# Bowfin - how rare around here???



## FRS (Aug 2, 2012)

Caught in Coshocton area this evening.


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## FRS (Aug 2, 2012)

Too bad he popped his eye out in the fight


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## Skippy (Dec 2, 2009)

I get out alot and fish about a 60 mile circle from the house. I'v caught them things everywhere. 

Funny thing is I don't think I'v ever caught one on a hard bait.
They love Joshy's swims and twister tails also. If they took all the ones out of Killbuck creek and back waters the water level would go down at least 2 inches.

Guess they would taste like chicken but I could never bring myself to eat one. lol


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## FRS (Aug 2, 2012)

Thank you, Skippy! Good to know where I can go catch and release if I want some fightin.


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## I_WALL_I (Apr 27, 2006)

FRS- they're upstream on the Tusc from ya pretty heavy, too... my friends always freak when they get their 1st one!! They LOVE chicken liver!! Good job using artificial!!


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## Roscoe (Jul 22, 2007)

I've caught some in So.Michigan but they were a Brown color.And they can fight!An 8lb.'er will rip your lure to shreads.



Roscoe


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## FRS (Aug 2, 2012)

Kinda new to fishing these parts. Have caught them in Tennessee before (Reelfoot - love it there). Fished 35 years around Cambridge, Zanesville, to Marietta, and never caught one. Thought they were more southern. Pretty neat though they thrive in these areas. Now I've even heard from other people in other places I've missed, too. Still fun to catch. See if I can find my buddy's pic from Reelfoot. It was about an 8 lb'er, give or take. When I find it, I'll post it here. Thanks for all the info.


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## dmills4124 (Apr 9, 2008)

I caught as many of those slime balls on magador as I did bass a few years back. Dont know how bad they are today but they were thick and would hit on anything from a smithwick to a carolina rig. I was told to just pich em up on the bank when ever I got one. I'm sure some of those mogi die hard guys will chime in on here soon.
later ya'll
donm


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## MuskieWolverine (May 16, 2012)

The tailwaters of the Wills Creek Dam is loaded with those things. I caught my first one last summer, and didn't know what the heck it was. Fun to catch...


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## FRS (Aug 2, 2012)

I dug'em up...


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## crappiecat (Sep 7, 2010)

they are in the Tusc for sure. They thrive in backwater areas though. Lots of people are ignorant of them and like to kill them since they usually catch then while catfishing around here. Like I said though, that's just ignorance.


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## mosquito walleye (Aug 3, 2012)

In a lot of the lakes that you can catch them in, everyone at the lake tells you to kill those things! The main reason for this is because it's the most aggressive fish out there! It kills everything in it's site. People actually will catch Muskie and Northern Pike with bite marks in them because of this fish. It kills every other fish and takes over everything, that is why the lakes want you to kill them, idk about the rivers. This is just what I have heard.


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## CATMAN447 (Jun 12, 2011)

Bowfin have been around for literally millions of years and haven't "killed everything in sight" yet. I also don't know of any waterway they have "taken over" outside of a small or private pond. If they haven't caused the mass extinction of game fish in America yet, I'm pretty sure it's not going to happen. Just my opinion.


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## jonnythfisherteen2 (Mar 5, 2011)

mosquito walleye said:


> In a lot of the lakes that you can catch them in, everyone at the lake tells you to kill those things! The main reason for this is because it's the most aggressive fish out there! It kills everything in it's site. People actually will catch Muskie and Northern Pike with bite marks in them because of this fish. It kills every other fish and takes over everything, that is why the lakes want you to kill them, idk about the rivers. This is just what I have heard.


bow fins have had millons of years to do some killling, and they havent sent anything to extinction yet.....
so what if some guy at the lake said kill them all? maybe he's too dang ignorant to read some articles or books that reveal the actual truth. or maybe his IQ is too low to figure out that a bowfin is NOT a snakehead.


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## TClark (Apr 20, 2007)

Looks like good flathead bait!!


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