put on the string and please, for the sake of safety, buy an AMS Retriever. I know alot of people that use a Zebco 808 or similar and after seeing them lose arrows, have arrows not break and come back on them, Im 100% retriever kinda guy. I just about wont fish with someone that isn't using the retriever. Here is my pair of bowfishing bows:

The short bow is a 2012 Alpine Mako 30-40lb bow. I have the AMS Pro Retriever with 650lb line, AMS Shure Shot Penetrator arrow, Trophy Ridge bowfishing Biscuit, AMS Light Mount, Finger tabs, a old 2 pin sight and a peep (experimenting) and wrist sling. Its set on 43lbs and 29in draw.

The longer bow is a 2012 AMS Fire Eagle 40-50lb bow. It too has the AMS Pro Retriever with 400lb line, AMS Tiger Shark arrow, AMS Tidal Wave rest (HIGHLY recommended), AMS Spec Ops light w/mount, Finger tabs, and wrist sling.

and here is one of our latest big gar. We shot it last weekend with it 50 degrees out at night.

 

I have the pse bow you mentioned as a carp bow and its fantastic. I also use the AMS products mentioned above^^

 

Do you a a picture of that bow with your fishing setup ? I'm I reading this right,most are using finger tab release ?

 

Thanks guys for getting me pointed in the right direction,I look up types of sights / rest you mention and see what brands are available,looks like the AMS is a popular choice for a retriever.Glad to hear you like the pse spyder ni,took one look at the specs and price and said,"that would make a good fishing bow or even an entry level bow,it has the same cam as my stinger.

 

I use spincast reels but i have an ams for big fish like gator gar(400# test line).i prefer the spincast due to the speed of retrieval and you can actually fight the fish with the drag unlike the ams. True they can be dangerous especially if you forget to press the button but a safety slide helps with alot of the problems associated with spincasts. I do not use a sight as majority of my shots are snap shots and the ones that arent are fully instinctive you get used toaiming low pretty quick(or i did anyway). I use an oneida black eagle currently set at 28/55 with regular muzzy arrowz with a slide kill hundreds of fish with a year

 

I use a finfinder rest currently but really like the original f&d dream rest

 

Most of my shooting will be done from the deck of my pontoon/weekender or an alumicraft bass boat.I did some bow fishing as a kid with a cheap fiberglass recurve and one of those alum limb mounts for the string.Like you said,no sight just shot instinctively and did pretty good.

 

forgot to mention ams rest, no sights and no release.

There is no need for drag to play a fish imho. The ams real will bring in anything you shoot just fine. You will also want the extra thickness line that comes on the ams style when you shoot it in the weeds or it hits the bottom.

 

Here you go. I have shot quite a few different carp rigs over the last 20 years. Including different hunting bows, different reels, and recurves. I like the pse bow because I got it cheap, and love the let off. I can literally hold for days with this bow. I however use the ams bow when shooting with other people that don't have a bow because it isn't draw length specific. So everyone has fun shooting. I prefer the pse bow over it though if i'm by myself.

I personally don't like the recurve bow at all. They are long and would be hitting the boat on close shots or hanging in the water in the areas i wade. Kind of like shooting a recurve in a blind. Not fun

I especially hate the hand wind reals people put on their bows. They suck reeling in anything and suck more on retrieving a missed arrow. I have friends that use them and i can shoot at three different carp by the time they real they're one miss in.

The ams bow isn't as good for kids with low lbs and short draws. My daughter was pulling 40 lbs with her hoyt and because of the let off she could hold it and shoot it. When she was using the ams bow it was hard for her to hold that weight and most of her arrows bounced off the fish. Where her trykon drilled through them.

 

Thanks for the pics,great to see you have the family involved.She pulls 40 lbs ? That is some girl ! My grandaughter was one of the shorter girls on her basketball team but she would score half the teams points.Guys would call her out thinking they would they would set her straight but walked away disgraced,it was hilarious.Yeah, looks like that's the bow I want.

 

here are some of my bows ... I pull 30-40 lbs max on all of them ... and even for big fish. I always shoot a spinner with 200lb Fast flite line. I have had, and seen more snapbacks with the mystery knot in a retiever than any spinner. 99.9% of the time on a spinner the line breaks even at low poundage. safty slides are a must if you shoot the retriever as well. its a ton of fun ... but be careful... its highly addictive!!

 

I have an AMS Firehawk bow kit that max out at 40 pound's that's turned down to 35. My brother shoot's the PSE compound bowfishing rig. We mainly fish at night and shoot off bridge's or we'll take turn's shooting in our 10 ft boat with a trolling motor in the daylight in canal ditch's. We also wear the mechanic glove's and shoot the "no glove" rubber finger tab's with a brass nock on the string. The mechanic glove's are great to keep from getting cut by gar's or getting rope burned if you shoot a big one and your hand's don't smell as bad.

My brother shoot this big White Amur and I had to put one in it to help him out. He's 6'3 and 34 inch inseam just to get a size reference.
http://emob1090.photobucket.com/albums/i369/Runt7680/1318552143.jpg

http://emob1090.photobucket.com/albums/i369/Runt7680/1318552077.jpg

 

them grassies sure are fun to shoot ... here is our biggest this year .. shot by my teamate with a 40lb PSE barracuda.. it weighed in at 61.11 lbs. .. He also shoots a muzzy spinner reel.

 

You guys got me so worked up I just bought me a PSE Spyder mobu 45-60lb 27-30" 3.6lb 300+ fps, has the adjustable ni cam,looks like it will make a great little fishing bow.Still pondering which way to go on accessories,I know a lot of it is personal choice so I appreciate the input it helps me know what's out there.

 

It's your choice, but shooting 100+ time's a night your gonna be wore out with a 45/60 lb bow. At 35 lbs standing on a 10-15 foot high bridge and shooting 20 feet I still get a complete pass through on a good size gar.

 

AMS retriever.... best bowfishing bow ever is the oneida, the smoothness of it and the ATA are so freakin sweet, this year i have about 20 gar, and maybe 100 sheepshead to my name.

 

I agree with you but I won't be shooting near that much,also this will probably serve as a dual purpose bow,a good up grade from the youth bow used by my grandson.

 

I used to bowfish with a 70# hoyt vtec used to shoot a couple hundred times a night. At first youll be tired and wore out but youll get used to it if you have to shoot heavy weight its just something you gotta get used to. My black eagle currently has 60-80 limbs i have it tuned in round 55#(you can get away with a little more with an oneida i know a guy who had one built with extra long limb bolts it goes up to 100#you but hes currently shooting it at 32#with 90% letoff you can draw the bow with one finger) i have a set of 35-55# power limbs i had planned on putting on the bow but im shooting awesome with it right now i planned on getting my bow dipped before spring. I dont know where you shoot but i suggest a wrist sling. I lost a brand new( new to me i paid 500 for it) oneida osprey over the fishing wall at a local dam. Shot at a big gar bottom outboard limb hit the rail and flipped the bow outta my hand never to be seen again i had only had the bow 2 weeks. I am the "sniper" on my tourney team the two other guys on my team wont take shots more than 10feeti from the boat ill take shots 20-25 yards and 90%a of the shots will hit home. If you need any suggestions or have any questions feel free to pm me.

 

I don't know how high that wall was or the situation but I might have hit the before the bow did,yes definitely a wrist strap.I shoot a 60 lb bow, the bow I will be using adjust from 45-60 lbs so it should be adequate.I will probably go with the ams accessory package as it looks a more compact setup.What the difference in the standard ams retriever and the pro and is it a big deal ?