ahh, bowfishing. to be honest, i bought a kit. i saw, and shot, the biggest carp ive ever seen in my life with a red oak longbow, about 30 pounds draw. the arrow didnt fly straight, and penetrated about an inch sideways. i was so pist, i went to cabela's and bought the kingfisher bow. that came with literly everything. ive been harvesting them for a while, and it truely is a blast. you said you couldnt find any fish. my advise, dont look in the middle of a river. look in the shallower swampbeads and such, wll, i shouldnt say that. its hotter this time of year and ythey go deeper to get cooler temperature... well, in the spring go for that, but in the 95 degree summer just find a pond, or runoff pond, that is relatively shallow. they surface alot, and if its really weedy, you can see the carp through the weeds. ive actually never seen a gar in the water, but then again all of my bowfishing experience has been off of the shore. if i can give any advise, get a 30+ pound bow, and 3riversarchery sells a tape on reel for bowfishing. my buddy uses it, and it gets the job done. that, and i wouldnt really make my own fishing arrow, there only like 5 bucks and the heads are pretty cheap. if you snag the arrow, twist the line and the head will unscrew off. good luck man, i really suggest buying a reed, but you can tape a fishing reel on too, same principal. good luck -jimmy
