Jeff,
There's only one that spools the line into a bottle that I know of, the ABS bowfishing reel.
There are two models, one that the line is tied off to the reel, and one that the line can be attached to a float if you are shooting really big fish or gators.
I have both models and see no real difference in performance.
IMHO, Muzzy heads are the only way to go. I have used Muzzy, Cajun and some off-brand I don't remember and keep going back to Muzzys.
I haven't bowfished here in TX since I moved here. I used to bowfish for pike in Alaska and loved it.
Ed
It's an " AMS " reel that pushes the line into the bottle not "ABS". But anyways, they are great reels for the money and very user friendly. Plus they have EXCELLENT customer service and all the AMS products are high quality.
Ill start by saying: I always use the "no-glove" rubber finger tab things that mount on the bow string. They are awesome! Well worth the $$$.
I've had a few different set-ups in the past few years. I started with an AMS reel and Muzzy Wheel of fortune on a Bear Archery Whitetail Master Compound bow this was a very good set-up, dependable and easy to use. It was set at about 55 lbs., worked great, and only had a few blow-throughs at very close shooting distances.
I made the mistake of shooting with a friend that has a reel and real seat set-up and found out that they can shoot MUCH faster because of the gear ratio in the reel. The AMS is 1:1, most bow fishing reels are 4:1, this makes a HUGE difference on how fast you can get your arrow back into the boat and shoot again.
So the next set-up was a Bowtech Independence (usually a "fingers" compound bow), it was a 60 lb. max, and I turned it down to 50 lb. I put a Muzzy reel seat, muzzy Wheel of fortune, and a Muzzy bowfishing reel on this one. IMO it was the perfect compound bowfishing set-up. It shot great, easy to draw, fast retrieve, plenty of power. But then I got the wild hair that I wanted a recurve instead. DOH!!!! So like an idiot I sold this bow to a friend (which means I can still use it sometimes... I hope), and went in search of a recurve.
First stop was a Hoyt Pro Hunter, got it off a guy here on the fire, it showed up and was in WAY better condition (like it just came off a store shelf!) than he described and his pictures did not do it justice... it's a wall hanger now and will be used to deer hunt eventually.
Next attempt was a Fred Bear Grizzly, got if from a guy off of an Iowa based site... same deal better than descirbed, too nice to drag out in the muck.
Then there was a Traditional Archery show/expo not to far away, i was on a mission to find a bow at this point. I ended up with another Fred Bear Grizzly, this one is 2 years older than my "nice" one, and had been refinished, and the price was right!... PERFECT! So I picked up a Cajun reel seat (a little more compact and lighter than the muzzy), and another Muzzy bowfishing reel. This bow is almost the perfect recurve for bowfishing; it's light, plenty of power, and feels good in the hand. to help keep in in good shape I put a large piece of sticky back velcro (the loop side) covering the entire shelf and up the riser a bout 2 inches. It will be shot off the shelf, for lack of a better option. Only thing I worry about is breaking a limb, since it's a one piece bow that would be the end of it, but she still has lots of life left in her for now.
IMO the perfect recurve would be a Hoyt Game Master or GM II, since they can take a rest (wouldn't have to shoot off the shelf if you didn't want to), and you could replace the limbs if you broke one (they are a take down bow). And it's a Hoyt, so there would be no complaints there! I am still on the look out for one of these at a good price, hope to find one soon.
But I wouldn't shy away from a cheap recurve with twisted limbs either, it would work just fine for a fishin' bow, they tend to be abused anyway. And if you can get them cheap enough, they are often less expensive to replace than a set of limbs for decent a take down bow.
