Perhaps you have found yourself wondering about the length of bowfishing arrows. Bowfishing arrows differ from traditional arrows in that they weigh more than your standard arrows. They aren’t the same as regular arrows because shooting into the water requires a slightly different arrow.
How long are bowfishing arrows? You can use whatever length the arrow is between 20 inches up to 32 inches. The length of the arrow doesn’t matter as much because you only shoot a few yards out into the water, and you don’t usually shoot in water deeper than 5 to 6 feet.
What Kind of Arrows
Important to note, you don’t get just any type of arrow, you go for bowfishing arrows. The length doesn’t matter so much because of how you don’t shoot from afar, and the depth of the water isn’t too great.
In general, when you buy bowfishing arrows, don’t cut them; tie the string to the arrow before bowfishing, and you should be ready to go. The big difference that you will notice with bowfishing arrows is that they don’t come with fletching.
Bowfishing arrows don’t have feathers on them because of how feathers misdirect the arrow once it hits the water. Because of that, they leave the feathers off. That’s perhaps the most important aspect over the length is to not have feathers on the arrow.
Usually, you don’t need much weight on the arrows either. You need a little more than traditional arrows, but you usually don’t want your arrows too heavy because of how it will penetrate too deeply into the mud.
Most Things Work
One of the reasons that I love to bowfish is because of how you don’t need anything special. With bowfishing, your most important thing with the bow is to be able to shoot fast. Most setups will work fine, and this includes the length of the arrow.
Warning: Don’t tie the line directly to the arrow. If you get the line caught for whatever reason, it can send the arrow shooting back right at you. As you can imagine, this can be extraordinarily dangerous. Tie your line to the safety slide setup of the arrow. The safety slide eliminates the risk that it will come shooting back at you.
What is a Full Length Arrow?
When it comes to bowfishing arrows, most bowfishermen use full length arrows. What is the length of a full length arrow? A full length arrow is considered a 32-inch arrow. Like with regular archery, you want to choose an arrow length that will match your draw length.
Let’s say that have a 28-inch draw length. You will want to use an arrow with a length that ends at the riser. Because of that, you’d choose an arrow length with 27 inches.
Should You Shorten Your Arrow?
Most bowfishermen will tell you how this is a personal choice. They don’t necessarily say that you should cut it, but they won’t say that you shouldn’t either. The advantage of shortening your arrow length is that it doesn’t bend as easily, and this will help it to fly straighter and more accurately. With less weight, they will also fly a little faster.
Let’s understand why they have longer arrows in the first place. They use longer arrows because of how this eases your aim. You can shorten the arrow, but I don’t recommend that you shorten it too much. In fact, I don’t cut my arrows at all, and they work fine.
What to Look for in an Arrow
In general, heavy up to a point works best for penetration of the fish, but you don’t want too light of an arrow because of how it won’t penetrate the fish and stick. In addition, light arrows can get pulled off course with a line on them, which could be a big problem in the sport. You need a line to bowfish. I’d recommend that beginners choose fiberglass arrows because they cost less, and you accomplish the same purpose sacrificing some accuracy.
You could also choose carbon arrows if you want stiffer straightness to them for greater accuracy. I’ve done this before and found it advantageous for greater precision. They do cost a little more, but as I improved at the sport, I didn’t miss as many shots.
The Typical Lengths of a Bowfishing Arrow
If we were to nail down an exact length of a bowfishing arrow, most will tell you 32 inches. That’s the standard. You might choose a purple bowfishing arrow because you can see the color more easily, but the length doesn’t matter as much.
In terms of arrow diameter for bowfishing, it will usually sit at around 5/16th, which is typical. Let’s say that you want to go after the larger fish. For those cases, pick the 22/64th inch arrow in diameter.
In terms of weight, fiberglass arrows will usually weigh 1400 to 1800 grains. For carbon-fiberglass composite, they will weight between 1200 grains to 1800 grains. Meanwhile, regular carbon arrows will weigh anywhere from 1000 grains to 1100 grains. If you’d like to see what makes bowfishing arrows special, please have a look at my article, What is Special About Bowfishing Arrows?
What Bowfishing Arrow is Recommended?
If someone could make a recommendation, a lot of bowfishermen would say to go with the AMS Bowfishing Fiberglass White Arrow (you can buy it here on Amazon).
This arrow offers you the perfect package as a functional and a durable arrow. You need both when out on the water. Once you hit the fish, the barb holds the arrow in the fish. This fiberglass arrow flies straight, and because it comes with a safety slide, you don’t have to worry that the line will shoot the arrow back at you. Most would say say that this arrow is one of the best on the market.
If you’re looking for a bowfishing kit that comes with everything that you need to get started bowfishing, check out the AMSBowfishing Water Moc Recurve. Recurves work great becaue of how anyone can shoot them, and it has continuous draw weight and draw length. Recurves also work well because of how you can shoot them quickly, which is a must in bowfishing.
The length of your bowfishing arrow doesn’t matter too much. That’s what I like about the sport. For the most part, you don’t need anything special. I don’t recommend that you grab your best whitetail bow and head out bowfishing because of how bowfishing is hard on bows, but in terms of arrows, just look for one labeled, “Bowfishing Arrows,” and you shouldn’t have to worry too much that you will get the length wrong. Any standard length arrow will do.