# Rare catch



## hammer40 (Mar 13, 2009)

First time I've seen one of these in person...pretty good fight too....bowfin

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## ReelTimeWes (Aug 20, 2009)

Wow haven't seen one since I was a kid. Used to fish Santee Cooper in South Carolina for bass and those things would eat anything you threw in front of them. Very strong fish and wild fighter. Normally the lure/bait would be destroyed after you landed it. Seen 10 pounders rip the blades off a spinner bait.


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## radar3321 (Feb 27, 2012)

Wow that is awesome! I been wanting one like that. How was the fight heard they are fun. Where and what tackle if you don't mind

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## SPLMAX SAM (Jul 10, 2010)

Great misunderstood fish
Males are different dot than the females ( more bright green)
Great fighter


Composed and sent from a tiny cell phone keyboard


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## drifter43 (Aug 19, 2004)

Use to see them caught off the lighthouse breakwall at Mentor Headlands. Its been a number of years since I've seen one caught. Real fighters.


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## Lewzer (Apr 5, 2004)

I caught one Saturday fishing a local creek on a shrimp. It was about 24" and did a couple nice jumps bringing it in.
I always bring this hook remover for the bowfin and northern I catch there and I grabbed the hook and the bowfin snapped the 2/0 hook right in half.
Powerful fighters they are.
Weere you fishing worm harnesses or something with meat on it?


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## ErieRider (Mar 23, 2010)

Waiting????


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## Scum_Frog (Apr 3, 2009)

Lewzer......are you thinking that carp is a bowfin??? Or im assuming your just showing off the hook remover and the carp is just in the pic??

Theres a ton of bowfin in metzgers.....they slam the topwater in the summer.....you wish its a pike or largie but its a bowfin lol....still great little fighters.


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## hammer40 (Mar 13, 2009)

Got that one cat fishing a lake erie hot spot...with shrimp on the bottom

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## Angl3r (May 29, 2012)

I dock in Geneva and I cought one using a minnow and a floating light. Just fishing for catfish in the marina. A huge fight!


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## mastercatman (Jan 30, 2005)

Another great place to catch bowfin is in the Tuscarawas river. They love fresh cut chubs while I'm catfishing. I also pick up several pike every year on the cut chubs as well. Bowfins are a great fighting fish and a welcome addition to any days catch for me!


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## Reel Thrill (Jun 14, 2010)

Be careful with those, My son caught one on Olcott Harbor last year and sliced his finger when taking out the hook. These guys have very sharp teeth. Even bit his way out of a net. Nice catch!


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## chromesteelhead (Mar 25, 2009)

I remember catching them in the 80's while fishing for crappie in Sandusky Bay with minnows under a bobber. Caught about 7 or 8 of them one morning. Freaky looking when you're not expecting them but definitely fun to catch.


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## ERIE REBEL (Jan 28, 2006)

Did you kill it or let it live?


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## FISHIN216 (Mar 18, 2009)

ERIE REBEL said:


> Did you kill it or let it live?


Why in the world would he kill it? Or why would someone assume that?......just wondering....by the way.... how was the fight?

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## chromesteelhead (Mar 25, 2009)

nowadays someone might kill a bowfin by mistaking it for the invasive species called "snakehead" as they look kinda similar. They takeover suitable waterways very quickly.


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## Monkey Bubbles (Apr 20, 2010)

Man does that bring back memories, I've been just sitting here reminiscing for the last 10 minutes. Back in 1975 The Marion MightyMites Wrestling Club held a Camp at Mystic Lake, Mi. We had about 50 campers from age 5 to 15 and all the coaches were also parents. We had two coaches in every cabin would alternate nights off, and after being on the mats all day some of the coaches looked forward to our Attitude Adjustment Hour if you know what I mean. 

Anyway, Larry Holman and I went down to the lake one night after lights out to wet some lines and relax. We sat there talking football and wrestling (Larry was the Wrestling and Football Coach at Marion Pleasant and I officiated and coached both sports) Just cooling our heels. BAM my line started reeling off my little old Zebco scaring both of us. I set the hook and it ran again, now I'm concerned I dont have much line left. I'm able to reel some in and it looks like I'm gaining then it takes off again. This went on for Hours and I do mean Hours. We're thinking What is it a pike, musky, turtle what? 

Well now the sun is coming up and we're still out there fighting this thing. Slowly I was gaining and could only tell by the amount of line on the reel. Sun up, we can see. OMG we can see a fish about 25 to 30 feet from the shore. I'm really getting nervous now, we've been tag teaming fighting this fish for the last 8 hours and now we can see it. We're so close, the next thing I see Larry wading into the water. He's going to get this fish as we have no net. There he is waist deep in the freezing water and the fish turns and runs again, and the line snaps. Later we were told about the Dog fish in the lake.

Needless to say nobody believed the story. It's as true as I remember it and I've Just relived that moment and enjoyed it almost as much as the night it happened. 

Thanks, with tears in my eyes I love good friends and the things that happen when you fish with them. 
Bob


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## Jbigz86 (Jun 21, 2011)

Bowfin spawn around this time I caught one same way doing cat fishing in the sandusky bay and the other picture is definitely a carp 


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## FISHIN216 (Mar 18, 2009)

chromesteelhead said:


> nowadays someone might kill a bowfin by mistaking it for the invasive species called "snakehead" as they look kinda similar. They takeover suitable waterways very quickly.


that's messed up how another species gets murdered Just because some invasive species may or may not (probably not) be in ohio waterways. I hope most anglers could tell the difference but I see how they could be mistaken

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## ReelTimeWes (Aug 20, 2009)

Yep...Dog Fish...that's what they call them down south.


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## hammer40 (Mar 13, 2009)

Ya 216 the difference was pretty evident once it was out if the water...threw it back hopefully to be caught and released again

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## lskater (Mar 19, 2007)

Use to catch them all the time years ago off piers. If you didn't kill them the other guys would chew you out. They felt like they would kill all the other fish in the area. The last cut at Crane Creek to the East used to be crawling with them.


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## fontinalis (Mar 29, 2011)

hammer40 said:


> Ya 216 the difference was pretty evident once it was out if the water...threw it back hopefully to be caught and released again
> 
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Good for you dude, spread that mentality to as many people as you can, good catch


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## MrNobody (Apr 27, 2012)

Caught one in michigan, i reached for it like a large mouth and it opened its mouth and i said "nope not puttin my fingers any where near that" great fighter though. Didnt know what it was when we caught it but released it and found out later, i think i had one on in santee cooper lake back waters aswell it just keep taking line and taking line. My uncle charters santee cooper and i try and get down there atleast once a year great fishing, big blue cats aswell. Nice post


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## Betain (Feb 10, 2006)

FISHIN216 said:


> that's messed up how another species gets murdered Just because some invasive species may or may not (probably not) be in ohio waterways. I hope most anglers could tell the difference but I see how they could be mistaken
> 
> Outdoor Hub mobile, the outdoor information engine


Happens a lot more then you could imagine. I don't know how many times I have seen someone killing a Buffalo "Carp" in a spillway some where. When I asked why they are doing that the response back is it is a carp and an invasive species I have to kill it. Sometimes no amount of explaining I can do helps to let them know Buffalo "Suckers" are actual more native to this area then a lot of the fish we like to fish for. 

Great post and a good catch, I caught one of those was bass fishing in East Harbor one year. It really made my evening, I have heard about them but never saw one in person. They catch a lot more of those down south then we do up here but Lake Erie does hold a nice population of them.


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## Lewzer (Apr 5, 2004)

> Lewzer......are you thinking that carp is a bowfin??? Or im assuming your just showing off the hook remover and the carp is just in the pic??


Just showing the hook remover. 

This is a bowfin


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## ErieEye (Jul 16, 2007)

If you spend much time at all in the spring fishing the backwaters for bullheads you WILL catch a few of them. 1 day 2 years ago while fishing little portage I caught 5 of them myself and a guy on the other side of the bridge caught 6 or 7 that I seen. He got so fed up with them he left.


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## 2120Tom (Jul 2, 2008)

As a kid growing up, caught a bunch of "dogfish" in Canada always using small dead fish as bait and put it right on the bottom. Good fighters for sure.
We killed every one we caught, per grandpas' instruction, as he'd seen dogfish come into the shallows where the smallmouth would be spawning and raid the nests, running off the female bass to never be seen again at her nest. So I grew up with the feeling that the dogfish was not a good fish to have around....I know,,, it's a balance of nature, but I would prefer a population of gamefish over the scavengers.


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## radar3321 (Feb 27, 2012)

I still think a nice ten pounder would look good on the wall

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## ERIE REBEL (Jan 28, 2006)

2120Tom said:


> As a kid growing up, caught a bunch of "dogfish" in Canada always using small dead fish as bait and put it right on the bottom. Good fighters for sure.
> We killed every one we caught, per grandpas' instruction, as he'd seen dogfish come into the shallows where the smallmouth would be spawning and raid the nests, running off the female bass to never be seen again at her nest. So I grew up with the feeling that the dogfish was not a good fish to have around....I know,,, it's a balance of nature, but I would prefer a population of gamefish over the scavengers.


And that is the exact reason why I asked if he killed it.


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## MassillonBuckeye (May 3, 2010)

Lewzer said:


> Just showing the hook remover.
> 
> This is a bowfin


Ya baby! Nice net and nice bowfin! I have a rubber net as well and love it heh


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## mike003 (Sep 8, 2007)

My son holding a 29 incher I caught in a park in Stow 8 or 9 years ago. Mini Fat Rap on 4lb. line. What a fight!!!


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## seahawk (Aug 1, 2008)

They celebrate these things up on Leech Lake in Minnesota. Chicks in bikinis, "as seen on the Tonight Show" and everything! Put him in a tank, feed him gobies and head up there with him next February. 

http://eelpoutfestival.com/


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## heron153 (Apr 30, 2008)

eelpout=lingcod does not = bowfin. The ones on tonight show were eelpout. 
Also, possessing gobies is illegal, even if you were taking them home to feed to a bowfin.


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## heron153 (Apr 30, 2008)

@lewzer - the carp in the pic with the remover is not a common carp. Rather a quillback carpsucker or something like that. Common carp are not native, but that species is, I think.


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## mike003 (Sep 8, 2007)

seahawk said:


> They celebrate these things up on Leech Lake in Minnesota. Chicks in bikinis, "as seen on the Tonight Show" and everything! Put him in a tank, feed him gobies and head up there with him next February.
> 
> http://eelpoutfestival.com/


Eelpout are also known as Burbot, Lawyers, Lingcod. Freshwater member of the Cod family. Very slippery vs. Bowfin which have scales that are like armor plating.


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## hammer40 (Mar 13, 2009)

Anybody know what the fish ohio length is for bowfin?

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