6/13/15 Pursuit of a Prehistoric Piscivore

There is a fish that has eluded me for my entire fishing career. This fish is an enigma to me. It inhabits swamps and backwaters across our state. The Bowfin is a prehistoric fish that has been around for hundreds of millions of years. This strange looking fish has several very unique features including a mouth full of teeth, a fin that runs over half the length of it's body, some unusual spawning colors, and the ability to breath both water and air. As a kid I had hooked two and been broken off both times. During my fishing trip last weekend, I saw several of these fish in the shallows. So I did a little research and returned to take a shot at landing one. They are fish eaters and a lot of people mentioned that spinner baits can be very effective for them. With that as my starting point, I starting fishing a spinner in a swampy area. It only took a few minutes before I got what I was looking for. I was moving the spinner over a log and as it passed by there was a big boil. I felt something try to take my lure. I kept it moving and WHAM a decent bowfin hit right at the boat. He gave me a crazy fight before coming to the net. He rolled so much that my line was wrapped around his head about 7 times. This male measured out just under 23''. He had a very strange green color on him that I later found out is their spawning colors. Males also have a black spot surrounded by yellow on their tail. After releasing that fish I didn't have any more luck on Bowfins so I hit the lake with my fly rod and caught close to 40 crappies on a Clouser Minnow. I can't believe how many crappies I have still been catching! It is pretty unreal. In the pictures below, you can see the sunken weed edes to which these fish were relating. Anywhere there were weeds like that, you would find fish. I got some sweet footage that once again I will have to post when I can get it edited. Later in the day I caught an 18'' Largemouth. When I got it in the net I noticed a huge Bowfin following it. It then just sat a few feet away watching the fish in the net before finally swimming away. What a bizarre fish! Always a good day when you get a new species in the boat especially one this unique. I will be chasing them again in the near future!