The Land of Lakes Bowfishing Association has put this page together as an aid for Lake Associations desiring to hold bowfishing tournaments, which help increase the harvest of rough fish on Minnesota lakes and rivers.

The LLBA is not a tournament-based organization. We work to preserve, promote and protect the sport of bowfishing in Minnesota. We will gladly help promote any tournament or fish bounty event that your association may want to hold.

Here are some questions and suggestions that may help in your decision-making process:

Are there a lot of fish in the lake or river?

How dense is the home population on the lake or river? Those with fewer homes work better for an evening tournament.

How much parking is available at the boat ramp? MN law does not allow for event parking to use more than half of all available parking spots. Plan an alternative to avoid any problems with the MN DNR and/or your local sheriff’s department.

Are there any backwater areas?

How is the water clarity? Green or dirty water makes it difficult to see the fish.

Spring is the best time to hold an event ~ before the algae blooms and waters darken.

Daytime shoot or nighttime event? Daytime tournaments work better on a bright, sunny day with low winds. Nighttime events are better for tournaments because winds are calmer. Lights are used on boats, allowing bowfishers to see the fish better.

It is important that all property owners on the lake or river know about this event. Some property owners don’t realize that night bowfishing is legal, and become concerned when they see the lights. Bowfishers have mandated setbacks from occupied structures and they do their best, however sometimes a shoreline or a structure can be lit up inadvertently.

What incentive do bowfishers have to attend your event?

Tournament or bounty? Holding a tournament requires a permit from the county in which the lake is located, usually obtained through the sheriff’s dept. Basic tournaments have entry fees which are collected from the participants (for example, $20.00 per boat), and cash prizes are total numbers caught, or biggest 6 and biggest fish of the tournament. In a bounty shoot there is a bounty for each carp harvested, anywhere from 25 cents to 1.00 per carp. The idea is to offer bowfishers a reason to come to your lake/river and harvest a lot of fish. The more boats – the more fish that may be harvested.

Fish disposal must be considered when planning an event. The association holding the event needs to have a designated person or area to take care of fish disposal legally. This is the lake
association’s responsibility.

This should give you a good start in planning an event to remove rough fish from your lake or river, at an economical price. The LLBA will gladly help promote your event and get the word out to members and friends in the Tri-state area through our forum and newsletter.

For additional information please email the LLBA at llbapresident@landoflakesbowfishing.com.

We also ask that Lake Association’s supportive of hosting bowfishing events let MN Senator Satveer Chaudhary know your support and willingness to have bowfishing be part of your efforts to control invasive species on your waters.

To contact Senator Chaudhary, Chairman for the Environment and Natural Resource Committee for the MN Senate, please email at sen.satveer.chaudhary@senate.mn.