BY PAUL MCGINNIS
I say it is about time we give the oft maligned bowfin a little love. These fish were prowling the swamps and rivers of the world before T-rex walked the earth. Bowfin fossil records date back over 150 million years to
the Jurassic period. I’d say any fish that can outlast T-rex, megalodon, mammoths and other prehistoric beasts has to be one tough customer that deserves our respect.
One look at a bowfin and there is no doubt they are built to survive. It starts with a bony, bullet shaped head sporting powerful jaws lined with short, needle like teeth. Behind the head is a long, armored body
lined with thick scales. The body terminates in a muscular, rounded tail that allows the bowfin to put up a fight that would put any bass to shame.
Bowfin are called lots of different names, like mudfish, grinnel, cypress bass, dogfish and others that I can’t repeat in this magazine. You’ll probably notice a negative connotation here. I think the bad reputation mostly comes from disappointed bass fishermen when they discover that trophy bass they though was on the end of their line is just an average sized bowfin. It also probably doesn’t help that most folks consider bowfin to be pretty poor table fare.
I’ll admit I rarely head out to intentionally target bowfin, but I’m often glad they’re around to fill in the gaps when the “glamor” species don’t cooperate. That was the case recently for Shayne Stock and I when we ventured out to the St Johns River to target American shad. Shad were no shows that day. The same goes for crappie, brim, bass or anything else that might eat our tiny jigs. Instead of a sad skunking, we
opted for plan B and tossed out chunks of cut bait on the bottom. It didn’t take long before we were wrestling with bent rods and squealing drags. Dozens of bowfin came to shore averaging four – five
pounds. Stock caught the biggest, topping nine pounds, but we lost a few that would have likely
weighed in the low teens.
Bowfin are voracious predators that will eat just about anything that swims, creeps or crawls in our local fresh waters. Any lure that works for bass, or for that matter, anything that works for seatrout or redfish, will catch the interest of a hungry bowfin. They seem particularly fond of spinnerbaits and weedless spoons that are buzzed just below the surface.
By far the easiest way to catch them is to soak a chunk of cut bait. Bowfin aren’t picky. Chunks of
mullet or ladyfish leftover from your last saltwater trip, or pieces from a freshly caught bluegill or shad all work equally well. I like to fish chunks on circle hooks with my favorites being the 5/0 and 6/0 Team Catfish TC11Z Octopus Circle hooks. If the bottom is clear like on the St Johns, I’ll fish the baits on the bottom with an egg sinker just heavy enough to hold in the current. If the bottom is weedy, fish the chunks under a bobber with the bait suspended a foot or so above the tops of the weeds.
Another great thing about bowfin is you don’t need special tackle to catch them. The same rods and reels you use for bass, or for seatrout and redfish, work just fine for bowfin. I normally use light spinning tackle spooled with ten pound test braid. I add a few feet of twenty pound test monofilament or fluorocarbon leader with a FG knot. Bowfin aren’t line shy, so the leader is for me, not the fish. Braid can cut into wet fingers so the leader gives me something safe to grab when trying to control and unhook a feisty bowfin.
There are plenty of places to find bowfin in central Florida. The St Johns River is loaded with them, as are almost all the lakes, ponds and canals around Orlando. Anyplace known to harbor largemouth bass should also hold bowfin. Honestly, bowfin may be found just about any place with fresh water, even places most other fish wouldn’t dare live. Bowfin can extract oxygen from the water with their gills like other fish, but they can also gulp air from the surface and absorb oxygen through their swim bladders. This allows bowfin to proliferate in stagnant, swampy areas where few other fish can survive.
Finally, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention bowfin are a great fish for kids. I recall a trip I took with my daughter Anna when she was five or six. We had a productive day, catching almost every species that swims in the St Johns River. On the way home I asked her which species she enjoyed catching the most. Without hesitation she said, “bowfin.” Kids love the beady black eyes, snapping jaws and overall prehistoric look of the bowfin. I certainly helps that they are pretty easy to find, and you usually don’t have to wait long for a bite. They are also about the perfect size – big enough to put up a good fight, but not so big that kids can’t handle them. So whether you are looking to entertain some kids, or just want an easy afternoon tussling with some scrappy fish, I recommend you give the dinosaur fish a try.