Was wondering if anybody does any bowfishing? Plan to go in May to the potholes and have heard its a blast. I read about other states where bowfishing is a big deal, tournaments and everything. Are there any tournaments or organized bowfishing events in washington? Tks Scott

Yes there are some events in WA. I think they are at Moses lake one year a small boat was the grand prize at one of the events. I've been going to the columbia river to bowfish for about 5 years now. Never been to Moses lake. I've herd it's probably the best place in the state to go. Where I go on the columbia there are tons of carp and very few people. But I'm sure as bowfishing catches on that will change. Plus it's cheap to get set up. I think the bowfishing kits are around $25 but I would get a couple extra arrows. I think muzzy makes the best fish point that is what I would go with. I have also found that 80# dacron line like tough line is better than the line you get in the kits. And don't bother with fletching's you don't need any on fish arrows though some people do. And yes it is a kick in the A** a fun sport in nice weather and very few people. The one last sport that is'nt just packed with people. And your arm will fall off before you ever run out of fish to shoot at. This is defenitly a non stop action sport. In may there will be thousands of those big ugly things in every direction you look. GOOD LUCK all though you won't need any you can't go wrong in may for carp atleast on the columbia. Once you take your first shot you will be hooked !!!!

Wow that sounds like something I need to do. I remember 15 years ago being at Coulee City and seeing a bunch in a lake not far from there. Being young and from the west side I thought they were bass jumping so I through my whole arsenal at them with no avail.
Quick question.
Do you hook up your bowfishing stuff to your hunting bow or do you use a different bow?

We would use our compound hunting bows along with the fishing kits.

I have not been bowfishing for carp in a long time, but I agree, it sure as hell is alot of fun.

One of the best places I know of is on Crab Creek north of Moses lake. If you look on the map, there is a large spillway that falls from the east to west towards Crab Creek. Carp will pile up in the thousands at the bottom of that spillway. It is a deep hole surrounded by shallow water, so there is still some challenge.

There are some piggy carp out there that will pull your gear out of your hands if you are not careful! Had a buddy lose a regular bow to a carp that was probably 40+. Have a safety strap attached to your bow and around your wrist so you dont get jacked.

We set up older bows for shooting carp as the arrows are pretty heavy and lots of shots are kind of hard on bows. My brother has gone to the potholes the last two years and is hooked. you can get a bowfishing reel that screws into your stabalizer hole and a few fish arrows and your set. We are going in mid may hopefully when the carp spawn. Its supposed to be wild thousands of carp on top of the water. I think a tournament like they have back east would be a blast.

What do you guys do with the fish after you shoot em? Sounds like a blast

Voodie, they're carp. Probably not much of anything! Can't imagine carp tasting all that good.

I'm really interesting in bowfishing... probably would hurt my fly fishing rep, but it looks like entirely too much fun. And i don't have much respect for skanky carp.

In all honesty when I lived in NM I had a Navajo friend, that use to take the carp that we would get, and make carp bread. it was weird but good.

POp the air sack so they sink and don't stink up the place and shoot some more!! I did one time have some tourist from europe stop by and watch me shoot one and when I just left it they got a ll excited and through sign language asked if they could have it. I sayed sure help yourself so they grabbed it and threw it in the back seat of their rental car that was sitting with the windows up in at least 100 degree heat and then watched me some more. Can't imagine the stink and I guess they were going to eat it, I however wouldn't think of it. You are actually doing the area you shoot at a favor to kill as many carp as possible. If lots of you are interested maybe we could organize a weekend and little tourney. Moses lake area mid may for the SPAWN !!!

Bowfishing is a kick. I used to walk the canals near the tri-cities and shoot them. They can get big! CWUGirl - I'm embarrassed to admit this, but I got suckered in to trying a carp that a friend barbequed and passed off as walleye to me. He had picked the meat off the bones and I actually had seconds. He told me afterwards and I didn't believe him until I saw the carcass. I'm not saying I'll be trying out new carp recipes, but I'd eat it again if he cooked it the same way. The same guy also suckered me into eating a merganser that he told me was a canvasback. One bite and I knew he was messing with me. It tasted more fishy than the carp.

That sounds like a blast. I'm just now getting back into archery aftering being out of it for about 12 years. It might be fun to get a bunch together and go have our own little tournament sometime.

I went bowfishing last monday (12th), and the carp were wild! I was using a 20 lb Mathews genesis bow from the shore and my arm got tired from shooting. Friday, (17th we just got home) the wind was blowing, but everything else seemed the same. However, there were very few carp! Anybody know how long the spawn cycle is? Was it the wind roughing up the water that kept them down? I was pretty bummed. It has only been 4 days since I was there. What a change. What a blast it was last week though!