They are fun fish to own and rewarding too ( that first non live food...that first pellet...) BUT you need to be sure you can house one properly, meaning a MINIMUM 180g tank and a smaller tank to grow up in at first (55-75) for pellet training and because this fish is a wimp when below 10" long-will be picked on by anything it can't eat!
Mine was a local purchase, but I now know that they are on the illegal fish list for my state. If you can catch one, it should be a legal fish to have. That being said, how big is your bass and pike? They will most likely bully the bowfin when it is young-then will become a meal once the bowfin is big enough (in the wild they have been known to get about 3')