Yesterday for the first time I caught bowfin while targeting bass. I never caught a bowfin before and they fight pretty well, especially on the light’ish tackle I use. I caught 2 bowfin and 6 bass.
Has anyone else ever caught bowfin when targeting bass?
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Yes, Back when i targeted bass.
If you want to catch bowfin. Use cut bait. They’ll go nuts after it.
They’re a cool fish and have really neat colors during spawn.
I caught one on the St. Croix this spring while jigging for walleyes. I thought I had a big walleye, I was wrong. Very cool fish though. They’re an incredibly resilient species.
So many of these things are firsts for me because I’ve only been seriously (maybe semi-seriously) fishing for 3 seasons. Retirement has its benefits.
awesome fish – can breathe in air or water i believe. that being said – don’t toss them on the bank to die like some idiots will do.
jp
Caught one many years ago casting a chartreuse lizard into a downed tree. The line jumped about a foot and after I set the hook the dogfish was on the other side of the boat in about 5 seconds. Great fight but I’m always disappointed when I finally see it.
can breathe in air or water i believe
Sure can! When the oxygen levels get so low in the water, they just swim right up to the surface and take a gulp of air. Their swim bladder is used as an atmospheric lung.
My old man tied into a big one muskie fishing years ago. The thing completely swallowed his buck tail treble hooks. He used a muskie grade jaw spreader to open the mouth…but the bowfin actually shut its mouth with the jaw spreader in it! That’s how powerful their jaws are.
They fight like crazy. I usually catch them deep in the pads and slop. They thrive in low O2 areas and love to hit topwater frogs. They are a pretty incredible fish and not invasive like many people think. They get some amazing spawning colors also.
Flipping from shore in a little pocket in front of a bush where I caught a 5# bass the day before.
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They taste like spam.
Best fighter in fresh water and yes I have caught musky and lakers.
They have a smart a$$ look on their face.
Partner got this one while we were pre-fishing a bass tournament on Gull. Fish survived but it bled about a quart of dark red almost black, thick motor oil blood all over the back deck of my boat. Took about 3-4 washings with Advanage to get it clean.
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Fish survived but it bled about a quart of dark red almost black, thick motor oil blood all over the back deck of my boat. Took about 3-4 washings with Advanage to get it clean.
Those things are almost bullet proof. I’ve seen them out of the water for a long time baking in the sun and when you put them back in the water they swim away like nothing happened.
When I get blood on the floor of my boat, I spray it down with a hose and its gone. That’s the big advantage of having the polymer-vinyl hard surface as opposed to carpet!
Not a Bowfin but another surprise catch yesterday. I thought my buddy had another of the Big Catfish we get once in awhile. Took over 10 minutes before we could even see it. Was really surprised to see a HUGE Carp. One hell of a battle on 10Lb. test. If I had to guess a weight on this thing I would say it was around 30Lb.
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Wowsers – you’re gonna get big pipes doing arm curls with that hog!
Not a Bowfin but another surprise catch yesterday. I thought my buddy had another of the Big Catfish we get once in awhile. Took over 10 minutes before we could even see it. Was really surprised to see a HUGE Carp. One hell of a battle on 10Lb. test. If I had to guess a weight on this thing I would say it was around 30Lb.
I have a soft spot for carp. When I was a kid growing up in Queens NY, there wasn’t much fishing around that a kid could get to. There were two lakes within walking or biking distance. Carp was the prized catch. At first we used corn kernels as bait. But at 12 years old we got more sophisticated and started to cook up a cornmeal and molasses mixture. We’d mold it onto a #4 or #6 hook, toss it out with a 1/2 oz sinker and wait. Most of the ones we caught were in the 1 lb to 2 lb range with the occasional 3 or 4 pounder. Fun times for a kid.
Had the memory come up on Facebook complete with a picture of the spot that is like 2-3′ from shore.
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