Bowfin/ Grinnal

[volzfan59]

My stepdaughter's boyfriend wanted to go fishing on Saturday. He had tied some crappie jigs a wanted to try them out. As I'm still in the process of rewiring/ updating my boat so, we went bank fishing for a bit at a near by creek. It was kind of cold, rainy and actually started snowing. We were light tackle fishing, he caught two largemouth, around 1 1/2 lb each on his crappie jigs. I caught two approx. 3 to 4 lb bowfins (they call them Grinnal around here, southern Arkansas). Never caught one of those before, never even seen one! Man, those things fought like crazy and had a mouth full of teeth! It seemed like a five minute fight, but it probably wasn't. Not going to lie, it was a blast.

I was using Rat L Trap brand, 1/8 oz Tiny Traps in Crawdad color and 4 lb BPS Excel mono. St. Croix 7' light action rod and Shimano Stradic reel. Have any of you ever caught one of these?

 

Moderators, please lock or delete this one. I accidentally posted it twice. My apologies.

[flyfisher]

The most underrated game fish out there, right up there with carp only they are mean, have teeth and will hit baits with reckless abandon.  They do destroy some gear though.  

 

Caught this guy on my fly rod and it was a blast.  Whenever I see one, I am making a concerted effort to get him to eat.  It is pretty rare that I can see one and he won't hit what you put in front of his face, now hooking them can be different story as their mouth is solid bone pretty much.

[TnRiver46]

I’ve been camping in the same swamp for a week every year since the late 90s and I’ve only caught this one in 2014 My buddy and his kids on the other hand, they catch several every year, it’s uncanny. They brought this one aboard last summer and then back to the campsite in my livewell for whatever reason, the fish nearly destroyed the entire vessel in his short stay 

[Basser2021]

4 hours ago, flyfisher said:

The most underrated game fish out there, right up there with carp only they are mean, have teeth and will hit baits with reckless abandon.  They do destroy some gear though.  

 

Caught this guy on my fly rod and it was a blast.  Whenever I see one, I am making a concerted effort to get him to eat.  It is pretty rare that I can see one and he won't hit what you put in front of his face, now hooking them can be different story as their mouth is solid bone pretty much.

I've heard that they will just destroy spinnerbaits

Not sure there are any near me but I want to catch one Lol

[TnRiver46]

5 hours ago, Basser2021 said:

I've heard that they will just destroy spinnerbaits

Not sure there are any near me but I want to catch one Lol

They will destroy anything and everything! I don’t know of any in TN except a few below nickajack dam and I’m sure there are some in Mississippi River backwaters 

[Captain Phil]

Here in Florida we call them mud fish.  They are a very underrated sport fish and lots of fun to catch.  They grow huge in Florida.  The State record is 19 pounds.  I've caught a few myself in the teens.  They can live in hot shallow water where a bass can't.  You catch them often in the heat of summer back in the shallows.  They destroy any lure they get a hold of.  Spinnerbaits don't have a chance. They eat balsa crank baits for breakfast.  Back when I was a kid, used to give them to bank fishermen.  I have heard there is a way to cook them to make them edible.  I never tried them myself.  Anything that ugly is not going in my kitchen. 

[Catt]

2 minutes ago, Captain Phil said:

Anything that ugly is not going in my kitchen. 

 

Yeah even Cajuns don't eat em!

 

 

[Finessegenics]

Still waiting to catch one. I know they are present in my river but the areas I target make it unlikely I’ll catch one. There’s just so many other game species that are more prevalent that I feel like catching one would be like winning the lottery…one day

[Captain Phil]

4 minutes ago, Finessegenics said:

Still waiting to catch one. I know they are present in my river but the areas I target make it unlikely I’ll catch one. There’s just so many other game species that are more prevalent that I feel like catching one would be like winning the lottery…one day

 

This summer, go to the shallowest muddiest back water flat you can find. The hotter the water, the better. Throw a weightless worm or a spinnerbait in less than three feet of water.  Hang on....

[TnRiver46]

I personally know a few people that have eaten them and they reported them

to indeed be horrible

[Bluebasser86]

I caught 2 in Florida in the Everglades in the 7-8 pound range. Once the initial disappointment wore off that they weren't big bass, they were a lot of fun, minus the large gator that kicked up a wake towards the boat chasing after one of them. 

[softwateronly]

I've probably caught a dozen in my life and they were all between 3-5lbs.  Every single one of them left my bait unfishable!  They are definitely the most underrated fish in terms of fight.  The hit so angry and dig so hard.  Between the ugly, teeth, aggressiveness, and blood they're hard to forget.  I've always caught them clean on a single hook and they leak like a stuck pig.  Must be because of that air they can gulp down if the water is stagnant, but I have no idea.  Old timers in MI call em dogfish and want them killed for some reason.

 

scott

 

 

[TnRiver46]

16 minutes ago, Bluebasser86 said:

I caught 2 in Florida in the Everglades in the 7-8 pound range. Once the initial disappointment wore off that they weren't big bass, they were a lot of fun, minus the large gator that kicked up a wake towards the boat chasing after one of them. 

Im Not sure who would win that fight but I bet it goes 12 rounds. Bowfin is certainly stronger on the end of your line but the gator has a tougher shell 

 

I’ve never seen anyone close a bowfin mouth with electrical tape, I’ll say that 

[BayouSlide]

8 hours ago, Captain Phil said:

 

This summer, go to the shallowest muddiest back water flat you can find. The hotter the water, the better. Throw a weightless worm or a spinnerbait in less than three feet of water.  Hang on....

 

Captain Phil just gave you the keys to the bowfin kingdom right here. ?

[Chris Catignani]

10 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

I don’t know of any in TN except a few below nickajack dam and I’m sure there are some in Mississippi River backwaters 

I have had one fishing in the Cumberland...hit a flippin jig.

[gim]

Their jaws are like a vice.  Extremely powerful.  My Father caught a sizable one muskie fishing once on a large double bladed bucktail spinner.  It completely swallowed the lure.  Well once he got it boat side, he shoved the jaw spreader in there to open its mouth in order to use a pliers to remove the hooks.  That thing shut its mouth with the jaw spreader inside lol.

 

They can also breathe atmospheric air.  This comes in handy when the water is void of dissolved oxygen.  So they can essentially live in a marsh or swamp.

 

I've only caught one in my life.  Wouldn't bother me if I never caught another one.  Ugly and mean would be my best description.

[flyfisher]

12 hours ago, Catt said:

 

Yeah even Cajuns don't eat em!

 

 

don't they eat their eggs though?

 

I've always wanted to catch one in spawning colors too...they turn almost a fluorescent green.

[Catt]

1 hour ago, flyfisher said:

don't they eat their eggs though?

 

Nahh 

 

FYI you don't need shallow muddy back waters, they thrive quite well in clear colder waters like Toledo Bend or Rayburn.

[flyfisher]

3 minutes ago, Catt said:

 

Nahh 

 

FYI you don't need shallow muddy back waters, they thrive quite well in clear colder waters like Toledo Bend or Rayburn.

one of the lakes I catch them frequently is weed filled and crystal clear so I can agree with this as well.

[volzfan59]

1 hour ago, Catt said:

 

Nahh 

 

FYI you don't need shallow muddy back waters, they thrive quite well in clear colder waters like Toledo Bend or Rayburn.

The creek that we were fishing was lightly stained, far from muddy. There was some light current too.

[Basser2021]

7 hours ago, Chris Catignani said:

I have had one fishing in the Cumberland...hit a flippin jig.

I live near the cumberland in Ashland city

I didn't know they had any in there (I'll have to try and snag one Lol)

Did you get it on the main river or in like a backwater area?

[T-Billy]

I've caught 'em up to about 8# in the Tuscarawas River. They do love shallow backwaters in summer. Definitely don't wanna stick your fingers in their mouth. I think they're a pretty neat fish and enjoy catching one now and then. As flyfisher mentioned, they're beautiful when lit up in their spawning colors.

[Captain Phil]

10 hours ago, Catt said:

FYI you don't need shallow muddy back waters, they thrive quite well in clear colder waters like Toledo Bend or Rayburn.

 

You can catch a mud fish most anywhere a bass would be.  When I was in my early twenties, I fished mostly in the Everglades canals and Okeechobee.  My biggest bass at the time was 6 1/4 pounds.  I wanted to catch a big bass in the worst way.  To be honest, I was obsessed with it.  When the 13-inch Hawg Hunter worm came out, I thought I had found the answer.  Funny thing was, my first bass on that worm was about 1 3/4 pounds.  Later I was riding down L67 canal when I saw something on my flasher.   It was directly on the bottom in 18 feet of water.  I cast the 13" worm out and worked it over the area.   Immediately, I caught a 8 pound mud fish. I then caught another just like it.  The third mud fish turned out to be a 8 1/2 pound bass!   When I was guiding, lots of people thought if they saw a gar or mud fish in the water there weren't any bass in the area and wanted to move.  I showed them they were wrong and another fishing myth was proven wrong.

[Catt]

Bowfin, Choupique (shoe pick) as they are called in Louisiana can be found from the Great Lakes to the gulf coast & from the east coast to the west coast. Pretty much every state has a few.

 

I generally catch 15-20 a year with sizes up to 12-15#. Most caught on plastics or spinnerbaits.

[Chris Catignani]

9 hours ago, Basser2021 said:

I live near the cumberland in Ashland city

I didn't know they had any in there (I'll have to try and snag one Lol)

Did you get it on the main river or in like a backwater area?

It was in Marrowbone Creek on Cheatum.