One of the fastest growing outdoor sports in the country right now is bowfishing. Bowfishing is a cross between fishing and bowhunting. Across the United States and the entire world, fish like the common carp, garpike, and Asian flying carp are taking over our rivers and streams. There are very few ways of controlling these invaders, but one way to get rid of a few and have fun at the same time is to shoot them with a bow.

Although a regular hunting bow and sight can be used to bowfish, most diehard bowfishermen have tackle designed for bowfishing. If flinging arrows at garbage fish sounds like fun to you, the good news is it's inexpensive to get involved in the sport. Nobody knows that better than David White, President of Cajun Archery. Cajun Archery is a company that specializes in bowfishing equipment. "For less than thirty dollars, a person can purchase a bowfishing kit that gets them started in the sport. It contains a reel with line and a fiberglass arrow equipped with a fish point. All they need to bowfish in addition to the kit is a bow," White said. Once you get a kit, simply attach the reel to a bow and start shooting. Fish tips contain large barbs and a sharp tip. When the tip hits the fish, it usually punches all the way through the fish. Then you reel in the line, remove the arrow, and shoot again. It's that easy!

Although there are bows designed especially for bowfishing, most beginners start out with a bow purchased from a garage sale or eBay. "Almost any bow will do the trick when bowfishing. Most people start with an old recurve," White added. Almost any weight of bow will work. My dad and I used to use twenty to thirty pound bows and rarely had trouble killing fish. White prefers a bow in the fifty-pound range. "A fifty pound bow can kill almost any type of fish and critters as large as alligators. Some people choose not to use a compound bow because they have to come to full draw when using a compound and their arm gets tired drawing a high poundage bow a hundred times a day. Recurves are nice for bowfishing because you can shoot them at half draw or anywhere in the draw cycle. If the fish appears at the last second and you only have a brief moment to get a shot, you can quickly draw and let the arrow go. With a compound, that isn't possible," White explained

Most bowfishing is done from a boat, but the beauty of the sport is it can be done from the shoreline as well. Whether you bowfish from the shore or in a boat, hitting what you are aiming at can be difficult. "Most bowfishermen shoot instinctively without any type of sight on their bow because it allows them to shoot much quicker than if they had to aim a sight. The downside is that becoming an accurate, instinctive shooter can take time," White stated. When I was a kid, I remember bowfishing with my dad and taking dozens of shots and not hitting fish. They can be difficult to fish because the reflection in the water makes them appear closer than they are. "The rule of thumb is to aim low when shooting at fish. Most of the time, if you aim a little low you will hit the fish, especially if the fish are on the surface or just below the surface of the water. If they are four feet deep or deeper, hitting a fish can be extremely difficult," White suggested.

Fish are much easier to hit when they are in shallow water, so the best time to bowfish is when the fish you are shooting at are spawning. In Michigan, the carp spawn during the late spring and early summer when the water warms up. During the month of June, it isn't uncommon to head to the shallows of any lake, river, or swamp and find hundreds of carp in knee deep water spawning. When carp are in the shallows, hitting them can be extremely easy, even for the beginner. "Often when fish are spawning, they are splashing around and half of their body is above the water line. In situations like this, it doesn't take long to fill a garbage can with fish," White said.

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