Welcome to my instructable on extreme creek fishing,...Or for lack of a better description,the" I can't sit still long enough to fish the normal way, (with bait) instructable." I hope you enjoy my efforts to show you how to "hunt for fish".
As always, I welcome comments, both good and bad.
As an avid hunter, I own two compounds and a recurve bow. I use the compounds for deer hunting quite often and did not want to alter either one. This made my recurve the prime target when the urge hit me to get back into bow fishing. Not wanting to damage my recurve any, I decided to make my fishing setup attachable without any drilling.As a result,"Bobby's back woods bow fishing kit"was born.
sad foot note;As much as i wish to claim "i invented this",i cannot,after assembly and testing i thought to search the web and found i had been beaten by others, the bucket idea had already been used. After a brief moment of sadness i said "oh well,at least i have not seen it on instructables yet" hence, Bobby's backwoods bow fishing kit is born.
As always, I welcome comments, both good and bad.
As an avid hunter, I own two compounds and a recurve bow. I use the compounds for deer hunting quite often and did not want to alter either one. This made my recurve the prime target when the urge hit me to get back into bow fishing. Not wanting to damage my recurve any, I decided to make my fishing setup attachable without any drilling.As a result,"Bobby's back woods bow fishing kit"was born.
sad foot note;As much as i wish to claim "i invented this",i cannot,after assembly and testing i thought to search the web and found i had been beaten by others, the bucket idea had already been used. After a brief moment of sadness i said "oh well,at least i have not seen it on instructables yet" hence, Bobby's backwoods bow fishing kit is born.
Step 1: Materials needed
I will not specify any tools used as I believe that everyone will use whatever they have available to work with.
But as for an items needed list, we will start with:
#1 a bow,compound or recurve,it is your choice
#2 a bucket,it can be a bottle,coffee container or in my case a five gallon bucket
#3 hose clamps, or duct tape once again you decide from what you have available
#4 strong string,i had mason string so that is what i chose
#5 L-brackets
#6 a few bolts and nuts,washers if you want
Now on to the beginning stages of assembly.
Total cost is my favorite part of this instructable as everything used was salvaged from previous projects and no longer in use for said projects.........Total cost........$ 0.00 $.
Total benifits,exercise,improved aim and skill with bow,(some fish dont give you much time to shoot), and food for the table( I only hunt what i can eat )
But as for an items needed list, we will start with:
#1 a bow,compound or recurve,it is your choice
#2 a bucket,it can be a bottle,coffee container or in my case a five gallon bucket
#3 hose clamps, or duct tape once again you decide from what you have available
#4 strong string,i had mason string so that is what i chose
#5 L-brackets
#6 a few bolts and nuts,washers if you want
Now on to the beginning stages of assembly.
Total cost is my favorite part of this instructable as everything used was salvaged from previous projects and no longer in use for said projects.........Total cost........$ 0.00 $.
Total benifits,exercise,improved aim and skill with bow,(some fish dont give you much time to shoot), and food for the table( I only hunt what i can eat )
Step 2: Getting started
first
Remove top of bucket by cutting just under the largest collar shown in first picture .Save the collar,this is the part you need.The lower 2/3rd can be used as a planter somewhere else.
Remove top of bucket by cutting just under the largest collar shown in first picture .Save the collar,this is the part you need.The lower 2/3rd can be used as a planter somewhere else.
Step 3: Snug fit
next
Place bucket collar on a flat surface with largest collar up,this will be the side that makes contact with the bow.
The bow will be balanced with the arrow rest in middle of opening. You will be shooting through the middle of the opening.
As you can see from the first picture I marked a spot to notch the collar for a tight fit,I did this to both points that the bow came into contact with. I just estimated the depth and free handed the notch drawing with a magic marker.I wasn't to worried about precision here, my next available tool was a grinder, but a pair of scissors,snips or a pocket knife will do.Dont forget to use caution as well.
The second and third picture show the formed fit i just cut(ground) out.
Place bucket collar on a flat surface with largest collar up,this will be the side that makes contact with the bow.
The bow will be balanced with the arrow rest in middle of opening. You will be shooting through the middle of the opening.
As you can see from the first picture I marked a spot to notch the collar for a tight fit,I did this to both points that the bow came into contact with. I just estimated the depth and free handed the notch drawing with a magic marker.I wasn't to worried about precision here, my next available tool was a grinder, but a pair of scissors,snips or a pocket knife will do.Dont forget to use caution as well.
The second and third picture show the formed fit i just cut(ground) out.
Step 4: Attaching to bow
Low and behold you can't find anything when you need it. I looked high and low for L-brackets and could not find any.
It is time to go to my ;
Custom,Re-usuable,Alternative,Products
pile to find a solution. After several minutes looking through my C.R.A.P. pile i did locate a couple of L-brackets and I am now back in business.
Placing the newly found brackets on the inside of bucket top, I placed bolts from outside in,(this will allow free string movement, as the threads will be to the inside of the circle and the string will be to the outside.
Now it is finally time to attach to the bow with ,in my case ,hose clamps.I chose to use clamps for two reasons,first i had them,and second i wanted to be able to disassemble it later for rabbit season and not have any damage done to my bow.
I only had one hose clamp available,so a quick youtube search on how to make a homemade clamp,and another trip to my C.R.A.P. pile i was back on track. Of course my homemade clamp was made with what i had available(plumbers tape) so it is not as pretty as the one on youtube but it works just the same.
It is time to go to my ;
Custom,Re-usuable,Alternative,Products
pile to find a solution. After several minutes looking through my C.R.A.P. pile i did locate a couple of L-brackets and I am now back in business.
Placing the newly found brackets on the inside of bucket top, I placed bolts from outside in,(this will allow free string movement, as the threads will be to the inside of the circle and the string will be to the outside.
Now it is finally time to attach to the bow with ,in my case ,hose clamps.I chose to use clamps for two reasons,first i had them,and second i wanted to be able to disassemble it later for rabbit season and not have any damage done to my bow.
I only had one hose clamp available,so a quick youtube search on how to make a homemade clamp,and another trip to my C.R.A.P. pile i was back on track. Of course my homemade clamp was made with what i had available(plumbers tape) so it is not as pretty as the one on youtube but it works just the same.
Step 5: String winding time
Your string must be solidly attached to your bow,if it is not, a larger fish might suprise you by swimming with your arrow to the limits of your winding. So first i will start by securing string to top of bow just below bucket ring(your choice of knots). Then,since i am right handed and will be holding bow with my left, it feels natural to wind string in a clockwise motion while holding bow. your natural tendencies might incline you to go against the grain and wind counter clockwise,just let me warn you right now, this will not effect the outcome of your shooting what-so-ever,so go ahead and do what feels natural.
A thin notch on the inside lip of the bucket will help keep string in place while moving around,and prior to release of the arrow.
Speaking of the arrow,a great many ways of fastening the string exist. I chose to keep it simple and just drilled a hole through the arrow at the notch end. My string, after winding on spool, was then tied to the arrow leaving a loop big enough to not interfere with the arrow notch after release.. This has held up with much more strength than i figured, but if you choose to make yours with a compound bow,it will have a lot more firing strength so a different solution might be in order.
A thin notch on the inside lip of the bucket will help keep string in place while moving around,and prior to release of the arrow.
Speaking of the arrow,a great many ways of fastening the string exist. I chose to keep it simple and just drilled a hole through the arrow at the notch end. My string, after winding on spool, was then tied to the arrow leaving a loop big enough to not interfere with the arrow notch after release.. This has held up with much more strength than i figured, but if you choose to make yours with a compound bow,it will have a lot more firing strength so a different solution might be in order.
Step 6: Video proof of success
By now I have realized that I have a need to film myself shooting my setup,my problem is i will be testing it alone and need more hands than i got ,so after propping my phone up with a hammer handle and another heavy object i will begin.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6Rccdt60_0 missed attempt
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oupoDaOiqp8 dead center on target
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zf1pIa0GJwMspool release
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6deNlsC-hOM first creek test,had no luck but enjoyed it very much.
My daughter can be heard in the background laughing and playing. She thinks daddy is funny with my projects and all.
I hope to fish with this rig tomorrow morning and will post a shot or two of my attempts.
Finally, I will be making a left hand held version to go with my atlatl(last pic)l and try my luck with it fishing as well, that arrow is six foot long
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6Rccdt60_0 missed attempt
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oupoDaOiqp8 dead center on target
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zf1pIa0GJwMspool release
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6deNlsC-hOM first creek test,had no luck but enjoyed it very much.
My daughter can be heard in the background laughing and playing. She thinks daddy is funny with my projects and all.
I hope to fish with this rig tomorrow morning and will post a shot or two of my attempts.
Finally, I will be making a left hand held version to go with my atlatl(last pic)l and try my luck with it fishing as well, that arrow is six foot long
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Love the bucket idea, I can't see from the photos, but I'd guess that using bolts with countersunk heads might make the line reel off more smoothly than round headed types.
Thanks for a great 'structible.
Your last picture makes me think of an atlatl with a dart on it. :) I think some folks fish with them too, where permitted.
thank you
and a big thanks to instructables
The notches you cut in the rim edge could be used to form the bracket to attach the rim to the bow.
Just cut the bucket another 2.5cm lower so you have a deeper notch to cut, but instead of cutting it ALL out, make a tab by just cutting the side slots and folding it down to form a mount point L bracket for the clamps.
Less materials needed and the rim for the string is smooth as there are no catching points for the string as it unwindes.
I have a commercial fishing bow, the arrows are cheap in the USA, I would recommend you use them, string mounts to a sliding device on the arrow, my bow is a compound made by Browning.
Great Instructable by the way.
In my quest to catch and eat every kind of freshwater fish in New Hampshire, www.catch-m-all.com we've done some bowfishing for carp (no success) but I think I will make and try this...I also will share this on the catch-m-all facebook page because it's fantastic!
Thanks for sharing
Next he attached a leader to the end of his fishing line and hooked it on the string on the arrow. It allowed him to pull the arrow back while the fishing line leader slid to the arrow tip. when fired the fishing line leader would slide along the arrow string to the back of the arrow near the arrow knock.
My only concern is that you might need some sort of reel system so you don't cut up your palms trying to pull a struggling fish in by hand.