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The Magic Bowfin Pond

Pond 
4K views 22 replies 11 participants last post by  mbhw 
#1 ·
A buddy of mine recently found a large shallow pond off a road that I have driven by dozens of times and never noticed. We decided to launch his canoe early Sunday morning and had to bushwhack our way to get through an opening in the hedges surrounding it. He and his son had previously fished it once and saw several bowfin during their trip, but didn’t hook any. However, this trip would be different.

The pond was pretty shallow, ranging from about 1’ to perhaps 3’ with a lot of weeds. For a while, we attempted to cast weedless frogs and other topwater baits into the weeds to entice a bite, but couldn’t draw any reactions. We actually drifted onto resting bowfin twice. The first one dashed off before we could drop a bait in front of it, but the second was a bit more stationary. I actually managed to get it to bite a chunk of cut bream I bounced into its snout, but wasn’t able to connect when I went to set the hook.

I decided to soak the cut bait along the weeds while making some casts with a spinner. After a little while, I thought I noticed the rod twitching a bit, so I picked it up and watched it as the line began to move. I set the hook hard, and while there was a weight on the end, it didn’t move. I couldn’t tell if I had a fish or a stick. As I started to reel it in, the stick came to life and started to peel off drag. Then it jumped on the opposite side of the canoe. Yup, definitely a bowfin.

After going through a bit of a Chinese fire drill with my fishing buddy, we eventually netted it. It was a nice 28”, 7 lb specimen. We snapped a few photos and released it.

A short while later, after getting my bait rod hung on a stump in the middle, I went to make a few more casts with the spinner (my favorite, a #6 size Panther Martin Deluxe Fly in orange and gold). A few seconds into the retrieve and *wham*, fish number two. This one was a little smaller and more gnarly. It looks like a turtle had taken a chunk out of his tail fin at some point.

A little while later, I hear my fishing buddy exclaim “Oh jeez!” as he watched a fish wake behind and smash his spinner. After a good fight, he managed to boat the biggest bowfin of the day, a beautiful 8 lb, 29” citation.

We paddled around for another hour or so, but didn’t have any other takers. I’m not sure if there are any other gamefish in this pond, but frankly, I don’t care. I enjoy having my baits blasted by these toothy critters the leap like bass and pull like carp. We’re already planning our next trip back to the magic bowfin pond.

Here’s a link to the action:

https://youtu.be/RsYNbsRZQXY


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#6 ·
So I apparently spoke too soon...
Went back today. The pond was murky, but still fishable. The wind was not cooperating much with us today, and neither were the snags, which we caught plenty of.

Highlights of our day included

1. Me hooking a large snapping turtle, with a head nearly the size of my fist;

2. Hooking a really nice bowfin way behind the boat, then losing it after about 3 seconds.

3. Hooking another bowfin next to the boat by smacking into in the face with my spinner. That didn’t go so well...

Here’s video of #3!

https://youtu.be/sTGeWcTQqdU


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#7 ·
1. Me hooking a large snapping turtle, with a head nearly the size of my fist;
I managed to do the same thing again a couple of days ago. And at the same place as the previous time, where I couldn't really "land" the thing even if I wanted to. But this time, I just kept bringing him in and them letting him swim away, hoping he would eventually manage to spit the hook out. Amazingly, that strategy actually worked after about the 3rd time I brought him in to me and then let him go again. Got my hook and bobber back, and the turtle wasn't left swimming around with a hook in his mouth and towing a couple of feet of mono around. I'll call that a win-win. :D
 
#8 ·
A few years back, I was at the beach with the wife’s family and took my nephews crabbing with some string a chicken necks. After soaking one of the necks for 5-10 minutes, I started to pull on the string gently and felt a steady tug. “Got something!” I told the boys. As I pulled the string higher and higher, eventually this giant snapping turtle head emerged. It was definitely bigger than my fist. The turtle had managed to swallow an entire chicken neck with no problem and I guess this was his regular hangout, where he could just gorge himself on chicken all summer long.

All the way back to the house, my nephews kept stopping strangers to excitedly tell them about the Godzilla Turtle that Uncle Chris had caught....


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#9 ·
Luv to catch bowfin......know that spot well.....it used to be so much better but the hurricaines 2 falls ago broke the dam so it is 1'1/2 feet lower than in used to be......
 
#12 ·
Black Spinnerbait and Buble gum Senko wacky riged have been most effective for me (lure) Cut bait is killer but dont use more than a 4/0 hook. Bigger hooks sometimes hook them where they are hooked in the mouth but it comes out near their eye. not good for them plus the smaller hooks penetrate their hard mouths better.
 
#13 ·
Just curious. Why fish for bowfin? Just for sport? They do put up a good fight. I used to catch them all the time on Lake Waccamaw. Locals call them "grindle" and consider them trash fish.

A word of warning: The first one I caught I put on my stringer and brought him ashore. By the time I had cleaned my bass and yellow perch, it was dead. I threw it in the edge of the woods. By that afternoon it was stinking to high heaven. My wife insisted I move it and I could hardly take a breath while getting it on a shovel and taking it about 100 yards into the woods. Unfortunately, we could smell it the following day, depening on the direction of the wind.
 
#14 ·
Just curious. Why fish for bowfin? Just for sport? They do put up a good fight. I used to catch them all the time on Lake Waccamaw. Locals call them "grindle" and consider them trash fish.
They are great sport, like hooking into a dinosaur! I saw a huge one in the creek this morning but I was having less than the greatest of fishing trips and only caught a sunburn. It’s very cool watching bowfin swim, they’re super weird and definitely not trash fish.
 
#15 ·
^^this...great sport and they bite when the largemouth sometimes dont. sometimes they fight lackluster bringing them in but when they see you they go ballistic!
 
#17 ·
Went back to the magic bowfin pond on Father’s Day morning (that was my gift, a morning of fishing without any grief, lol...) I managed 4 bowfin - 1 on cutbait and 3 on a spinner I was fishing on my ultralight set-up (6 lb line with a 20 lb fluorocarbon leader) It made for some good fights. Here’s a video of the biggest one I caught:


https://youtu.be/bzkVmCe0JQY


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#18 ·
If you throw spinnerbaits for bass, you are bound to catch a bowfin at some point. I've had numerous bowfin destroy my spinnerbaits over the years both in Florida and here in NC. They are fun to catch, but the moment you realize its not the 5lb+ bass you were hunting, it's a bit disappointing. Then the battle begins.
 
#21 ·
Here is a well-known and very public spot: when I lived in Chapel Hill I caught a lot of them in the Waterfowl impoundments off Stagecoach and Farrington Roads between Chapel Hill and Durham - can fish the water near the dams, and explore on down into the creeks that flow from them looking for deeper holes. Have not fished there recently but this time of year I used to go out to Jordan and cast net shad around the boat ramps, then fish cut bait in either of these 2 areas with carolina rigs, circle hooks, and something like 30-lb mono leader. If you soak cut shad in these places you will probably catch some catfish and eventually you will run into a mean, toothy bowfin.

There are tons of other shallow, frequently muddy creeks where you can find them too. They will eat lures but cut bait, especially shad, is your high-percentage play.

Good luck.
 
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