i cought a 9 lb 5 oz bowfin(black fish some people call it) on 8 lb test fireline the other day. how does that rank on the lunker scale. i also learned that these fish put up one hell of a fight. the fight like gators. some of my buddies have said this was a pretty amazing feat with 8 lb test but i wanted so ask some other people with an outside opinion

i've had one break off 12 trilene XL, didn't get to see exactly how big it was, just enough to see that it was a bowfin.  In the part of virginia i fished, if the bass weren't biting, i would though "LOUD" colors and target bowfin and pickeral.  great fighters!

I saw my fishing partner at the time "PUNT" a virginia trophy sized bowfin off his deck.  i didn't get a chance to pick it up but my guess was 9+lbs.

Its funny you mention that Tenka, the "punting" thing.

As much as we promote proper handling of fish, the Fish Commission in PA at Glendale Lake actually encourages not releasing bowfin back into the water. They were originally introduced to control a severely undersized panfish population, but have since gone on to become a dominant predator in the lake.

I dont think I agree with "punting" them back into the lake, though.  

As to the original post, yep....thats a big 'un!!

 The only time I've ever caught them was when I was really young, Bream fishing with a cane pole, in old river runs with my Daddy. Don't think any of them were that large. In my limited experience with different fish, they are probably the hardest fighting for their size of anything I've caught.

 Tenka, I've always wondered how you target them having only caught them by accident...

                                     As Ever,

                                      Skillet

i cought a 9 lb 5 oz bowfin(black fish some people call it) on 8 lb test fireline the other day. how does that rank on the lunker scale. i also learned that these fish put up one hell of a fight. the fight like gators. some of my buddies have said this was a pretty amazing feat with 8 lb test but i wanted so ask some other people with an outside opinion

I'm not quite sure if you're asking about catching a 9-5 bowfin or a 9-5 anything on 8# test. My answer is based on the latter. I think catching any fish that exceeds your line strength is always satisfying, but I wouldn't call it amazing, as it occurs a lot, especially (obviously) with lighter line. My personal record is a 12 1/2# carp on 6# line.

Its funny you mention that Tenka, the "punting" thing.

I dont think I agree with "punting" them back into the lake, though.

I don't agree with punting either!

that fish had his BPS extreme MH spinning rod almost bent in half when i netted it.  I went online later that night a saw a good picture of a 7lb bowfin, and the one we caught was easily larger by a few inches in all directions.  

Dave

Hooo you like to catch Bowfin do ya, well just come on down to eastern NC and

I can put you on all you want. You can catch as many as you want in the 1-12lb

class any time, any day don't care what the weather is like. I can honestly say

I am a Professional Bowfin Punter. All you have to do is put a little garlic spray

on a baby brush hog and hold on. Man I was fishing a tournament on the Roanoke river and my draw partner from Virginia ( I think he said he was the

boss of one of those Nuk Sub in Norfork) well I heard him hollow get the net

I've got a big bass, so I grabed the net and ran to the back of the boat just to

see a small bowfin. Well I went back up front and started fishing when I heard

oh oh oh when I looked back he had put his finger in the fishs mouth and that bowfin was chewing on his finger like a dog on a bone. I had to bite a hole in my

d**n lip to keep from laughing. ;D Long story short I had to carrie him to the

hospital to get his finger fixed. 8-)

when I looked back he had put his finger in the fishs mouth and that bowfin was chewing on his finger like a dog on a bone.

I made a similar mistake when I caught my first bowfin. I didnt know what it was so I lipped it to get the hook out because i saw no real teeth. Right when i get my hand in there the "gums" retracted and it bit down and I found myself with some decent sized holes in the thumb. Extreme 1018, nine pounds is a fine bowfin, and a noteworthy catch on 8 pound test considering how hard they fight.

now i kinda wish a had a camera with me that day............ oh well i guess i will have to go catch another one, or three

i caught a bowfin on regular 10lb mono in a local lake i gave a good fight but i caught close to the shore so not that good of a fight!!??

sean

They will kill a spinnerbait during the spring. If you are supposed to kill them, do it... The other fish will thank you.

They are fun to catch, I had one break me off  my frog on 20lb braid. The wife caught on one and just about jumped out of the boat when I netted it and she got a good look at it. Nasty things. I'd say 9 pounds is a pretty big dogfish, the biggest I've seen was 26".

I'm not trying to get into a contest or anything.  What you did was impressive, but I will share as well.  I caught a 8.5 lb bowfin last year while targeting crappie.  I caught it on an UL spinning setup with 4 lb line and a Roadrunner.  I took the boat out into the middle of the lake and just let it wear itself out.  it took 10-15 minutes to land it.  It was a lot of fun

Maybe I am the only one that had no idea what a bowfin was, but here is a picture anyway for others that were afraid to ask.

bowfin or mudfish as we georgians call them are actually fun to catch just not fun to take off the hook cuz they are slimy and flounce around too much.  i actually fish for them in the satilla river i will catch a bunch of little perch and throw them in the middle on a bigger reel and just have fun catching big mudfish and gar. my biggest bowfin is 14lbs the georgia record is a little over 18lbs and my biggest gar was almost 4ft long.

GBF

Also known as: Beaverfish, Blackfish, Choupic, Choupique, Cottonfish, Cypress trout, Dogfish, Grindle, Grinnel, Grinner, Lawyer, Mudfish, Poisson-castor, Scaled ling, Shoepick, Shoepik, Shoepike, Shupik, Speckled Cat.

I am still waiting to catch my first bowfin.  I will be fishing the chicahomny in southern VA this year, and my friend promises me that I'll catch my fill of bowfins.  I can't wait.  

I don't know what the 'punting' thing is all about, but I don't like the sound of it.  The fish, even if an invasive or introduced species, doesn't know it's not supposed to be there.

Yep. The Chick has plenty of Bowfin......

i didnt know what a bowfin was till i saw that pic....sounds like you got a nice one...i cought a 36.5 inch muskie on a light setup with 6lb trilene XL..never weighed it but i guessed 12-15lbs....man was that fun!

Cliff