What Does Bow Fishing at Night Actually Look Like?
It looks like this. Black sky, black water, and a hundred feet of lily pads lit up gold by the lights hanging off the deck. The gar was through the pads and gone in a second, and the arrow went with it.
Nobody expects the color. You picture a dark swamp and instead the lights turn the whole pad field into something that glows, and every fish that moves under it throws a wake you can read. That is the part guests talk about on the ride home from Switchgrass Outfitters.
We run the boat slow, sometimes barely moving, while everybody stands on the front deck with a bow. The shooting is close. Ten or twelve feet, most of the time.
Why Do We Bow Fish After Dark Instead of in Daylight?
You can see better at night, which sounds backwards until you have tried both.
In daylight the surface throws glare and every ripple hides whatever is under it. At night the lights cut straight down through a couple feet of tea colored water, and a gar lying still in the pads shows up like somebody drew it there. The fish are also up shallow after dark, working the edges of the pads, which is exactly where you want them.
The other half of it is the water itself. The wind lays down after sunset. On a calm night the pad field goes glassy and you can hear a fish move before you see it, which is not something you get at two in the afternoon.
Anybody who has been out on our night airboat tours already knows how different this country feels once the sun is off it. Bow fishing just gives you a reason to stay out in it.
Watch a Shot Come Together on the Pads
Sound on. This is the last few seconds before an arrow goes, filmed off the front deck on a night just like this one.
What Do You Catch Out on the Pads?
Gar, mostly. Longnose gar, the ones with the beak full of teeth and armor plating instead of scales, and they are as prehistoric as they look. Bowfin turn up too, and tilapia, which are not supposed to be here at all.
That is worth saying plainly. Tilapia are not native to Florida and neither are a lot of what comes over the gunwale on a good night, so taking them is doing the marsh a small favor. Gar are native and they are also plentiful out here.
This crew went five deep and stayed out past midnight. The photo above is the before, taken at the ramp while there was still some light in the sky. Everybody looks a lot cleaner in it than they did coming back.
Plenty of them found this water the ordinary way first, on one of our airboat rides, and came back later wanting to see what it does after dark.
What a Night of Bow Fishing Runs Like
Bow fishing is not a scheduled tour on our booking page. It is something we put together when the water and the moon are right, so the details move around. Here is what is consistent.
Lights and a Deck
The boat runs banks of lights off the bow and a raised deck to shoot from. You stand, you do not sit, and you have a clean look at the water in front of you the whole night.
Bows and Arrows Provided
Bow fishing rigs are nothing like a hunting bow. Heavy fiberglass arrow, line spooled on a reel screwed to the riser, no sights. We set you up and show you how it works.
Aim Lower Than You Think
Water bends light, so the fish is never where it looks. Everybody misses the first several. Then it clicks, and it clicks all at once.
Late Nights
We go out after dark and we stay out. Bring a jacket even in summer, because running across open water at night gets colder than people expect.
Who Is Taking You Out There?
Captain Seth Whitaker holds a Master Captain license from the U.S. Coast Guard. That is the highest level of professional mariner certification, and it takes thousands of hours of documented sea time, written exams, and regular renewals to hold onto.
He has been running the channels and marshes of the St. Johns River for over 15 years. This is not a side job. He grew up here, raised his family here, and knows which slough holds water in a dry spring and where the eagles nested last year.
All Switchgrass Outfitters boats are inspected and meet U.S. Coast Guard safety regulations, including fire extinguishers, life vests in every size, communication equipment, and maintenance logs.
You are not getting a seasonal hire reading off a script. You are getting somebody who lives on this river.
Real Reviews from Real Guests
"I'm going to tell you, this is the airboat guide you want. We had Seth, he was great. Showed us around and we saw well over 100 gators... A++++"
Erik B., Oviedo
(Google Review)
"Captain Seth has extensive knowledge of the area as he not only grew up there, but he is also raising his family and uses the land for sustainability... I highly recommend if you're in Christmas, Florida."
KeiLani B., Titusville
(Google Review)
"Just amazing, first time and it was the greatest experience ever. Seth was a fantastic guide... You won't regret it!"
Jessica S., Orlando
(Google Review)
Switchgrass Outfitters holds 314 five-star reviews across Google and TripAdvisor. We've earned TripAdvisor's Traveler's Choice Award, which places us in the top 10% of attractions worldwide based on traveler ratings.
Read More Reviews on GoogleFrequently Asked Questions
Do I need to know how to shoot a bow?
No. Bow fishing gear has no sights and the shots are close, usually ten or twelve feet, so it is nothing like target archery. We hand you the rig and walk you through it. Most people connect on their first night.
Why do you bow fish at night?
Two reasons. The deck lights cut through the surface glare so you can actually see fish holding in the pads, and the fish move up shallow after dark. The wind also drops off after sunset, which makes the water easier to read.
What kind of fish do you shoot?
Longnose gar are the main target on the pad fields, along with bowfin and tilapia. Tilapia are not native to Florida, so removing them is a small help to the marsh. Bow fishing is for non game species, not for bass or bream.
Is bow fishing something you offer year round?
We put these nights together when conditions line up rather than running them on a fixed schedule. Call or text us and we will tell you honestly what the water is doing and when the next one is likely.
Service Area: Nearby Cities We Serve
Switchgrass Outfitters is located in Christmas, Florida, and serves guests from across Central Florida. We are the premier choice for Port Canaveral airboat tours, offering a quick and straightforward drive from the cruise terminals. We're an easy drive from:
- Chuluota (9 miles)
- Bithlo (10 miles)
- Mims (15 miles)
- Geneva (16 miles)
- Titusville (17 miles)
- Oviedo (18 miles)
- Port Saint John (18 miles)
- Sharpes (19 miles)
- Cocoa (20 miles)
We're also convenient for visitors staying in Orlando, Sanford, and Altamonte Springs.
Want to Get on a Bow Fishing Night?
We do not run these on a set schedule. They come together around water levels, moon phase, and who is free, so the best thing you can do is call or text and ask what is coming up.
If you want to see this country first and shoot later, start with the tours we do run every day. The marsh looks entirely different from the deck of an airboat, and most people book the night trip after they have already been out here once in daylight.
