Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations bowfinous what do you thinkwould ruin a lake more

im curious on how dangerous bowfina re to lakes compared t bass they say never add flatheads in ponds under 8 acres or so due to there mouths bowfins have big mouths too similar to a bass and i always catch them when catfishing just curious do you think bowfin eat more and bigger fish than bass by size?

Bowfin are aggressive as all get out! Even if they don't eat their prey immediately they can shred a chunk out of anything they decide looks like a meal, with that mouth full of teeth.

I don't know how many I've caught on artificial lures while bass fishing, but the lure is typically useless afterward.

i absolutely hate them i didnt know what they were till i was 12 i was on a oxbow lake fishing with whole bluegill t catch catfish and i saw this 20 pound thing jumping i thought it was a massive bass nothing ever fought that hard i had caught

imagine how great rivers lakes would be without them and gar all that forage food could go to bass n cats

Ahh, but what about the diverse fishing options such species provide? Fishing fresh water with only catfish and bass would be like typing without capital letters.

some academic studies of the bowfin below (basically they prey on crayfish most when present, and small panfish and invertebrates next)they are in most waters a low yield fish when compared to other "gamefish"

https://thekeep.eiu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=2692&context=theses

http://images.library.wisc.edu/EcoNatRes/EFacs/FishesWI/reference/econatres.fisheswi.i0020.pdf

https://www.researchgate.net/publication...m-Sized_Aquaria

https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/1f58/8e40fb7d4081af93947889fa442c79b9c8c7.pdf

my area has bowfin i was told they are dangerous to creeks in the south and are much larger down here than up north i can attest to all my oxbow lakes we had about 8 were full of nothing but bowfin and bluegill so i think they have to do some damage given they are like a bass in what they ca eat and they grow larger

do you think i should kkill them when i catch them?i just would like to think without bowfin imagine how big the catfish could be in my area

Years ago I made a guided duck hunt in South La. During a high water rain event the water was running on top of a walking bridge where we had to travel across to get to the duck boats. On the top of the walkway there were 4 to 6 Shoepick, (Grinnel) or Bowfin, whatever one wants to name it depending on what part of the country we are in. These fish were wiggling to get across the bridge and back into the deeper water. The guides were running around all excited in an attempt to hand catch these Shoepick. Hollering and excitement was going on. Shoepick, Shoepick Shoepick! So, the Bowfin is apparently a desired food source to some people. Now for me I enjoy the fight and excitement that goes on when ever I get one on an artificial.
They fight hard and even though I am pretty much a bass fisherman, I enjoy any fish that bites my bait.

I haven't ate any "Choupique" in a long time, but I can tell you, if prepared properly they are pretty dang good. The flesh is in small pockets of sinuous layers, so you have to scrape the meat out to get past the slime. But once you have a bowl full of pure meat, add some boiled potatoes, onions, green onion and seasonings, mix it all together and make patties, roll that in flour and fry them. A mess of homemade fries and hushpuppies...mmmmmmmm.

they scare me by the looks lolz i had bad experience with them n gar when i was very young i had evil uncle and cousins i was very afraid of wild animals and they held me down and let agar bite me

and tried to do it another time with a bowfin after i caught one and i didnt wana get the hook out of its mouth and they chased me with it tossing it at me lol

sounds funny but as a kid ti scared the hell out of me and as a adult those are the only 2 things on the planet that make me scream if ones near me im not even afraid of gators lol but i am bowfin and gatorgar

i know gar don eat big fish like cats n big bluegill so i dont think even gator gar in smaller creeks rivers they wont get over 60 pounds probably here so i dont think they are a threat to the bluegill and catfish crappie populations.

but bowin do they will eat anything much like a bass so way i see it the less of them the better the catfishing n other fish ill catch with numbers

Mike, Thanks for the correct spelling of fish. I am most likely the worst @ spelling those Cajun foods.

Ya sho be welcome, Breaux.

iv just heard horrible things about the taste of gar and bowfin although i do see them as good catfood and crawfish bait


tbh id not try with a gar due to the armor plating id have t cut through it to get that sent going