A year or so ago people started reporting catching Bowfin in Lake Lynn in Raleigh. The lake has been here for well over 50 years and until recently no one had ever caught a bowfin. Last year however someone mentioned they caught a large one and than another person mentioned it as well. This week I also landed a nice 8.5 bowfin.
Last year when it was first mentioned that some caught a bowfin another guy who had fished the lake for almost 50 years mentioned that a kid told him about 6 or so years ago that he dumped a bucket of them into the lake. The guy didn't believe the kid since we had never seen evidence etc until last year they few caught and than some hooksets that came back clean cut lines, we just assumed turtles till the discussion of bowfin came up.
So now heres the question. If one catches a non native species to a lake ( we have seen Koi and goldfish as well ) what to do? return it back to the lake unharmed or toss it in trash or kill it and put back into water for turtles to feed on? I faced this dilemma myself yesterday and at first thought this fish doesn't belong in this small lake but than felt bad and put it back into the water.
Figured I would post this question to this forum and see what people think in general or know of regulations etc that need to be considered. Could these non native species upset the balance that the lake had maintained for over 50 years or will everything even out?
If we are talking bowfin, my understanding is that they are native to the area. They often get confused with the invasive snakehead, a species that some states require you NOT release alive. My take on it is I release everything I don't intend to eat (it is rare that I keep freshwater fish) unless there is a specific regulation against release of a species. I see the dilemma of them being purposely put in a lake that once lacked them, however bowfin are common enough in this area that it is difficult to call them an invasive species. just my opinion. I am interested in what others have to say about koi and goldfish however. I have seen some BIG goldfish over the years.
that lake is absolutely overflowing with small bluegill and crappie and even some shad, bait is not an issue by any stretch of the imagination - a handful of bowfin aren't going to hurt anything. the fish gave you a good fight, let him live on!
According t the locals no one had ever seen one in the lake until about two years ago about 5 years after the kid said he had dumped a bucket full into the lake. I loved the fight reminded me of walleye back home. Understand killing one wouldn't make a difference but could spread the word if ya catch get rid of it versus return it. Just wondering if the could overtake the lake or if balance would eventually works itself out. There are a lot of small crappie and bream and bass.
Overall it may help the lake as they may help to thin out some of the smaller fish so the big ones can thrive and get bigger, alot of times overpopulation of small fish can stunt them all. Personally I am not one to kill for sport but I know some who do, could chunk them in the woods... a racooon or possum will thank you.
A) killing the one fish will make no difference. Bowfin are hard to get rid of. Also, they most likely have been there for a long time, but are more difficult to catch on Big water. I fish a pond that's always had them and only rarely see them. When I do its a pleasant surprise.
B) like you ended up finding out, it leaves a bad taste in the mouth of a sportsman to waste a fish for no reason. Give it to someone who will eat it (you'd be surprised how many will) or just let it live. Wasting a native, relatively unharmful species, is never okay to me.
I know for a fact wildlife stocked a pond on the game lands to study impacts of bowfin as an introduction. It was pretty cool to stumble on it and hear about the background of it
Sometimes god or mother nature puts fish in a pond . I know for a fact that I helped my uncle dig a pond in a pasture and in about 7or8 years it was more fish init than you could imagine. You tell me , we never stocked it?
I agree with the others is to let them go. Enjoy them and the fight they give you. I dont think they will harm the lake as big as it is. They may have an initial big surge in population but then it will go back down. Jordan in the mid 80's to say 93, 94 or so was just slap eat up with big bowfin. then it subsided. Enjoy and post some pics.
We could take this a step further and ask "what should we do with a lake that wasn't native to the drainage"?
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