Another Fish Id. Anyone Know What It Is?

[Fishing Cop]

My son caught this on the Chattahoochee in Alabama. Anyone know what it is. It had a mouth full of teeth too.

 

 

[flyfisher]

Bowfin...great fighting fish and have been around since dinosaurs.  I love catching them.

[gulfcaptain]

bowfin

[fishballer06]

All I can think about is that Alan Jackson song...

 

 

Confirmed - it's a Bowfish

[Ratherbfishing]

Ditto.

[00 mod]

We call em grennel!

 

Jeff

[STPC]

We call them either mudfish or blackfish...either way it's never fun getting them unhooked when you're not expecting to catch them.

[Catch and Grease]

Its a bowfin, I absolutely love targeting them, they fight good and hit your lure like a freight train!

They aren't that bad to get unhooked but if they have a treble hanging out of their mouth don't net them because they will roll and roll and roll ruining your net.....

And using that hat as comparison that is a pretty good sized one too!

[flyfisher]

Here is a pic of a 25" one i caught the other day on a wake bait....he absolutely destroyed it when he hit too.  I saw an even larger one swimming around in the same area too.

 

[OntarioFishingGuy]

Yeah bowfin. Just a huge muscle, I wonder why people don't fish for them as much.

[blackmax135]

We call them mudfish around here and i hate them.  Yes they put up a heck of a fight and are fun to catch.  They arent safe to eat and you gotta know how to clean and cook them.  They can take over anybody of water

[slonezp]

Bowfin or around here dogfish

[Catch and Grease]

We call them mudfish around here and i hate them.  Yes they put up a heck of a fight and are fun to catch.  They arent safe to eat and you gotta know how to clean and cook them.  They can take over anybody of water

 

aren't safe to eat? haha good one.... you can have an opinion on whether or not they taste good but they are definitely safe to eat and I have myself, they taste alright but not as good as bass/crappie.

 

mudfish are seriously not bad fish, and they are beautiful. If anything just look at the pictures in that article, great fish...

 

http://www.heartlandoutdoors.com/andrew/story/bowfin_are_bad_fish_please/

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

Bowfin remain active and bite readily during the dog days of summer. They don't seem to mind the warmer water and can provide action when the bass bite is slow. I think that their ability to thrive in areas that bass may abandon in warm weather may give the misimpression that they've displaced the bass. 

[blackmax135]

Its actually not an opinion its a fact.  I didn't say they didn't taste good.  You go to any public boat ramp around my area and they will have a sign up telling you the fish species that live in the water and have a list catogarized in fish you can eat and fish they recommend not to eat at all.  It says do not eat mudfish(bowfin) because of mercury levels in the water.  The reason i hate them is because they are over populated in my area and you can't fish for what you want you just have to catch them because they are everywere.  Every fish has its place in the water.  Delaware valley tackle i didn't think about that, im wrong about them taking over.

 

aren't safe to eat? haha good one.... you can have an opinion on whether or not they taste good but they are definitely safe to eat and I have myself, they taste alright but not as good as bass/crappie.

 

mudfish are seriously not bad fish, and they are beautiful. If anything just look at the pictures in that article, great fish...

 

http://www.heartlandoutdoors.com/andrew/story/bowfin_are_bad_fish_please/

[F14A-B]

Mud fish , used to steal my daggone expensive Golden shiners! Along with Gator Gars....

[Catch and Grease]

Its actually not an opinion its a fact. I didn't say they didn't taste good. You go to any public boat ramp around my area and they will have a sign up telling you the fish species that live in the water and have a list catogarized in fish you can eat and fish they recommend not to eat at all. It says do not eat mudfish(bowfin) because of mercury levels in the water. The reason i hate them is because they are over populated in my area and you can't fish for what you want you just have to catch them because they are everywere. Every fish has its place in the water. Delaware valley tackle i didn't think about that, im wrong about them taking over.

So just because the fish in your lake aren't good to eat means everyone else's is the same? Trust me they are fine to eat. Heck theres a lake on the air force base here I fish that has signs saying don't eat the bass due to mercury levels.

That certainly doesn't mean ALL bass aren't edible.

[blackmax135]

So just because the fish in your lake aren't good to eat means everyone else's is the same? Trust me they are fine to eat. Heck theres a lake on the air force base here I fish that has signs saying don't eat the bass due to mercury levels.

That certainly doesn't mean ALL bass aren't edible.

ok

[flyfisher]

I wish i could actually target them but they always seem to be an accidental catch for me.  I was out yesterday and floating in my kayak working  weed line and i caught something out of the corner of my eye.  I looked down to my right about 5 feet and saw 2 huge bowfin, both were easily 30".  I thought they were spooked but they weren't at all.  They were checking out me and my kayak.  They stayed together and were looking right at me and my boat for a few minutes.  I dropped a yum dinger in front of them but they were not interested in the slightest.  After their little visit, they just turned and swam back into the grass....was pretty cool.