Bowfishing

[augnmike]

Hi folks, I am new here and thought I would post up on bowfishing. As I am sure you know bowfishing is allowed in some lakes to keep the carp population under control. I am an avid bowfisherman and thought that since I know most game fisherman hate carp for what they do to other gamefish you guys would be a great source of information for me and others bowfisherman. Anyway I am attaching some information about lakes in our area where bowfishing is now legal. As well if you guys could keep me posted on spawing activity it would be greatly appreciated. I have a boat built with a shooting platform that makes carp shooting easier. With the weather being so cold lately the spawn has been delayed in most local waters although I did hear that El Cap was getting active. Most of my fishing is at Elsinore, Big Bear and this year Cachuma and the San Diego lakes. Thanks for reading this.

More San Diego lakes open to bowfishing
Ok guys I just received official word that bowfishing is legal now at the following San Diego area lakes:

El Capitan
Sutherland
Otay
San Vicente
Hodges

Lakes Already Approved:

Elsinore
Big Bear
Cachuma
Hemet (with strict regulations)

I am attaching the San Diego regs. Again, please make sure if you go you represent the sport well. Don't leave trash, dead fish, or violate the rules of the lakes. It's been a lot of work to get this many lakes open in California lets keep them open and have some fun.


CITY OF SAN DIEGO
Public Utilities Department
Water Operations Branch
RULES AND REGULATIONS
for
Bowfishing

«SAN DIEGO CITY LAKES«

Bowfishing shall be permitted at: El Capitan, Hodges, Otay, San Vicente, and Sutherland on days the lakes are normally open for fishing. Bowfishing is restricted to fishing for Carp only, in compliance with Fish and Game regulations. Bowfishing is NOT permitted at Barrett, Miramar or Murray. The following special conditions shall apply:

« Bowfishing tackle must have arrow shaft, point, or both, securely attached by a line to the bow or to a fishing reel; this includes crossbows.

« Bowfishing is permitted only by vessel on surface waters of approved Reservoirs.

« Bowfishing is prohibited within 30 meters (100 feet) of any person outside the vessel of the bowhunter.

« Bowfishing is prohibited in areas of nesting water birds.

« Children under 18 years of age must be accompanied by an adult in order to bowfish.

« All fish taken by bow must be removed from the Reservoir property. Disposal of Carp into the Reservoir, upon the shoreline, or in trash cans is prohibited.

« Bowhunters must possess proper daily permits.

« Bowhunters must possess a valid CA state Fish and Game fishing license.

Any individual out of compliance with these regulations, or exhibiting any unsafe use of bowfishing equipment, is subject to revocation of the permit and ejection from the Reservoir.


GOOD LUCK AND GOOD FISHING!


Call the City Lakes Fish Line (619-465-3474) for updated fishing reports and lake information.

[augnmike]

Alrighty then

[blackberg]

awesome to hear some san diego lakes opened to bowfishing.

I just bought a proper bowfisher and have not taken it out yet.

I believe the Colorado River is ok too,
I plan on taking mine out there next month.

do you know of any local shops that have bowfishing supplies in the LA area? I need to get some noglovs or similar installed.

thanks for the info
-bb

[LunkerBill]

Alright a person who likes bowfishing! Careful with this subject,some don't think its ok to bowfish. I havent bowfished in over three years.The friend I use to go with has past away,RIP Paul! Well good luck out there sticking those carp.

[d1LedHed]

Any luck with Perris????

[augnmike]

I was getting the feeling that I farted in church there for while. Anyway thanks for the replies. Yes one shop that has some stuff is Hi Tec Archery in Fullerton. The owner Joe is a bowfisher too. Perris was a no they said it was due to low water levels, uhh ok, and that the DFG told them the carp population didn't warrant bowfishing. Not sure about that one but there isn't much I can say.

Blackberg, the whole Colorado system is good to go. We shoot carp and tilapia there all the time. This is a good time the spawn should be on and it's not quite a thousand degrees yet.

Lunkerbill, sorry to hear you lost your partner but I hope you get back into it. I know that in some circles it's frowned upon but it's kind of like predator hunting to me. I know that sport has it's critics too. I for one do not have an interest in chasing bears with dogs but I defend their right to do it. The antis are always trying to divide and conquer.

So please post up if any of the listed lakes are beginning to go off and I will do my part to lower the carp population. Got some calls today that Cachuma, Elsinore and El Cap were starting to go off so I am firing up the boat for next week.

[blackberg]

Ok cool,
I was thinking of going to that fullerton shop to check it out,
thanks
-bb

[bowler]

I only done bowfishing in BBL and i did ok just walking the shore. But i brought down my bow from BBL so i can take it to Elsinore but i have not had the chance to go out with it yet.

[augnmike]

Just remember if you want to shore shoot Elsinore it can only be done in specific areas. I haven't done it because I have a bass boat with platform to shoot off of. Make sure you get the regs for Elsinore so you know you are ok.

Blackberg, here ya go http://www.htarchery.com/

[d1LedHed]

“Perris was a no they said it was due to low water levels, uhh ok, and that the DFG told them the carp population didn't warrant bowfishing.”

The low water condition is perfect for Bowfishing. Who ever from DFG told anyone the carp population, at Perris, didn’t warrant Bowfishing is totally ignorant or has never been to Lake Perris. That person from DFG does not understand how much damage a 40 lb carp can do to spawning beds. Or how many eggs a pack of 20 lb fish can eat!! That person should be fired!

Right now LP should be worried about generating revenue which means get everybody to the lake to do whatever – the more activities the better. You have a sport people are willing to pay money for and they are turned away – from a STATE park!!!!!! What’s wrong with this country?

PS - if anyone wants to learn how to cable arrows - shoot me a PM

[augnmike]

d1, You think you are frustrated. I get the finger from a lot of lakes and what's sad is that it is based on ignorance. They think we are flinging arrows all over the place which is not how it works as you know. The funny thing is the fact that bowfishing is not archery in fact it is a legal method of fishing and not considered archery. So counties and cities that have a no archery or shooting ordinance and try to apply that to bowfishing would in my opinion lose it in court for those reasons. Of course who wants to go through that to prove the point.

[SDDave]

I"d love to have open it up for both lakes in Castaic, the carp are way past out of control there, Thursday I was at the upper and in the back of a cove there had to be at least 60 of them blasting in and around the few bass that were trying to get some beds started back there, I'm one who's all in favor of it to clear out some carp, My question is and I'm sure alot of others, I don't want to see the fish go to waste, just what can be done with the fish beside fertilizer?

[fish-o-haulic]

Sign me up for bowfishing. Ive had a buddy whos been doing it for a while he showed me how to once but i still dont know jack shat about it. But if it gets rid of carp and warrants a few unknoledgable fisherman to bug me about it so i can enlighten them sign me up.

[augnmike]

SDDAVE, as far as using the fish frankly there is no way to use as many as I have shot in a day. I sometimes fill a 40 gal barrel twice. Some lakes offer a fish grinder so you just take them into the marina and it's like a big blender it just grinds them up. Most times I dump them in the desert on the way home from the lakes. The coyotes, ravens, coons and you name it don't let them go to waste. I actually was given a recipe that people swear by but haven't tried it myself yet. And no it's not the old cook them on a board, throw away the carp and eat the board either. Also if you can get me a name of someone at Castaic who is in charge I would be happy to share my presentation with them. This sport is really growing fast on this end of the country its been big in the south and mid west for some time.

Here is what I use for bowfishing:

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i285/augnmike/Bowfishing/IMG_1155.jpg

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i285/augnmike/Bowfishing/IMG_1154.jpg

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i285/augnmike/Bowfishing/IMG_1159.jpg

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i285/augnmike/Bowfishing/IMG_1162.jpg

[SDDave]

That is to cool...
Lori Bennett.
lbennett@parks.lacounty.gov

[augnmike]

Dave, I sent a lengthy email to Lori describing everything. Keep your fingers crossed or better yet let her know that this is a good thing.

[LunkerBill]

Augnmike that is a way cool setup you got there. If you dont mind someone to tag along with you sometime let me know. Use to go to the channels in Long Beach.Biggest ray I got was a 35 pounder. Not sure if it was or is legal there,but my friend and I seen a couple guys there one night doing it.We would go down to LB when we were teenagers and bowfish off the peir,marina, or anywhere else we could shoot from. We would do it ghetto style with a old crossbow with a tincan as the reel.
I spoke to a warden and he said as long as its for carp wherever you can fish you can bowfish,unless the park/lake has a policy against it.

[LunkerBill]

BTW nice job on the double stick.Niiiice

[tree]

Perris has a HUGE amount of carp. me and sublime steve saw them jumping all over the place the other day.


edit: oh and of course thank you for the wonderful write up. it was very informative.

[blackberg]

I think back in the day, it was legal because there where no laws against in municipalities prohibiting it.
Now in the last 20 years or so, cities have added more laws restricting what you can do, among them is shooting projectiles, which depending how the law is written, can cover everything from BBs, pellet guns, arrows, bullets, paintballs, airsoft, slingshots, etc.

-bb

[Socal Bassman]

Thanks for the write up and that is a cool looking rig for sure. I was looking at getting back into archery and was wondering if there is a particular bow (if any) you could recommend for using both for shooting at targets and bowfishing? The reason I ask is because Cabelas carries the typical compound bows and bows for bowfishing. However, the bow they say is meant for bowfishing only has a 30lb. draw. Is there a difference or would I be okay with a regular compound bow? I was looking at the Bear Charge and the PSE Stinger HP, but was wondering if these would be overkill for bowfishing.

[blackberg]

I have a regular compound bow that I am going to sell that I had originally bought for bowfishing, it would work but the higher draw rate can wear you out faster, it all depends how many shots you take. Its strong enough to use for hunting, and archery. The reel and all accesories mount right up to it.

I decided to buy dedicated bowfisher since I can shoot it all day without getting tired, and can give noobs a try with actually being able to get a shot out.


-bb

[augnmike]

Socal, there are some options that would do what you have suggested. One good one would be the Mission Menace or Mission Craze. You have an incredible range of power and adjustment for length of pull. You can also adjust the let off on this bow. They don't break the bank by compound bow standards either. My old bowfishing partner used the Mission bow and would shoot deer with it during the off season for bowfishing. I use the PSE Barracuda's since I do so much bowfishing and I like the zero let off for snap shooting. Let me know if you have any other questions. Here is a pic from yesterday of a cool looking carp my partner shot. I got a goldie last week and this week he nails this one.

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i285/augnmike/Bowfishing/Elsinore5-13-111-1.jpg

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i285/augnmike/Bowfishing/Elsinore5-13-112.jpg

[DockRat]

Cool Thread. We used to shoot carp in the 60's at BBL with a $15 Target Bow and string tied to the arrow (ghetto setup)
Also used to spear them with a homemade frog gig setup. They used to pay 5 cents a tail in town.
They were tossed ashore for the coons. Around Papoose Bay area.

Check these pics I found :EyePop:

Minnesota
http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj21/MinnesotaMan13/Bowfishing/Pictures003-2.jpg
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m9/dustphish/biggar013.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v357/JasonLester/Bowfishing/bowfishing2.jpg
http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/ab142/AimLowSchreiber/2010%20Bowfishing/tammie_cajun.jpg
http://i865.photobucket.com/albums/ab218/liltimetx/Bowfishing%20Pics/randy006.jpg

Them boys back east shoot everything. LOL
DR

[augnmike]

Great pics. Yeah back east and in the south it's a whole different game.