Bowfishing

Throughout my time off shore working in the Gulf Of Mexico fishing has always been a release. Weather it's Amberjack, Red Snapper, Grouper or Tuna. Just the pieceful afternoons spent out on the deck fishing for a meal that the whole dive crew could enjoy was reward enough.
Recently a friend of mine took me on a nightime adveture to try bowfishing. Now just to get the story straight I never shot a bow in my life. WOW it was the next level of fishing. Exciting beyond all belief. Not to say that I'm a good shot but it still took us awhile to limit out on redfish. My two sons amped up from the thrill of the hunt was priceless. Smile from ear to ear. Oh, and the coments they make like 'When can we go again. Darn, we already have our limit.'
So as a family man you can see that being outside and away from all the Nintendo's is the best experiance to offer your family. Time spent together having fun.

The only boat in the family is the brother-in-laws. It's no surface drive or air boat. Having to lean over the engine about every five minutes to clean out the water intake can be a tiresome and daunting task. All is not lost. Time well spent with your family.
Grab About ten 300 watt to 500 watt halogen lights, four 2"x4"'s, half a dozen 'C' clamps, wire end connectors and a generator. One good afternoon spent building your night bowfishing rig.
First you have to fit the 2"x4"'s around the perimeter of the front of your vessel and secure them together with wood screws. Be sure that the wood screws are short enough to not damage your boat. Mount your lights so they can be adjusted. Wire them together in a custome fashion to split the circuts into two sections. About four to five on each circut. This is to not overloade your circuts on the generator. Test lights for position in the dark of night before you go. Secure the light bracket with 'C' clamps to the rails.
Ready to go! Multi purpose fishing/bowfishing vessel! You'll be lighting up the banks like New York's Time Square!

So you grab your getto bowfishing rig and head out for a night of fun. Your excited. The kids are excited. And you can just tell that it is going to be a good trip.
All loaded up and heading to our favorite fishing hole to go bowfishing we stop by the kids favorite restruant, McDonalds. Go figure, but we can't break tradition or the kids will blame bad luck on there superstitions. Our bellies are full and hending on to the boat landing.
In the water by about 5:00 pm and heading to our bowfishing hole. Dark at 5:30 and starting up the generator. The hunt starts for redfish. Six hours pass and hunting has been fun and cold. My youngest son is starting to complain about being cold but mind you he hasn't hit a fish yet tonight.
'BAM' He hits,fish on! And our night is complete. Everone has hit while bowfishing. We fish our way back to the dock and get our full limit.
Priceless time spent with family and the boys are always ready for another bowfishing adveture. As I have memories of fishing with my grandfather and father my boys will to!