Why Everyone Should Try Bow Fishing For Carp

Why should everyone try bow fishing?  It’s simple and I’d be happy to share with you.  Everybody should try it because carp are evil.  Seriously.  They're not thought of as a ‘sport’ fish around here but every time you toss a line out, you can bet your tackle that there will be massive carp around.  Swimming near the surface, teasing us all!
Here in British Columbia, bow fishing falls under spear fishing, if you have the proper license.  As such, you would think that there would be some sort of limit on just how many of these carp you can pull out of the water but nope!  Since they are an invasive species we can remove as many of them as we want!  Good deal!
There are plenty of people here in Canada who don’t think of carp as a great tasting fish, however … I hear from the tourists that those fish are thought of as a delicacy in parts of Europe.  To me this says that we Canadians,  regardless of how stunning we look in our cold weather gear, have no idea how to properly cook carp.  What’s the easiest solution?  Go bow fishing!  The more of them you pull out, the more practice you’ll have at cooking them.
Getting started in bow fishing doesn't need to be very difficult or overly expensive.  Fishing arrows can be made at home easy enough, you can check my ‘Homemade Fishing Arrow’ video for just how simple that can be.  Don’t have a bow?  Did you know you can make a powerful little bow out of a piece of schedule 40 PVC?  It’s true, I've done it.  What if you don’t want to make stuff but want to start bow fishing for carp right away anyway?  Click on to eBay or Amazon and search ‘Bow Fishing Kits’.  It’s amazing just how much is there at an affordable price for most of us.  If it’s too expensive then I remind you of the two options listed above.
Sure, there’s a trick to being successful with any bow fishing adventure.  Aiming below the target is somewhat different from traditional archery where you aim above it to compensate for arrow drop over distance but one get’s used to it.  Sure carp is something of a bone filled nightmare of a fish, so eat it with chopsticks!  Problem solved.  Even if you just cut it up and toss it to the eagles, who love a free carp meal by the way, you are helping to reduce the carp populations in our lakes.  Which is a good thing.
Yes, of course you could just a regular rod & reel to bring in a carp today but would it really be as satisfying?  In my humble opinion … not even close.  That’s it for this little blog post but remember … get out there and give bow fishing a try!
Happy trails from JT Bear!

Converting an Arrow for Fishing

Since I was unable to find a fishing arrow locally I decided that I would make one myself. I headed off to YouTube and watched a ton of great videos but one that really stood out for me was from Dave Canterbury’s Pathfinder School.  He has a load of excellent videos and a great way of teaching that just works for me and makes it easy to learn. Thanks Dave!

Converting an arrow for fishing, in theory, is an easy enough project to get yourself involved in. As an added bonus, a person doesn’t require any special tools or skills to be able to pull this off! Let’s look at what you WILL need.

1) an old arrow, preferably with a removable tip but use what you have.

2) a large safety or diaper pin, remember in this case, size matters.

3) a pair of wire cutters, most pliers have them built in or even sturdy scissors would do it.

4) a swivel from the tackle box, not huge but not tiny either … be reasonable here folks.

5) some sturdy string or fishing line, I used some old 20 LB line I had sitting around.

6) depending how good you are with knots you may want some sturdy tape.

Now, let’s take a look at what we are trying to achieve here. Basically the line to the reel, connected to our swivel, needs to be able to move freely up and down the shaft of the arrow while not coming off at either end. The tip of the arrow needs to travel through the target in one direction but not the other. Seems simple enough.

Take one end of your string or fishing line and tie it securely in place at one end of your arrow shaft. If you’re not good with knots, this is where the tape comes in. After making sure one end is firmly attached to the arrow slip your swivel onto the line and slide it out of the way. Securely tie, or tie and tape, the line to the other end of your arrow avoiding any twist if possible. Double check to see that the swivel will now move freely along the length of the arrow shaft following the guide line.

Next, open your large safety pin and use your wire cutters to remove the tip and hood portions. Remove the tip from your arrow and thread it through the hole on the end of your cut safety pin. It may be a little tight but simply pressing outward on the points of the pin should open it enough to allow it to fit onto the arrow tip. Once the pin is on, simply thread the tip back onto the arrow shaft and gently bend the tips of the pin towards the back of the arrow. The pin will press closed as it passes through the target and reopen when it reaches the other side.

In theory, your fishing arrow is now ready to go!

If you want to see my quick video for this project Click Here!

Good luck and happy bow fishing to you!

JT Bear.