Wild Bowfishing Trip!!! (Bowfishing For Sheepshead & Black Drum At Night)

http://bowfishing%20for%20sheepshead

It’s bowfishing time!

Having grown up fishing my entire life, I thought I had done it all when it comes to catching fish…

From cane poles to bait casters to spinning reels to massive offshore reels to electric reels to a fly rod to even a Hawaiian sling spear gun…

But there was one thing I had never used to take a fish…

A bow and arrow.

Of course, bowhunting is not something new… it’s been around for centuries (even since hunters figured out the bow and arrow).

history of bowfishing
The southern American Chontaquiros natives bowfishing in Peru back when fishermen wore white rompers to catch fish… (bad year for fishing fashion)

So when fellow Salt Strong Community member Capt. Travis Lanphar (owner of Twisted Limbs Bowfishing) reached out about going bowfishing with him, we were pumped (although quite frankly, we had no idea what to expect on our first bowfishing trip).

But we knew Capt. Travis was the man to guide us.

You see, Capt. Travis is one of the top bowfishing captains in all of Tampa Bay (and central Florida where he goes freshwater bowfishing for invasive species such as Tilapia, Brown Hoplo, Sailfin Catfish, and others).

In fact, Capt. Travis has been shooting things with a bow and arrow since he was in diapers!

how to go bowfishing
From the Twisted Limbs Bowfishing Archives…

But he’s also a conservationist so while saltwater bowfishing he usually only focuses on these species (that were not devasted like many other popular species in the recent red tide):

  • Sheepshead
  • Black Drum
  • Stingray

Check out the amazing bowfishing trip we had with Capt Travis and his nephew (and make sure to listen to the podcast episode we just did on Bowfishing 101 below as well).

One final bowfishing tip…

As Travis told us over and over again, “Aim Low… and then aim even lower...”

Video – Bowfishing For Sheepshead

Note: this is NOT a typical beginning of a bowfishing trip. We went on an evening when Travis would normally not take out customers due to high winds… but he knew we were Salt Strong and itching for an adventure… enjoy

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Pretty awesome, huh!

Also, don’t forget to listen to the amazing podcast interview with Capt. Travis Lanphar of Twisted Limbs Bowfishing below.

In this podcast episode, we go over everything you would want to know about bowfishing:

  1. Best equipment for bowfishing
  2. Bowfishing tips
  3. Bowfishing safety
  4. What to expect (and bring) on your first bowfishing trip

Have any questions or feedback about this podcast episode?

Let us know in the comments at the bottom of the page!

Note: Don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE to the Fish Strong podcast on iTunes or Google Play.

Learn more about the Insider Fishing Club

Bowfishing 101 With Capt. Travis Lanphar (Podcast Interview)

Click the play button to listen right here on our site or click either button below to go directly to iTunes or Stitcher to download the episode.


fish strong podcast


stitcher fish strong podcast

Note: Don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE to the Fish Strong podcast on iTunes or Google Play.

And please go check out Twisted Limb Bowfishing and book a charter. You’ll love it!

Tight lines!

Do You Know The STRONGEST Fishing Knot For Every Situation?

The results of these knot strength tests might surprise you!

Click here to download the FREE “Ultimate Fishing Knot PDF Guide” (only takes a few seconds)

 

Related Posts:

This has to be the world record sheepshead catch in a cast net (see it here now)

Chasebaits Krusty Crab Review (Awesome bait for sheepshead – see it here now)

P.S. – If you think your friends or fishing networks would enjoy seeing this, please TAG them or SHARE this with them. You Rock!

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Robert Boozer
5 years ago

Nice video. It’s similar to spearfishing. A good mix of hunting and fishing done at the same time.

David Culver
5 years ago

Awesome fun right there, I need to get down there and give that a try.

Eric Black
5 years ago

I would think that one of the challenges of bowfishing is being able to gauge the size of the fish before shooting to ensure you’re targeting the right species and minimum size. Am I correct?

Anonymous
5 years ago
Reply to  Eric Black

Yes that can be tricky but most of the time its shallow water and if you doubt the size let it go there will be another fish soon enough

Travis & Heather Lanphar
5 years ago
Reply to  Eric Black

Yes you are correct! It becomes second nature for a Captain though that does charters nightly! A lot of “can I shoot that…what is that” and a lot of “shoot, shoot…..no, no”! It’s challenging but effective if you listen to the Captain ????

roy noblin
5 years ago

WOW i never realized so many fish were on the flats at night. i’d heard about gigging flounder at night. and i was about to give my bow to my son as i no longer deer hunt 🙂 good video

Anonymous
5 years ago
Reply to  roy noblin

Keep the bow, easy to rig!

Anonymous
5 years ago

Fun to watch. I’ve never bow fished but as a kid we would go ‘frogging’. I like fried frog legs. ????

roy noblin
5 years ago
Reply to  Anonymous

yep–as a boy a friend and i would head out after school Friday with a frying pan, can of lard, bag of potatoes, salt and pepper and our gig poles. we’d round the lake and fry what got then go around again. slept Saturday and again made the rounds that night then headed home Sunday afternoon. still like frog legs but houses everywhere we used to frog.

Jason Klazon
5 years ago

Luke, the tone in your voice told me you really wanted to get after that snook. Ha, ha. Pretty good shooting there, boys. Looked like a blast.

Greg Batchelor
5 years ago

Awesome trip. Looks fun!

Mike
5 years ago

That’s wild. I’ve did some bow fishing. But for gar. I got to give it try.

Heather & Travis Lanphar
5 years ago
Reply to  Mike

Tilapia, sheepshead, and flounder are our favorite but we recently cooked up some gar which you can check out on our fb page https://facebook.com/twistedlimbs Bacon wrapped gar was unbelievable!

Rick Fueyo
5 years ago

Sign me up!

Anonymous
5 years ago
Reply to  Rick Fueyo

You can message me Heather Lanphar @ 863-307-6687 and we can find a date that works for you!

Ivan Rodriguez
5 years ago

Nice Job! Looks like a lot of fun. Thanks for sharing!

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