Bowfin/mudfish:love Or Hate?

[Bangin' Bucketmouths]

The Bowfin: you either love them or you hate them.

Most will catch the toothy fossil and then bang them against the side of their boat or stab plyers through that bony skull after the infamous mudfish has ravaged their favorite lure.

As for me however, I look at this fish with wonder an awe. The product of perfection, the bowfin has evolved little in 150 million years. In the rare instance I catch one, I make sure I safely release them into the water, to carry on their rather   mysterious lives of ripping schools of baitfish or slurping crawfish off the bottom. Whenever I do catch them on artificials, usually a white spinner bait, I enjoy the hard pulling and headshaking fight they put up, making aggressive runs ripping drag and shaking the rodtip as thrash their heads, attempting to throw the hook or slash your line. They really are a work of predatory art, even more so than our beloved Bass.

The rumors run wild with the Bowfin, from the terrible tasting meat, to their "bass only" diet. Both of these are rather untrue, as I have had delicous mudfish both fried and smoked, so long as it is fresh. Mudfish, depending on their area, usually feed on crustaceans and crawdads, as well as scavenge all the dead fish in the water. While a small bass may occasionally show up on the bowfin's menu, they do not target gamefish specifically.

Therefore I must ask you of my beloved bowfin:

Are you the fishermen that kills the fish and leaves it to rot, or do you release or eat them, just curious if any others share my opinion.

[BrettD]

I dont love them becuase they tear up my baits and I always immediatly think I have a huge bass on when one strikes. Its like any other animal though I have respect for them and always try to release them unharmed.

[flyfisher]

I love them myself and am always psyched when i catch one.  I am actually hoping to target them on the fly rod this year if i can find a place that has a good concentration of them.

[Bangin' Bucketmouths]

Flyfishing for Mudfish sounds like one hell of a fight, from some other forums I've read, I imagine the best way to do this is after their spawn. They protect their fry cloud, and dragging a fly through one would almost certainly intice a strike. I've even read of mudfish attacking waders that walk into their cloud. A fearless fish if you ask me.

[Brandon Dozier]

I was fishing a lake in VA with a friend of mine a few weeks ago.  I'd imagine it was spawning or just post-spawn.  Caught him shallow on a dock in about 3 FOW.  We thought it was a state record bass, but, turns out it was a 9 lb bowfin.  HUGE fish.  We've caught them before on accident but nothing this size.  Only one pound shy of our citation (sp?) requirements.  One hell of a fight.

[Bangin' Bucketmouths]

I caught and ate probably a 7-8 pounder recently, after fighting her on a pole I was using for bluegill fishing. The world record for bowfin is 21 pounds caught here in florida, they do pull harder than any other fish their size.