6/24/2014

Volume 1, Issue 1

Alabama Bowfishing

Club

Alabama Scale Blazers

Fish Dumping at Boat Ramps

We would like to welcome everyone to the Ala-

bama Scale Blazers, official bowfishing club for the

state of Alabama. Our goal is the promotion and

protection for the sport of bowfishing in Alabama.

In 2014, a group of dedicated bowfishermen in the

state of Alabama decided to create a group to help

support the sport in our state. We wanted to make this club free for everyone and provide some great

benefits to members. We also wanted to have a

collective voice for the sport. We believe a collec-

tive voice for the sport is crucial for its protection.

In just the first three months, we have over 250

members and one of the largest bowfishing organi-

zations in the United States. Thanks to everyone

that has joined so far. We are looking forward to

growing the club and providing even more benefits

to our members.

Dumping of fish at our state boat ramps continues to be a problem. Disposing

of your bowfishing catch is as important as the harvest itself. If you have fish

you’re not going to eat, then there are plenty of ways to properly dispose of

the excess. Our game and fish laws are liberal in regards to our harvest, be-

cause most of the fish we target are invasive species. So it’s up to us to prop-

erly utilize what we get. READ MORE INSIDE...

Inside this issue:

Our website 2

Bowfishing Tournaments 2

Member Benefits 2

Bowfishing Records 3

News 4

Upcoming Events 5

New Products 6

Alabama Scale Blazers

Newsletter

Our Website - www.bowfishingalabama.org

Have you checked out our our website!

Website features:

Join the club

Read about the club’s mission and officers

Read the latest club news

Check out what species are legal for bowfishing in Alabama

View the latest bowfishing records

Submit bowfishing records

See our sanctioned tournament schedule

Learn how our points system works for Alabama Bowfisherman of Year,

Bowfisherwoman of the Year, and team of year

Submit your entries for the trophy fish club

View your intstagram pictures on our brag board

Visit our club sponsors

Read over our bowfishing ethics policy

Contact club officials

View our members photo gallery

Apparel coming soon!

Page 2 Alabama Scale Blazers Newsletter

Bowfishing Tournaments

Here’s a list of our ASB sanctioned tournaments for 2014. Some of the tour-

naments have already passed and some still remain. Sanctioned tournaments

allow you to accrue team and individual points towards Alabama Bowfishing

Team of the Year, Bowfisherman of the Year, and Bowfisherwoman of the

Year. Check out our website for more details.

Muzzy Classic – Apr 26 (Guntersville AL) www.muzzy.com

Wheeler Big 10 Shoot – May 31 (Wheeler Lake, Decatur AL) Hosted

by Shoot to Thrill Bowfishing on Facebook

Copperhead’s/Backwater Outdoors Fun Five Tournament – Jun

28th (Register at Copperhead’s Outdoors or Backwater Outdoors)

www.copperheadsoutdoors.com

Backwater Big Fish Challenge – Aug 16 (Register at Backwater Out-

doors, trailer to any public water) www.backwateroutdoors.com

Bloody Boat Adventures Eufaula Bowfishing Tournament – July

26th (Lake Eufaula, AL) Andy, Bloody Boat Adventures on Facebook

Copperhead/Backwater Outdoors Breast Cancer Charity Shoot

(ASB Championship) – Oct 4th (Register at Copperhead’s Outdoors

or Backwater Outdoors) www.copperheadsoutdoors.com

Don’t forget the Backwater Outdoors and Copperheads Outdoors monthly

tournament series as well.

Past winners of the Backwater Outdoors Big Fish Bowfishing

Challenge

Page 3 Volume 1, Issue 1

Member Benefits

Join ASB today! Membership is open to all United States residents, officers

and directors must be from the state of Alabama

Members will receive the following:

Membership to Alabama’s official bowfishing club and a voice in the pro-

motion and protection for the sport of bowfishing in Alabama

Participation in ASB points systems for ASB sanctioned tournaments and

individual awards (through team points for ASB Team of the Year and individ-

ual points for ASB Bowfisherman of the Year)

Participation in ASB’s Alabama Bowfishing Records for state bowfishing

records keeping. This allows members to submit fish for state records.

Participation in the ASB Big Fish Club for members to submit qualifying

fish to receive a recognition certificate, individual points, and featured on the

ASB website and Facebook page

Semi-Annual Email Newsletter with everything going on in the world of

bowfishing in Alabama

More benefits will be added for the future as well

Send us your pictures and stories...

We are always looking for interesting bowfishing pictures and sto-

ries from our state for our newsletter and website. If you have an

interesting bowfishing adventure and would like to share it with us,

email it to contact@bowfishingalabama.org You might see it fea-

tured here or on our website!

Page 4 Alabama Scale Blazers Newsletter

Don’t Dump Your Fish!

Dumping of fish dumping at our state boat

ramps continues to be a problem. Dispos-

ing of your bowfishing catch is as important

as the harvest itself. If you have fish you’re

not going to eat, then there are plenty of

ways to properly dispose of the excess.

Our game and fish laws are liberal in re-

gards to our harvest, because most of the fish we target are invasive spe-

cies. So it’s up to us to properly utilize what we get. We have several

methods of disposal in our area. Turtle and hog farmers will readily take

your catch. There are several rendering plants in state including Birming-

ham Hide and Tallow (www.bhtonline.com) that will utilize the fish for ani-

mal feed and other items.

Fish taken by bowfishing make excellent fertilizer and composting material.

Try posting an advertisement on CraigsList.com offering free, organic fertil-

izer & compost material – you’ll be surprised at the amount of responses

you’ll get! Gardeners and farmers are often more than happy to take your

fish and make good use of them. Create your own local network of indi-

viduals interested in taking your fish, this way you’ll always have a place to

drop off your fish every time you go out on the water! Contact local com-

posting and fertilizer companies to use the fish for commercial grade fertil-

izer and compost that is both organic and environmentally beneficial.

The Alabama Scale Blazers are also looking into placing signs at state boat

ramps to let bowfishermen know that dumping is not only a black eye to

our sport but also illegal by state law.

The bottom line is sometimes we can be our worst enemy in this sport.

We must preserve our sport for future generations and the best way is to

police ourselves and take care of the resources we’ve been provided. If

you know of any fish dumping issues please contact your club officers.

-Bryan Hughes, ASB President

Page 5 Volume 1, Issue 1

Alabama State Bowfishing Records

The Alabama Scale Blazers have begun a new Alabama bowfishing records keeping system for the state of Alabama. All you

need to do is email a clear picture of your fish and a clear picture of your fish on the scales with the weight visible, and the

body of water it was taken on and complete the record application form and scan and email it in. The scales do not need to

be certified. Fish must be taken in Alabama waters. Email your pic and form to records@bowfishingalabama.org for submis-

sion. You must be an Alabama Scale Blazers member to submit for a record. You can join after submitting your entry.

How to submit a record You must be a member of the Alabama Scale Blazers

Email a signed, scanned copy of the form to records@bowfishingalabama.org along with a good photo of you and your

fish, and the fish on the scales with the weigh clearly shown. Or you can fill out the form and take a picture of it and

email it, along with your fish photos.

Or fill out, sign and mail the record form to the ASB at the address listed on the form. SAVE/SCAN A COPY OF THIS

BEFORE MAILING. Record form available on our website.

Once we receive and verify your submission, your record will be posted on the ASB website.

Here are a few of our records

Longnose Gar – 23.8 lbs (59) Scott Jennings

Blue Catfish

– 71.4 lbs Blake Helton/Dakota Garner Bowfin – 4.9 lbs Hunter Lister Large Mouth Buffalo – 68.1 lbs Robby Elliott

Page 6 Alabama Scale Blazers Newsletter

Receive your certificate for records!

Page 7 Volume 1, Issue 1

Carpsucker/Quillback -4.29 lbs Cole Coultas Hogsucker -1.49 lbs Cole Coultas

Spotted Sucker – .88 lbs Cole Coultas Common Carp - 37.19 lbs Evan Shaver

White Amur (Grass Carp) – 62.8 lbs Scott Jennings/Coy Arrowwood Koi Carp – 11.14 lbs Max Anderson

Goldfish – 2.14 lbs Ken Lister Freshwater Drum – 12.8 lbs Madison Browning

New Muzzy Bowfishing Reel

From Mark Land at Muzzy:

The 1st production sample is in my

hands and it is sweet! After approval

we will be able to start production on

the reels and are hoping we can have

some available by July.

Thanks for your patience and we

apologize for the long delay in getting

these done, but wanted to make sure

everything was as I wanted it before

we finalized the design and tooling.

We thickened up the mounting

bracket and it is stout, no bending

issues there, we also improved the

switch design and it works very well, a

end result of the switch, with the fact

that it locks the rotor cover forward,

is that is moves the rotor cover more

forward and exposes more of the reel

spool which should make the new reel

have even smoother line flow and

more distance then the original. The

extended cone shape hood already is

going to smooth the line flow out with

reliable line retrieval but expos-

ing the spool more just de-

creases the amount of resis-

tance for the line coming off the

spool so this reel should really

sing with the smaller lines and

be able to handle larger line

diameters as well. The attach-

ment is rock solid on the bow

with the large, SS socket head

cap screw and along with the

inner tooth lock washer it will

not move or shift when tight-

ened properly.

The complete reel with 150#

spectra installed is approxi-

mately 1.4lbs as compared to

the standard reel with 150#

spectra line and our reel seat

which weighs around 1.6lbs. so

this setup is noticeably lighter

but much more compact and

mounts closer to the riser as

well. One bolt and an allen

wrench is all that is required to

mount and remove the reel.

Also the threaded mounting block

inside the mount bracket under the

reel will accommodate most rods

and accessories as well.

I truly believe that once people get

use to the switch design, which only

required a flip of your little finger,(to

the left is free spool and to the right

is engaged) will love this reel and of

course new spinner users are going

to learn much quicker and get accus-

tomed much easier to using this reel

as it does eliminate a lot of the prob-

lems new and long term users have

with the button issue and acciden-

tally hitting the handle and engaging

the reel.

I think we have a winner and look

forward to finally getting these reels

to our customers and getting some

feedback as well.

Alabama Scale Blazers

6239 Hwy 72 E

Gurley, AL 36749

contact@bowfishingalabama.org

Www.bowfishingalabama.org

Protecting and promoting the sport of

bowfishing in Alabama

Alabama Scale

Blazers Newsletter

Alabama Bowfishing Club

New Muzzy Bowfishing Reel Pro XD