Abbey Dugong Bowfishing Kit

The Abbey Dugong Bow Fishing Kit is easy to use and trouble free - the ideal way to give this wet and wild sport a go.

The Dugong kit includes all you need to get started in this fast paced, action packed sport.

Spawning carp can easily be spotted as they stir up the bottom in the sun warmed shallows. Light tinnies or small fishing boats often can sneak up on garfish resting on the surface at night. Whatever your target, make sure it's not a game fish.

Aim below where the fish appears as refraction will trick you into shooting over the quarry. Knowing where to aim at a fish can be one of the most difficult things to get used to in bowfishing. Due to the refraction of the water and how it optically distorts the location of objects in the water, aiming straight at your target usually results in a miss.

Refraction makes the target fish appear to be in a different place and you must aim lower to catch the fish. Aiming well below your target, compensates for the optical illusion. Depth and distance of your target also change how far below the fish you have to aim. Aiming 10 cm or four inches low for every 3.05 metres or ten feet of water is a good rule to follow.

Some bowfishing enthusiasts focus on the number of fish they can harvest in a single outing. Others concentrate on hunting trophy size fish. Carp can top 18 kg or 40 pounds and long nose garfish may exceed 91 cm or 3 feet in length. Bowfishing tournaments may base their judging on total weight, total numbers or largest fish.

The kit includes a tough, moulded reel that mounts to your bow in place of your stabiliser. A fibreglass fish arrow, 20 metres or 66 feet of 36 kg or 80 pounds braided nylon bowfishing line and a Sawfish fish point. The Sawfish fish point features a screw apart steel point with dual barbs for easy removal and is tough enough for the big ones. When purchasing new fish points, choose the glue on style for security. The bowfishing reel will provide years of trouble free service, is simple and fast and has a retractable line and zero drag.

When the action is hot and heavy, you will want plenty of fish arrows on hand. Solid fibreglass fish arrows strike hard and penetrate deep. Spare fibreglass fish arrows and Sawfish fish points can be purchased separately.

Bowfishing has enjoyed steady growth in recent years. One reason is the appeal it holds as a family sport. It is a great way to introduce a spouse, child or friend to archery.

Light compounds and recurves in the 25lb range are adequate for most of the fish they will encounter. Since you aren't worried about voices spooking the quarry, you can be right beside them coaching.

The fast action and multiple shot opportunities help keep a novice archer interested. Many veteran bowhunters see bow fishing as a great way to keep their aim sharp and muscles toned outside of the big game season. For other enthusiasts, the fish they hunt are their idea of "Big Game".

Abbey Dugong Bowfishing Kit features

• Retrievable Bowfishing Reel
• Fibreglass Fish Arrow
• Sawfish Fish Point
• 20 metres or 66 feet of 36 kg or 80 pounds test braided nylon line
• Full installation instructions on the reverse of the card

It is recommended that you also purchase an AMS Safety Slide System. View it at AMS Safety Slide Kit

A Dugong Bow Fishing Kit is fast, simple with zero drag. Makes getting started in bowfishing easy. Great for beginners. Let's go Bowfishing!

Dugongs, or sea cows as they are sometimes called, are large grey marine mammals which breathe air through their lungs and can reach 3 metres or nearly 10 feet in length and weigh almost 500 kgs or 1100 lbs and females tend to be larger than males. Dugongs have a long lifespan of 70 years or more but a slow rate of reproduction. Gestation lasts around 13 months and results in the birth of a single young. The calf is not fully weaned for a further two years and does not become sexually mature until the age of 8 to 18 years - longer than in most other mammals. As a result, despite the longevity of the dugong, females give birth only a few times during their life and invest considerable parental care in their young.

They are the only marine mammals in Australia that live mainly on plants. The name "sea cow" refers to the fact that they graze on seagrass, which forms meadows in sheltered coastal waters. As dugongs feed, whole plants are uprooted and a tell-tale feeding trail is left behind. Dugongs play an important ecological role in coastal marine ecosystems and the status of dugong populations in an area can be used as an indicator of general ecosystem health.

Dugongs inhabit shallow, tropical waters throughout the Indo-Pacific region. Most of the world's population of dugongs is now found in northern Australian waters between Shark Bay in Western Australia and Moreton Bay in Queensland. The Great Barrier Reef region supports globally significant populations of the dugong and the significance of the region for dugongs was one of the reasons that the Great Barrier Reef area was given a World Heritage listing.

Moreton Bay in Brisbane, Australia is one of many homes to the dugong because it contains clean, clear water at the appropriate depth ranges, suitable food and access to the sea for warmth. Although strong tidal currents affect the exact times and durations of each visit to the bay, the dugong return for protection from large sharks. This area is very important to the future of the dugong - it is a 200 km or 124 miles stretch of high density human habitation and recreation, with ease of access to study and to learn how to best protect the remaining herds.

Its closest modern relative, Steller's Sea Cow (Hydrodamalis gigas) was hunted to extinction in the 18th century. The dugong has been hunted for thousands of years, often for its meat and oil, although dugong hunting also has great cultural significance throughout its range.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists the dugong as a species vulnerable to extinction, while the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species limits or bans the trade of derived products based on the population involved.

Despite being legally protected in many countries throughout their range, the main causes of population decline remain anthropogenic and include hunting, habitat degradation and fishing-related fatalities. With its long lifespan and slow rate of reproduction, the dugong is especially vulnerable to these types of exploitation. In addition, dugongs are threatened by storms, parasites and their natural predators, sharks, killer whales and crocodiles.

The word dugong derives from the Tagalog (spoken in the Philippines by about 22 million people) term dugong which was in turn adopted from the Malay duyung, both meaning "lady of the sea".