with a 26 inch draw i would go with a 60 lb bow (@28") that should put u around 50ish..... I have 45lb PSE king fisher and thats at 28 i draw to 29 and have a hard time getting through gar. My Browning wasp at 50 lbs however at 29 inch goes right into them. U add weight with draw and subtract with less let that be a factor.

I prefer a long axle compound at 55 lbs. XI legend is what im shooting. to get through these.

 

Thanks...exactly the feedback I was hoping to receive. Thanks and nice fish!

 

I use a 40 # kingfisher and it works great. Shot a 57 lbs grasscarp and did the job. I have a 29.5" draw though but I would recommend getting the 50# bow because it is still easy to pull back and you can shoot all day with it. Really the only reason I got the 40# bow is because I ordered one from the bow shop and it kept being backordered and told them to cancel it and went to a different shop and bought one from the shelf.

 

I would reccomend not going below 55 for sure with a 26.5 inch draw, sure u can get through some fish, but when the monster emerges and u glance or bounce off it sucks...

 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-That is the funniest, and most wrong answer.
The great thing about bowfishing is that you do not need much poundage at all, Anything over 20 pounds will work fine. You want to shoot alot and quick,aim low on fish and you will connect.

 

Thanks

 

It's not a cut and dried question with an always right answer. Type of fish, size of fish, and depth(s) of water you are shooting them will all factor in. It is because of all of these that I keep many bows in my boat, but many won't want to have 5 or 6 bows for bowfishing.

I use and rec'd about 45 lbs for everyday, general fish shooting. Even 45 will be overkill for many situations. When we are looking for big buffs, they are usually in deep (4-5 feet) water and so we shoot 65 lbs (and still bounce off plenty). There are lots of guys that shoot bows around 30 lbs and do fine for most fish.

Big buffalo (50 lbs or more) are the toughest to penetrate, then big carp, then big gar, IMO. Big gar are given way too much credit for being hard to penetrate. Their scales are very hard, but that means you only need to get the barbs under the skin and you will be fine. Usually when we are shooting big gar, I turn my bow down to help make sure I don't shoot all the way thru them.

One last bit of advice...tuning a fish bow is just as important as tuning your hunting bow if you want to get the most out of bowfishing. A guy shooting 60 lbs with an out of tune bow will not do as well as a guy shooting 40 lbs out of his well tuned bow.

 

What kind of tuning methods do you use? I'll be using probably a Sage recurve 52# w/ the Muzzy fish hook rest and AMS arrows

 

Shoot the arrow into the water, all set up as it would be for fishing. Similar to paper tuning, use the water splash to guide your adjustments of nock pt and rest until the arrow enters the water straight and continues to travel stright thru the water. Some guys try to tune it in their yard without the line tied. The line should be tied on to get it right and it really isn't a long process. Should take a handful of shots on the water to get it. Any of my new fish bows get set up by eyeballing in the garage and tuned on it's first fishing trip right before we start looking for fish.

Your nock pt will most likely be higher than what you are used to seeing on hunting bows. 1/4" high is a good starting point.

 

Yeah, I first didn't realize tuning would be that important but when my buddies arrows were hitting the water sideways lol we started asking questions.

 

good stuff here. Thanks

 

imo, a 45 lb recurve is perfect

 

Well...except the "recurve" part, lol. I used to have a couple recurves and a longbow and loved to shoot them and rabbit hunt with them. But...never liked them for bowfishing at all. Bow choice and even amount of let-off just comes down to personal preference and what feels best. I like high let-off and can snap shoot mine at any point in the draw cycle just fine. And trust me, shooting quickly is NOT an issue for me either.

 

My PSE Fireflight is on about 45. Much more any any miss in creeks and shallow lakes and you will spend all your time trying to did your arrow out of the creek/lake bottom. It is even worse on submerged wood.

 

Try finding an old onieda eagle. I found one cheap on craigslist. Thing fires fiberglass like a dream. Then you will get the best of both worlds.

 

Thanks

 

If you are buying new look at some of the new 40-50# bowfishing specific compounds out there. They are short light and shoot much harder that a comparable recurve. I think that recurves are too long and slow for bowfishing, but some folks love em.

 

6 foot gar stupid iPhone


---
I am here: http://tapatalk.com/map.php?wje2gs

 

Boys its not my first rodeo I was saying a 55 pound bow because he is only drawing 26.5 inches so that would put him at 42-43 pound mark on a 55 pound at 28 inch recurve. I shoot alot of 50 + pound big heads sometimes deep 55 pounds with a compund is as low as I go. Commons in shallow lakes I use a 45 pound kingfisher.

Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk 2

 

Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk 2

 

Like Robin said, it depends on what fish and how deep. Big buffs can be almost impossible to get a barb in, while soft fish like suckers or bigheads can be killed with minimal poundage.

I shoot mostly big commons, and from my experience recurves pretty much suck for that. You don't need a lot of weight, but a 35lb bow like an Oneida will hit harder than a 50lb recurve. Again, my experience. And again, it depends on WHERE you hit the fish also. Pinwheel a scale and you are usually gonna end up with just a scale!

Id suggest a compound, 35-55lbs, and adjust it to suit your situation.

 

I ended up buying a new Sage recurve 60# @28...I want it to cover everything I'll ever do. Including deer! I'm not loaded$$$....so the 60# should cover it all, hopefully the big ole carp too!

 

I have shot carp with a 40 lb. bow and have had no problems with penetration. I used a 53 lb last year and was able to get a pass through on fish several feet deep. And my draw length is 27"

 

Good choice, Im a 27" draw and shoot a 68# @ 28" recurve, most of my shots happen very quick on skittish commons. And most are not at full draw. But when I wanna get back on it and punch one deep and hard, the option is there.

 

Good, Thanks for all the help guys!