i went out this morning on my jon boat that i just got and was using rage tail frogs and in the lillies i pulled this out it was at least over 2 1/2 feet near 3 feet long and was on my scale 4.4 pounds. he was a real fighter. i want to say a bowfin. i tell you one thing he scared the (censored) out of me. when he flopped at me i ran up to the front of the boat i knew he was about to bite me. when got near my leg. sorry for the pliers i was not bout to grab him and im going to bps to get me some grippers for these guys and others like him. one thing love those rage tails.

looks like a bowfin to me

Yep, bowfin, mudfish, amia calva, what ever works for ya.  They can be pretty fun to catch when the bass fishing's slow.  That looks like a decent one there.

We call them Dogfish up here. Got one over 10 lb last year on a buzzbait and thought I had a huge bass on. They tend to roll when they fight. You can lip 'em but they bite down so grippers would not be a bad idea. They don't seem to want to open their mouths when hooked so grab them hard behind the gills.

yea i thought he went for my leg so like i said i ran from him. but yea i had to take my pole back i wanna say i stepped on it getting away from him. but it broke so i got a new one i bought the pro qualifier combo. and put 30 lb braid line on it so i can fish the vegetation. but in process yea i got me a gripper, more rage tail frogs, and went ahead and got a reel cover for the reel ima start covering all my reels.

and thinking bout the fish he might just been 2 feet. i should measured him but he started jumping on me it was noway i was getting no him with my hand. i caught some out the river but never this feisty.

Yep, bowfin, mudfish, amia calva, what ever works for ya. They can be pretty fun to catch when the bass fishing's slow. That looks like a decent one there.

yea he put up a good fight. and he was 4.4 lbs i just look p our state record its 16. 8 lbs how to believe with their figure the weigh that much but they all meat. i found a website where guy says their good to eat and he recommends it. our state record for bass is 16.4

Man i caught one about two months ago that weighed like 9lbs! They fight harder than a bass IMO!

Man i caught one about two months ago that weighed like 9lbs man! They fight harder than a bass IMO!

yea they are some fighters. if i land anymore cause they will eat your bass lures i hope its a monster too (now that i got grippers lol) but im getting fit to go back out no i got the pole replaced. ima hit them pads up again.

Thats a muddy. Nasty little things but fun to catch.

I caught one 6lbs on a gold crank bait once.

Yeah we call em mudfish.  They are alot of fun to catch and can grow pretty big too.

I always wondered why guys who release every bass they catch get all bummed out when they catch a chunky hard fighting mudfish.

Yeah we call em mudfish. They are alot of fun to catch and can grow pretty big too.

I always wondered why guys who release every bass they catch get all bummed out when they catch a chunky hard fighting mudfish.

i bummed cause that would been my pb if was a bass. but for what its worth its worth the fight. i know our state record in va is 16 pounds. ill be happy with half that lol

yeah, down here we get them huge, 10-15 pounds, DONT lip them they have big nasty teeth and i have seen them bite someone clean to the bone, it looks like a small shark bite.

I love catching those.  They bite fast and hard.   I found one in the back of a little cove in some weeds that was feeding on fish it had coralled.  I threw three senkos to it and on every cast it tore my senko off the hook.   After three senkos it was no longer aneconomically sound decision to continue after it.  

I saw one attacking baitfish at the base of a cyprus tree.  It had the little fish so worked up that were literally jumping out of the water and up the base of the tree.  

Here is one I caught in November 2008 that went well over 7 lbs.  He took a 1/2 football jig with a Paca Craw trailer.

 There are web sites for folks that target these fish. I've only caught them by accident. Don't have any idea how you would "target" them...

skillet

There are web sites for folks that target these fish. I've only caught them by accident. Don't have any idea how you would "target" them...

skillet

yea i been to one site bagmans. i was just using a toad and slam he took it. stole my pb for bass lol

Yea we call them Grinnal down here in Louisiana. I caught one with a friend one time and started to throw it back when he made me keep it.

We brought it to his grandma who cooked it into like so patties.  Tasted great! Alot like Gar balls.

oh skillet, its really easy to target them just throw on your most expensive lucky craft crankbait and they'll hit it every time!

Mudfish ahhh!  You cleaned and ate some mudfish?? that is crazy bro.  But those things are nasty fish I can't even look at them.  I never ate any, I like to throw them on the bank give the birds something.  I heard once they eat bass eggs and small baitfish bass would eat not sure if that's true though.

I know lol... But louisiana does have reputation of eating just about anything.  If we don't know what it is then we'll just shoot it, clean it, and eat it. lol