I've been using an old bow and arrow. The arrow has a rubber tip (used
for small game hunting). Tie some 20 lb. fishing line on the arrow and
fire away. If the arrow goes over too many unwanted branches on it's
way down, and it always does, I remove the arrow, tie on a fairly
large finger shaped fishing sinker and pull the sinker up and let it
drop back over the unwanted branches until I get it where I want it,
then let it drop. The rest is easy.