Wild Bowfishing Trip!!! (Bowfishing For Sheepshead & Black Drum At Night)
- By: Joseph Simonds
- on
- Found In: Fishing Fun, Fishing Tips, Inshore Fishing, Salt Strong Podcast, Sheepshead
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).
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!
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
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:
- Best equipment for bowfishing
- Bowfishing tips
- Bowfishing safety
- 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.
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)
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Nice video. It’s similar to spearfishing. A good mix of hunting and fishing done at the same time.
Awesome fun right there, I need to get down there and give that a try.
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?
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
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 ????
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
Keep the bow, easy to rig!
Fun to watch. I’ve never bow fished but as a kid we would go ‘frogging’. I like fried frog legs. ????
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.
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.
Awesome trip. Looks fun!
That’s wild. I’ve did some bow fishing. But for gar. I got to give it try.
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!
Sign me up!
You can message me Heather Lanphar @ 863-307-6687 and we can find a date that works for you!
Nice Job! Looks like a lot of fun. Thanks for sharing!