Bowfishing Retrievers

Hand-wrap reels like the Piranha Bowfishing Kit are the simplest reels; they consist of a circular spool that line is wrapped onto by hand and then secured in a line holding slot. When the arrow is shot the line comes free from the line holder and feeds off the spool. Fish are fought by pulling the line in hand over hand; hand-wrap reels are the least effective at fighting arrowed fish, but they can be used in conjunction with a float system to shoot and fight large trophy fish.

Spin-cast reels like the Zebco Bow Fishing Spincast Reel that you are familiar with such as casting reels on your regular fishing rod. Modified ever so slightly to accept larger line on the spin-cast reels for bigger game that you usually take while bowfishing. You lose the fulcrum from the bow being so short compared to the regular fishing rod.

Retreiver reels have a "bottle" which holds the line in place. When shot the line comes out either until the shot goes too far and the line runs out or the hunter pushes down a stopping device which can be used to keep a fish from traveling out too far. Some retriever reels have slots cut in them and are known as slotted retriever reels. They are more commonly used for alligator, alligator gar, shark and other big game that will take more time to chase down than smaller game fish.