sportfish awards "bowfin"

[BIGBOB69]

well finally the bowfin is getting a little more respect. it seems they have added it to the list of species that qualifies for the awards program. I don't totally agree with how the program leads to the deaths of our largest fish but one thing at a time. just hoping that people might start realizing that the bowfin is a gamefish and not a trash fish that should be left on the ice to die. I am also hoping that it will be added to the list of fish that can have a state record. I hope that the winner of this years award program for bowfin will also be recognized as the new state record. after all.. it will be me :-)   I just absolutely love the bowfin !! fights great and looks awesome. now im all excited !! cant wait to walk on water. see ya out there !!   good fishin

[basst_]

I NEED TO CATCH ONE!!!!!!!

[Papa Sly]

I agree Bob...what a shame to see them left on the ice by unimformed anglers!!!!!

[Redneck Fishfinder]

Does anyone eat them? I caught one on a buzzbait fishing for bass once.

[moosehunter]

not edible. meats too soft, like mush.

[tafts ta]

not edible. meats too soft, like mush.

Putin would eat one

[Redneck Fishfinder]

I read a thread somewhere from some guys who eat them and they said that you can't let the meat touch water. I don't know how true that is or what difference it makes. Apparently the bowfin has a small but dedicated following though:

www.bowfinanglers.com

[Tmuskie]

After last season Catching a few more of them will be nice this season.  now that there is a slot. it will make it a lil worth while.

[Redneck Fishfinder]

I wonder if we can get the bowfin on the ice shanty tournament board...

[clamshack]

Caught one last year on Champlain. 27"

[capt.shay]

Is there another body of water in the stat besides the Oxbow that has a population and ice conditions to be able to ice fish it?

I'm kind of glad the oxbow isn't my home water.  I think that place is going to get crowded this year.

[flaggs]

Wow!  Haven't been here in 'forever!' I hope all you Coconuts are doing well out there!!!!  I had to come up and reply to some messages... This subject caught my eye. Bowfin are the coolest, most prehistoric looking fish in fresh water and actually have changed very little since the Jurassic period. We've caught many on Champlain. I've never seen one caught in mass but here is a recent map of locations... not many... Makes me wonder what the prize will pay???  hahahaha

the red dot indicates the general area but if you go to this site you can find the bodies of water... fyi
http://www.bowfinanglers.com/ma.html

Flaggs!

[MASS_pike]

Caught this one 4 years back.  30"   Would have been a pin fish for sure.

[stripernut]

Capt.Shay, have you ever heard of any Bowfin taken above the Bartons Cove Dam?

[capt.shay]

I've never heard of one caught any further than a couple of miles of the Oxbow. There are only a couple other places in the state where they have even been seen let alone have a population that can be realistically targeted and none of those hold ice.  What they have done is basically created a category of "trophy" that can only be iced out of one small area in the entire state.  That should really take the pressure off of this already heavily fished area. 

[leaderma]

My son caught 3 in one evening with live bait at onota about 4 to 5 years ago in open water. A friend caught one ice fishing in onota also, and i have seen others cstch them ice fishing. There id a very good populstion in onota.

[capt.shay]

My son caught 3 in one evening with live bait at onota about 4 to 5 years ago in open water. A friend caught one ice fishing in onota also, and i have seen others cstch them ice fishing. There id a very good populstion in onota.

That is news to me.  I believe you.  I just have never seen or heard a report of them in onata.  I only fish up that way once or twice a year so my personal experience isn't really relevant but I have never seen one posted here.

EDIT: You will note in the map Flaggs posted above that the state is apparently unaware of it also.

[McPike]

I don't totally agree with how the program leads to the deaths of our largest fish but one thing at a time.

How does it lead to deaths you don't have to kill the fish to weigh it for a pin? Plus now there is the c and r awards as well

[capt.shay]

How does it lead to deaths you don't have to kill the fish to weigh it for a pin? Plus now there is the c and r awards as well

I'm really neither here nor there on the subject but..... Yes you do have to kill the fish unless you have a certified scale and a witness on the water with you because it is illegal to transport live game fish.  There is the c and r thing however.

[McPike]

I'm really neither here nor there on the subject but..... Yes you do have to kill the fish unless you have a certified scale and a witness on the water with you because it is illegal to transport live game fish.  There is the c and r thing however.

You just said it. You do not have to kill them anymore because there of c and r now and you can have your scale certified. I like the changes keeps more big fish from being killed. A lot of the catch and keep gold pin fish are still swimming right now

[McPike]

Catch and release has a pretty well documented mortality rate McPike.  Just for the sake of having an open discussion I like to mention that...

Also best of luck in discussing the scale certification issues here, we've done that rodeo before.

Yes just discussing but sure if you put a hook in a fish and let it go obviously might have a higher chance of dying then not catching them.  I do not think catch and releasing a Bass( small or large), any catfish( white, channel,bulls) , carp, any essox ( pickerel, pike, tiger), perch( yellow or white), crappie, or sunfish 99% of the time with a good hook set will kill them. Even if you take a minute for a picture or two they are swimming away fine. The Trout family probably would be a different story but again if you were that worried about mortality rates of catch and release then why fish at all then? 100% catch and release yeilds more fish alive than catching and keeping them. I like that they are giving 2 options to give a pin sized fish a chance to live then no has to be killed.

What's the scales rodeo?

[McPike]

There is a thread somewhere in here where the logistics of certifying a scale for this use is discussed.  I can't remember the name of the thread but if you go back enough pages on the Mass board you should be able to find it.  It was a decent discussion.

I will have to do some searching. But I still think if you want to play the pin game having two options of weighing yourself or to do a length is a positive move in the right direction of not just killing a monster fish. And I would think most people hardcore into the pin game would nothing else but watch that pin fish swim away to get even bigger or pass on those genes. 

[Redneck Fishfinder]

I want to see the bowfin in the ice shanty tournament!

[Goldpinhunter]

there have been several examples over the past years of pin fish being safely C&R'd in Mass.  while it is technically illegal per the regs it seems that no one chooses to enforce it when it is in the best interests of everyone to get it back in the water.  the reg was designed to prohibit people taking fish from bodies of water and putting them in others which can create problems in the new water system, not to ensure that trophy fish die.

[capt.shay]

there have been several examples over the past years of pin fish being safely C&R'd in Mass.  while it is technically illegal per the regs it seems that no one chooses to enforce it when it is in the best interests of everyone to get it back in the water.  the reg was designed to prohibit people taking fish from bodies of water and putting them in others which can create problems in the new water system, not to ensure that trophy fish die.

My local Rod and Gun didn't purchase and certify a scale just so people would have a safe place to weigh in a live fish that could be returned to the water safely.