Exciting Saltwater Bowfishing with Dustin Mizell
Day 4: Bowfishing for Mississippi Reds and Taking Brackish Water and Freshwater Trips with Dustin Mizell
Editor’s Note: Dustin Mizell of Foley, Alabama, owns Fish-Kabob Bowfishing and Charters http://dymizell.wix.com/fish-kabob, Mizell’s Mounts - a taxidermy business, Psycho Safaris – his local bowhunting guide service - and Puddin Productions - a video company. He specializes in one of the fastest-growing and most-exciting outdoor sports – bowfishing - that combines hunting and fishing.
 Orange Beach, Alabama, isn’t that far on the Gulf Coast from Mississippi. In Mississippi, depending on the limits that year, we often can take three redfish per person. We use a different technique for bowfishing for redfish than we do for taking other fish. Most of the marshes that we hunt have an abundance of grass in them. Often, they will have fingers of grass coming out of the creeks and bay areas, and that’s where the redfish like to hold. So, we use our fan boats to round up the redfish just as though we can see them, even though we can’t. We keep pushing them toward the shoreline. As they get closer to the shallow water, often they’ll turn and come by the boat. Then, our bowfishermen can shoot them. But, consistently taking redfish with a bow requires quite a bit of scouting and knowing how to use the boat to herd the fish. The biggest redfish we've ever taken with a bow and arrow weighed 26 pounds, but most of the redfish we take while bowfishing will weigh from 5-10 pounds each.
Brackish-Water Trips:
 We have an unusual situation in Mobile Bay near where I live. The northern end of the bay holds brackish water - where the salt water and the fresh water meet. So, we often take saltwater and freshwater fish on our brackish-water trips. We usually target where freshwater creeks run into Mobile Bay and the region around the Mobile Causeway. On these brackish-water trips, we catch black drum, Atlantic rays, flounder, mullet and occasionally sheepshead. We also get alligator gar, spotted gar, shortnose gar, freshwater drum, freshwater catfish, common carp, grass carp and lots of buffalos. As I’ve mentioned, the brackish-water trip is one of the most-different saltwater trips that we offer, because bowfishermen can take saltwater species as well as freshwater species at the same place and on the same trip.
Freshwater Trips:
 As you come up from Mobile north to the little town of Camden, Alabama, on the Alabama River, we offer freshwater trips at Millers Ferry Reservoir there. We shoot common carp, buffalos, grass carp, alligator gar, longnose gar, shortnose gar, spotted gar and different types of freshwater catfish, including flathead cats and blue cats, and freshwater drum.
 I also offer combination wild hog hunts during the daylight hours and bowfishing trips at night. Go to my webpage at http://dymizell.wix.com/fish-kabob; on Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/fishkabob; by email dymizell@gmail.com; or, by phone 251-504-4709.
To get John’s book, “The Bowfishing Bible,” go to http://amzn.to/22zX7Zz. To learn more about hunting and fishing from John E. Phillips’ print and eBooks, go to www.amazon.com/author/johnephillips and www.barnesandnoble.com.
Check out our new website at www.johninthewild.com.
About the Author
John Phillips, winner of the 2012 Homer Circle Fishing Award for outstanding fishing writer by the American Sportfishing Association (ASA) and the Professional Outdoor Media Association (POMA), the 2008 Crossbow Communicator of the year and the 2007 Legendary Communicator chosen for induction into the National Fresh Water Hall of Fame, is a freelance writer (over 6,000 magazine articles for about 100 magazines and several thousand newspaper columns published), magazine editor, photographer for print media as well as industry catalogues (over 25,000 photos published), lecturer, outdoor consultant, marketing consultant, book author and daily internet content provider with an overview of the outdoors. Click here for more information and a list of all the books available from John E. Phillips.
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