Hey guys,

Bowfin are jerks. I want em gone.

Obviously the old Hook em and bank em is the most reliable way to get them but I was wondering if yall had any other tricks for getting rid of these guys? I think I ahve an overpopulation of them, caught my 2nd 4ish pounder out of my pond today. I'm certain there are lots lots more eating all the forage for my bass.

Thoughts?

Get rid of the water. There, no bowfin. Hook and line likely will not stop them, and since they are so tough you will need a dramatic full kill event to wipe them out.

Well... that isn't an option....

Too much water.

You might have to give up on the bass and start managing for bowfin. That's a hard one to get rid of

Try putting out a trotline. Use corn, hotdogs and see what you catch. I never caught a bass on a trotline when I wasn't using live bait.

Key is to do something.

Keep track and keep records.

I caught one when I was 20, don’t remember why i kept it but I put it in a five gallon bucket with four inches of water in it. I left it outside in the summer and forgot about it for three days. It was still alive, couldn’t believe it. Up here we call them dog fish. They are tough sob’s

I like the trotline idea. That will be on my April list. Right now I've gotta get ready for pigs to show up and then do a bunch of projects around the house i just bought.

Bowfin are one of the sportiest fish that swims in fresh water. If you can't drain the pond for an extended period of time you will have to learn to live with them.

I'll bet you that a Hybrid Striped Bass pound for pound will pull a Bowfin backwards if tied tail to tail.

Are you 100% positive that they're Bowfin and not Snakeheads? I know they get misidentified often, and FL is loaded with the latter, but not sure about the former.

I've never caught a snakehead, but hear they are good eating. Might be challenge to fillet, though.

While duck hunting in S. Louisiana I saw some Cajuns gather up some Bowfin/Grinnel and were excited to get them for eating. They were really excited about it, so I am guessing if cooked properly they must be good eating. Course most of us know they will cook up alot of different creatures down there and after applying their sauces it is all good eating

Bowfin are extremely hardy fish - as a little kid I saw them migrating out of a slackwater pool on the mississippi, across 100 yards of land and back into the main channel

If Cajuns can't make it taste good, it wasn't meant to be food.

That's a sucker bet. HSB pound for pound will tail drag and drown everybody in the river.

LOL