Bowfishing

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. This sport entails the practice of using a bow to shoot arrows at fish, requiring both skill in archery and knowledge of aquatic environments
2. It is a fishing method that employs arrows and a bow to target fish, merging the techniques of hunting and angling
3. A method of catching fish by shooting them with arrows launched from a bow

Etymology: Bowfishing is, quite literally, what it sounds like: fishing with a bow and arrow, usually from a boat at night with a light shining into the water. The sport is built on a plain compound of "bow" and "fishing," with no specialised coinage behind it. The older English "fishing" comes from Old English "fiscung," and "bow" traces back to Old English "boga," which meant the curved weapon and also the rainbow-like arc of anything bent. The interesting part is what the word does not hide. The arrows are typically tethered to the bow by a reel-mounted line, so the archer can retrieve a fish that has been struck. Here the compound describes the method rather than the weapon alone, which is why the term sounds more like a technique than a type of tackle.