# Bowfishing draw weight



## Sidestravis (Mar 2, 2014)

I am thinking about buying an older bow and setting it up to bowfish with. I deer hunt with my bow at 60lbs and have no trouble pulling that. I will mostly be shooting carp and gar so should I get a lower draw weight so I can hold it longer or set the bow heavier so it will be sure to punch through their scales.


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## iceman14 (Jan 25, 2011)

I use 70#. You don't normally have to hold very long


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## glipps (Dec 18, 2008)

Tagged so I can find it later. I'm very interested in this as well.


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## MSUarcher (Jan 13, 2008)

I normally shoot around 30-35 lbs out of my oneida osprey or PSE D2 for bowfishing. You don't want to be blowing through fish because it's a hassle to get them off, especially in tournaments where you want to be shooting as much as possible. Also I rarely go to full draw as most shooting is just quick snap shots. 

We shoot fish ranging from 1lb-40lb in up to 5-6ft of water and I've never had an issue with 30 lbs.


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## MSUarcher (Jan 13, 2008)

Also another thing to consider. I shoot 65lbs for hunting, but bowfishing you sometimes shoot 200+ times in a night. Pulling back that much weight that many times will just tire you out and give you a sore shoulder in the morning. You also don't usually have a lot of time to properly make a smooth draw back, you just see a fish and rip the bow back. 60+ lbs just does not seem fun doing that all night.


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## Sidestravis (Mar 2, 2014)

iceman14 said:


> I use 70#. You don't normally have to hold very long


Yea. I didn't say what I meant. I meant that if I was pulling back too much weight for a couple hours that my arm would start to get tired so should I keep the weight low to keel my aiming steady


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## Buxndiverdux (Oct 19, 2008)

I shoot a 50lb recurve and it is much faster than a compound IMO as far as getting off quick shots. A 50lb compound buries arrows in the mud really deep and can be a hassle to get loose.


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## Big_Bear26 (Apr 4, 2010)

50 to 70 is what I use. Just depends on the bow I bring.


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## Norwegian Woods (Apr 23, 2006)

I used a 70 lbs compound for bowfishing before, but not anymore.
To much hassle with getting lose the arrow buried deep in mud even after it has passed through a rather large fish. Much more power than you need really.
I use 70 lbs for hunting, but I prefer a 40-50 lbs compound for bowfishing.
Plenty of power and you draw faster and smoother and you can shoot lots and lots of shots without getting tired.


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## Runningbuck (Mar 11, 2009)

You really don't want more then #50 with a compound, #55 -#60 with a stick bow. The repetitious shooting is one factor but the other is the amount of hassle it takes to pull your arrow from clay bottoms, stumps, snags etc. A bow fishing tip can be a real pain to try and remove from a root ball at the base of a tree as well.( went swimming a few times to recover lost equipment) Carp are pretty soft and it doesn't take much to poke a hole in one.


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## Hoosierflogger (Jan 14, 2009)

30 to 40 is ideal for bowfishing.
Unless you are bowfishing for tiger shark or gators 60-70 is WAY too much weight.
If you are in a rocky bottom, you will destroy arrows, if in mud you will spend the night pulling arrows out of the muck.
I keep my fish bow on 35#. It is perfect for carp and gar, and is actually a bit of overkill for softer fish like shad.


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## crazy4bucks (Jan 21, 2009)

I used an old 60lb bear and my buddy uses a Jennings somewhere around 70. Tried a 45lb recurve and had a lot of pullouts unless they were really close. We are shooting carp from 15-50lbs


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## oldschoolcj5 (Jun 8, 2009)

looks like bow fishing "package bows" come in around 40#- 50# from my quick search.


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## eclark53520 (Sep 11, 2012)

Absolutely no need for anything over 50lbs for bow fishing in a compound. It's actually more of a hassle. But if it's all you got, you can make it work. I wouldn't miss out on an opportunity to go just because all I had was a 70lb compound, but it's not ideal by any means.


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## AllOut (Jan 23, 2009)

Buxndiverdux said:


> I shoot a 50lb recurve and it is much faster than a compound IMO as far as getting off quick shots. A 50lb compound buries arrows in the mud really deep and can be a hassle to get loose.


No their not.....
Compounds set up with 0% let off work just as well for snap shooting. Plus put out a lot more energy at lighter poundage. I can set my Cuda of BE at 25lb and shoot just as hard as a 45-50lb recurve. Which in turn makes it much faster cause it's so light to pull.
Typically run 30-35lb for shooting banks, might bump it up to 40 for rolling gar. At most when chasing gator bar will put bows at 50lb. But it also depends on the bow. My Cuda is faster at 35lb then my black eagle is at 45. My BE is faster at 40 then my screamers are at 50, so it's all relative.


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## bows&benching (Nov 9, 2009)

40-50lbs. Here we fish alot of stumpy waters and lots of cypress trees, anything over 50 and you will be trying to get your arrow out of roots all night... My favorite rig is a Martin Jaguar 45# recurve and AMS retriever. Itll take out anything we have swimming here, including 6ft+ alligator gar. Just put a couple arrows in em!


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## IAWoodsman (Nov 30, 2012)

I use a 35# recurve, it's great for snap shooting.

You can get a smaick sage, new, for about $140, great for bowfishing.


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## nyturkeyduster (Aug 5, 2006)

I use a PSE Silverhawk at 50 lbs, that is all you need to kill a fish. While bowfishing, you really don't hold very long because you don't have to wait for a perfect shot. Have fun, bowfishing is a blast.


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## bbigfish (Mar 13, 2014)

Started with an old 70 lb round cam bow. Then went to a 70 lb high performance bow. Almost never get to full draw. Video shows we acquire target and shoot in less than a second. 
90 % of my bowhunting has been for gator gar and needle nose in Texas. Can use much lighter set up for smaller fish. 
Because i am gettin old, I have used the aim bowfishing bows the last 4 yrs. they come with reels and we use the small jugs so we can chase the gar in the current. I think those are only 40 lbs. I use a modified whisker biscuit on my set ups while most people use bowfishing rests. 
Good arrow flight is VERY important. Arrow will not penetrate water or fish well if fish tailing. 

Good luck, it is great fun.. My sons had a 44" girth! And was 7'5". Mine was smaller at 7 ' even.


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## [email protected] (Jan 17, 2005)

eclark53520 said:


> Absolutely no need for anything over 50lbs for bow fishing in a compound. It's actually more of a hassle.


One thing about bowfishing is that there are no umbrella "absolutes." There are many times I will "absolutely" NOT shoot less than 50 lbs, and others in which I want at least 60 lbs. Draw weight is best determined by the conditions, including the fish you are shooting. Shooting little gar and carp at the surface is one thing. Shooting a 70 lb buffalo five feet down is another. And, shooting carp on the bottom in crystal clear water 8 feet deep is a whole nother deal. 

For most shooting in MO, I use about 40 lbs, but I usually pass on the little fish.

On the subject of snap shooting and quickness...I will go up against anyone on shot quickness and I prefer compounds with let-off. Any bow can be shot at any point in the draw cycle independent of let-off. It's all about what you are used to and prefer, and then how much or little you are out shooting. 

Here is a fish that I shot using about 62 lbs on, that was in 3-4 feet of water when I shot it.


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## eclark53520 (Sep 11, 2012)

[email protected] said:


> One thing about bowfishing is that there are no umbrella "absolutes." There are many times I will "absolutely" NOT shoot less than 50 lbs, and others in which I want at least 60 lbs. Draw weight is best determined by the conditions, including the fish you are shooting. Shooting little gar and carp at the surface is one thing. Shooting a 70 lb buffalo five feet down is another. And, shooting carp on the bottom in crystal clear water 8 feet deep is a whole nother deal.
> 
> For most shooting in MO, I use about 40 lbs, but I usually pass on the little fish.
> 
> ...


And there is game on earth that requires 80lb+ draw weight bows. The people that need that already know they need it. Since this guy is asking these questions he doesn't need anything over 50. Like 99% of people.


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## KYdeerhunter06 (Mar 4, 2014)

All my buddies and I had good luck with 30# or so. Look up the ams bowfishing set up and go from there. I want to say it's called a barracuta and is a complete package around $400. We always used old recurves as much water and as wet as they get just less to go wrong on them. My first set up was an old compoound that was 40-50# I backed it all the way down and shot the heck out of it it's still in somones boat now come to think of it. Most of our ****s were at carp and buffalo. The ocassional catfish and a bunch of long nose gar, usually at about 8' from the boat and down 2-4' you don't need a bunch of energy or you'll break arrow and tips constantly, not to mention drip a third nut trying to pull a miss from the mud. One of the adult size genesis bows with a good real would be the way to go.


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## bbigfish (Mar 13, 2014)

I am sure you are quick. 

Most people don't realize that their is no reason to come to full draw. 

I did not even know how fast we were shooting until the first gar guys vid we took. 

Good arrow flight is most important!


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