what kind do yall use? i noticed the ams can tangle up. is it common? i kinda like the zebco better. but dont know how they hold up. also on the zebco do you have to use bow line, or can you use mono?

also do you loose many arrows? where i will hunt its strong current and if you break off the line on a miss it will be gone.









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Get the AMS reel
http://www.amsbowfishing.com/product_in ... cts_id=263
Thats the one i use and recommend. The line that comes with it is super strong, i have yet to break mine. ive had 150lb gar on it and im sure some of them bite it. Stay away from the zebco and fishing line, save yourself the headache. They have some really nice arrow rest but i like the bowfishing buiscut the best. Good luck and make sure you have a buddy with some leather gloves to hold that line when you stick a big one

I have two bows with AMS retrievers and wouldn't use anything else, never had one tangle up on me before, the worst thing ive had happen was the bottle come unscrewed. As far as the zebco goes i would personally stay away from them.

Say your bowfishing and you have the release button pushed on the zebco and while theres a lull in fishing you bump up against something and the reel locks without you knowing, the next shot is gonna be a disaster.

Ive seen it happen a few times and the line broke and the arrow was lost but ive heard of horror stories of arrows coming back at the shooter when that happens.

I personally use the AMS wave rest and i really like it a lot.

Hope this helps with your decision.

Agree fully with trev. Been using the same ams reel since I was about 13, I'm 26 now. Just bought a new bow and a new ams reel this year. Old rig is still workin fine, but I been eyeballin the Oneida's for years now and finally broke down and bought one. Been wanting a spare bow too for those that don't bring their own equip.

Also, never heard anything too good about the zebco's or other similar spincast reels. As mentioned if you close the bale on accident, the next shot is either a lost arrow, a shattered arrow, or a arrow that comes flying back in your direction. None of that is any good.

As far as losing arrows goes. Most of the ones I've lost over the years were not tied to the string properly, or had several pass thru shots that ate up the string and failure to cut an retie. Never lost one because of the reel.

I own 5 bow fishing bows and every one is set up with the AMS reels. I use the AMS safety slides & quick draw arrow rest. Never had any problems with none of this.
The only problem that I have had was with the sting. I used some cheap string because it was all I could find at the time. You need to use the:
Muzzy line
Ams line
Never used the Brownell line
I buy all of my things from www.backwaterbowfishing.com

My brother has a bow with the zebco and he likes it. He has the brownell line on it.
I hate his set up. Me and the wife went one night she was on the deck shooting and I was driveing and we hit a big school of red fish she had one on the end of her arrow I had one on my bow. I picked up my brothers bow and I pushed the button on it and when I went to shoot the thing must have clicked back and when the string ran out the arrow came back and stuck me in the leg and put a big cut on it and sterted to bleed very bad.
Other people have told me this as well.

I am thinking about buying a Oneida Talon Bow or an Osprey for me and the wife. Dose anyone use them?

i have an old pse nova and a coyote recurve. which one would you recomend i use? the compound i can turn down to like 40# the coyote is 55# @ like 29". how much is too much? i would like to use the coyote because of the weight and less parts. is 55 too much. i pull about 27" with the compound so i figure about the same or a little less on the recurve. that should make about 49# on the coyote.

backwaterbowfishing.com
or
bowfishingextreme.com

they are the cheapest and usually can get it to you in a couple days.

I know a lot of people who shoot onieda's but I prefer the baracudas. I own two and they both cost me about 400 bucks for everything! one onieda will cost you 600 dollars bare bow and they weigh more.

I shoot about 40 lbs. on my bows and pull back about 3 inches. You can get away with shooting 20 lbs. on any bow unless your after big fish.

Trev & I borrowed an old PSE for our last trip out. Had it turned down to 55# & it was WAY too much. I don't know if we can lower it any more or not. One of ours is a Browning youth bow. Has a 30-45# range. It's somewhere midway & it's great.


That recurve might be ok if you don't pull to full draw. I've seen a guy do that & he did pretty well. Looks like it'd take a little practice.

ill be in 2-6 foot over gravel and rock bottom. needle gar, buffalo, drum and carp upto 20 pounds. i also have a wing recurve thats like 42 # at 30 " . its a nice laminated riser. not sure i want it in the boat, but it sounds like the best bow of what ive got to use. i need to check if it has the attachement pionts for the reel. what do you think of this bow? i would like to set up somthing i have and not have to spend alot of money for new equipment.

I used a Zebco, but mounted it on one of those little fishing pole thingies... so if I ever tried to draw with the button pushed, it would pull the arrow off the rest. just an option. I could get an arrow in a lot faster with a spincast.

Ams all the way! I have 2 ams bows the fire eagle and the fish hawk and a big game reel and a reg reel. Love em both. I use brownell 400lb fast flight line, seems to work the best for me. Also spend the money and get the quick draw arrow rest! Can't go wrong there, Bill (maker of the quick draw) is a great guy and stands behind his product. And I designed the logo http://www.quickdrawoutdoorgear.com

Best holding point would have to be an innerloc pro point.

X2 on the Quick Draw Arrow Rest.
I have two fish hawks two baracudaus and one kids bear.
I like the baracudaus the best.

AMS

Get you a Muzzy spincast. The AMS last forever and are great for beginners, but they can't touch the performance of a spincast. You will shoot more fish every trip with a spinner.

I love my AMS reels and homemade epoxy rests. All of the other rests just scare me because it is something else for the line to get tangled in. I can just see one of my drunk friends shooting himself at 2:00am in the middle of the marsh because his string got caught up on something.

Epoxy rests work great and keep it simple. The AMS reel provides a fast retrieve for a quick follow up shot and a beginner can learn to use it very easily.