some pics of our '09 season

[rnocera]

Just wanted to share some pics of our '09 season so far. We've really been enjoying ourselves, and have been trying to get out at least once a week, even if only for a little while. The way I see it, fishing can only get better as the summer goes!


My first bowfin of the season!
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d187/cixelsydmi/Fishing/mebowfin.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d187/cixelsydmi/Fishing/mebowfinkiss.jpg
Another 'fin
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d187/cixelsydmi/Fishing/bowfin1.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d187/cixelsydmi/Fishing/bowfin2.jpg
First bass of the season.
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d187/cixelsydmi/Fishing/mefirstbass.jpg

My wife's first bowfin ever.
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d187/cixelsydmi/Fishing/jenbowfin.jpg
A gorgeous 'fin. Check out that green!
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d187/cixelsydmi/Fishing/prettybowfin.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d187/cixelsydmi/Fishing/bluefinmouth.jpg One my wife brought in with lots of blue.
My second 21" Northern pike of the season.
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d187/cixelsydmi/Fishing/menorthern.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d187/cixelsydmi/Fishing/jenbigbowfin.jpg
And the first fish my wife has ever kept.
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d187/cixelsydmi/Fishing/jennorthern.jpg

[CaLiGrEEnZ]

nice fish

[CaLiGrEEnZ]

and wife

[rnocera]

lol. Thanks!

[cichlid fiend]

Great catches boss!

Where u located in pennsy?

Btw- I think that bow that had the green on it means they are in spawn mode.

[Texs]

Nice fish, wife, and shirt.

[Louie]

Nice fish. The bowfin looks great . Have never seen one other than pics.

[rnocera]

Thanks for all the input. I'm in Western PA, in Slippery Rock- Just north of Pittsburgh. These pics are all from the Geneva Marsh, or Conneaut Marsh as some people call it. We don't have many bowfin in most of PA, but in the last few years they've really taken off in the Conneaut area. The Conneaut Channel flows from Conneaut Lake, through the Marsh, and into French Creek. All three places are great for bowfins. It's sad that people hate them as bad as they do, because they're "invading" waters where people regularly catch bass, pike, and muskie. The other three are becoming harder to catch in these waters- dunno if they're rarer, but the bowfin definitely strike more often, and a heck of a lot harder! Lots of people in the area there are cutting bowfin bellies open, cutting heads off, or just throwing the whole fish up on the bank to die.

Personally, I think they're amazing fish. We started catching them a few years ago, and even though we've been fishing those waters for years, we'd never seen one before maybe 6 or 8 years ago. My dad's been fishing those waters for close to 30 years, and he'd never seen one before that. Since my interest in fish (in an aquarium and on the end of my pole) has grown in the past few years, my interest in these guys as grown exponentially. I'm thrilled that we have them in the area again, and would be thrilled to see them fill waters other than the Conneaut system, as long as they're given the opportunity to spread naturally and aren't introduced to other systems. Supposedly their population has been growing in Erie, too, and we're headed up for Memorial Day weekend to see if we can't find some up there. I've never caught any other fish that was as much fun as these guys. In my experience, if they're in the water, they'll bite more often than not, and when they bite . . . wow. I've never had anything hit as hard as one of these guys. My wife caught that 25" pike and said the 25" pike fought half as hard as the 15" bowfin. That alone makes them game enough for me!


Oh, also- yes, the blue and green mean they're in spawning mode. Both of those were males, and I've been told they lose all that color after spawning.

And one final before I forget- As for the tshirt. . . Virginia may be for lovers, but we have Intercourse in Pennsylvania!

[ryverrat]

If people are just slitting the bellies and leaving the bowfins on the bank to die, please tell your local Fish and Boat Warden. In PA they are rare- I live in the eastern part of the state and had never seen one. They are on the candidate list for being listed as endangered in PA. People always blame the "new" species for lack of other species they want to catch- most likely the bowfin is just more likely to strike and the other species are probably suffering from overfishing (that's the same reason some lakes in PA have a size limit on sunfish- too many people catching them and killing them).

[rnocera]

Unfortunately, it doesn't make a difference who we tell. There are no laws regarding them in PA, and you're allowed to kill them.

Personally, I'm hoping the fish commission will declare them game fish and put a limit on them. It'd be nice to see a law like some states have about it being illegal to wantonly waste them.

I'm planning on taking some pics in to the fish commission showing what a good time we have catching these guys over the summer, and tell them exactly how many I find dead and how many people I see injuring or killing these beautiful animals.


And the real sad part isn't that they're "new" fish causing the "problems"- these fish have been here for 180,000,000 years! Bass have only been around for around 12,000,000 years. In my eyes, they're native- if they compete with other native species & one species becomes rarer, well, that's what was meant to happen. We don't need to stick our noses in trying to destroy a species that's been around that long just because we like another species more.

[ryverrat]

The "new" didn't mean new- I know they were here before most game species- it is just people didn't see them often and except for where you are fishing they are rare- here's a link about them from Fish and Boat
http://www.fish.state.pa.us/pafish/fishhtms/chap8.htm#bowfinl

Also all fish are covered by regulations in PA- not always as individual species. The inland regulations state that either a fish is protected (like paddlefish) or it is covered as a game fish- if no creel limit is set for the species then it falls under the same regs as sunfish or baitfish - 50 combined species open year round.
http://www.fish.state.pa.us/fishpub/summary/inland.html

Since they are more common where you are fishing, Fish and Boat may be interested in the information. It is also illegal to kill a fish and not make an effort to properly dispose of it- regulations
http://www.fish.state.pa.us/fishpub/summary/violations.html

"To kill any fish and fail to make a reasonable effort to lawfully dispose of it."

[ruggiero33]

Yeah, its a shame to see what some people do to bowfin

[MultispeciesTamer]

I recently caught my first bowfin and I might say it could have ate yours its was 10+ pounds. There is two things I learned from it. First dont stick your hand in its gills use a boga grip. 2nd they smell like dog sh**. Overall though it was the hardest fighting freshwater fish ive caught thus far.