Wednesday
May272009
Bowfin are also called dogfish, mudfish, brindle and WTF is that thing?
Wednesday, May 27, 2009 at 12:00AM
The Fish Dog sent us this disapatch and picture of fellow guide Karl Wiexelmann with a bowfin buck in full spawning mode.
Karl is an Erie, PA, based fly fishing guide, all walk & wade- Scott Pro, Patagonia user. Steelhead 9 months of the year, with warm water in May, June, July. Has a very interesting program of fly fishing for bowfin. The males get a bright lime green coloration on their fins during spawning. They look like something out of Jurassic Park and you can get them to eat a fly.
tagged Fly Fishing, bowfin in Species, fly fishing
Fly Fishing, bowfin in Species, fly fishing
Reader Comments (9)
Thats bad ass! I haven't seen on colored like that before. I live in Dallas, and all my family lives near the Neches and Sabine rivers. I have seen these guys while bass fishing in Kickapoo creek, but have never caught one on the fly. We call them cypress trout down here, or Grinnell...
Cheers
I tired my best to catch one of these on the fly on the Roanoke River during the Striper run but failed. Caught a ton on bait with the green fins but no luck on the fly.
Nice fish, but Wiexelmann is a douche. He is a guide for donny b and the spring ridge club. He has yelled at me before too, telling me to get off posted steelhead water (which I had written permission to fish).
I just caught a nice one on lake erie.a sweet colored one.didn't know wtf it was.apparently the males are colored during breeding season.sweet fish heck of a fight
I caught a 15 pounder in a pounder in pond near a swamp in southern GA. They are pretty fun to catch.
Just caught a bowfin in a small lake in Plymouth, Indiana. I was fishing with a red gulp worm hooked up Texas rig and slow tugging along the bottom when this fish did a double tap run just like a bass. I Thought I had a lunker bass on the line and then pulled in the bowfin. I'd never seen one before -- the spot on the tale reminds me of a peacock bass. Good fight, but what an ugly fish. Anyway -- they are alive and well in Indiana.
Mike, I was a part time guide for that club that I no longer work for, one reason is because of those types of confrontations. Read about my experience in the April /May issue of Fly Fisherman magazine. Love to catch bowfin on the fly. Dont try to tail one. They bite!
I just caught a 26" 5 lb. 13 oz bowfin in central ny on the Oneida river. it fought like hell and was tuff to get in the boat. yes, they have a mouth full of teeth and are nasty. he/she want to bite me in the worst way. don't know the gender but the fins had a reddish tint toward the ends. great experience
My nephew and I were fishing off the dock up in Pointe Au Baril Ontario on the July 1st long weekend and my 11 year old nephew hauled in a 7 pounder using a green spinner bait. It was coloured exactly like the one in the photo and made gulping noises as I was unhooking it. Man are they an ugly nasty looking fish.