BAGman,
A place to go to catch bowfins is a place called Wallace Lake Dam in Shreveport Louisiana. The best part about it is the water moves slowly and not many people go out there. Me and brothers can usually catch bowfins that weigh at least 10 pounds. Sometimes you can see 4-8 bowfins as they gulp some air. But the only problem is there are a lot of snakes there and it is extremely rocky along the banks so sometimes you can lose a fish as it thrash along the rocks.
Good fishing to all.
AllanW 06/16/08
February 2008
BAGman,
I catch a lot of good bowfin at the following spot.
Bodcau Bayou
ChrisM, 02/25/08
Bagman,
Another great day of 'finnin in Louisiana ! This was the only Bowfin I
caught all weekend, but boy was it worth it !!
MikeT 11/01/07
Bagman,
I am in the Air Force and being stationed at Barksdale Air Force Base gives me access to many great fishing holes that the public don't have access to.
Last Thursday I was fishing for bream on Flag Lake and managed to hook a bowfin that my elderly partner immediately classified as a Gar. It didn't look like any gar that I'd ever seen so I unhooked it and threw it back and went home to research my new catch. After about an hour of searching Google for freshwater fish I found a picture of the Bowfin that matched my catch. I then found your site and am very thankful for the wealth of information you have available.
In the last three days I've caught 2 ½ bowfin using cut up bream (I only kill the ones that swallow the hook). I say ½ of a bowfin because on Saturday something absolutely nailed my rod that I had pushed down about 4 inches in the mud. The hit was so hard that it jerked the pole out of the ground and almost pulled the whole thing of the spillway and into the water. I managed to catch the pole, jerked hard to set the hook and then fought this bad boy for 15 minutes. I could get him to the bank, look him in the eye and he'd jet about 25 yards the other way. I finally thought I'd tired him out and went to pull him onto the bank but he was too heavy for my pole and because I usually fish for bluegill I didn't have a net or gloves to grab his mouth. I had him halfway out of the water and he jumped, threw the hook and I was left there with an audience asking what kind of demon fish that was. I'd say he was about 2 ¾ feet long and had to of weighed around 14-15 pounds. I'm definitely going to be searching for that fish for a long time.
I eagerly await your reply. I hope to meet some more Bowfin Anglers that would like to go out on the Barksdale AFB lakes with me and try their hand. E-mail me - richarde at bowfinanglers.com
Thank you,
Richard E, 10/22/07
Bagman,
Finally downloaded some pictures from last weekend. Here's the fin that made the trip worthwhile. I have narrowed down the best bait to use for these guys. It seems that a large blue gill is their favorite. It's too big for the Gar to take....although they will play with it, but one good tug usually scares them away.
They also love it when I catch Shad and make cut bait.
Hope you have a great weekend !
MikeT 10/05/07
Bagman,
Just another routine day of fishing in Bogalusa, LA ! I love this place. I usually catch one or two quality 'fins with each trip. This was the prize of the weekend at 8lbs 8oz.
MikeT 10/03/07
Bagman,
I live in south Louisiana, in the Atchafalaya swamp. When I was young (I am an active 72-year-old), we used to fish for the bowfin. We used crawfish for bait and fished the ditches and sluggish bayous. We didn't eat them, but other folks found them very good food fare. We used a hand line with two hooks and a cork. We would throw it out and watch the cork. The bowfin was a very slow taker. He would just barely nibble the bait, making the cork move ever so slightly, and then all of a sudden he would take the bait and take off. Many would get off because of the hard mouth.
Some people used a long cane reed pole and when their cork went under, they would set the hook and almost jerk the fish's head off, surely implanting the hook. I once saw a lady jerk one, but instead of it being a choupique, it was a big bream. The bream came off her hook in mid-air and went into the canal across the road! We all laughed!
As kids, we were always in the swamp playing and exploring. We killed many large cottonmouths, but we all had a forked stick so we caught many alive. My mama would have been horrified. Once there was a drought and this slough completely dried up. The surface mud was cracked and we walked across it without going through. There was no other entrance to the slough. A hard rain came and we went into the swamp the next day and the slough had a foot of water in it and the choupique were just swimming and dancing so to speak. We knew that there was no way for the choupique to enter the slough and were under the mud when the slough had dried up.
I remember once they were building a garage for a dealership. Across the highway there was a slough that was stopped up with lilies and cattails. This was another time of a long period without rain. There was a ditch that ran from the slough back into the swamp. This ditch was the only area that had water and this is where the choupiques were. We could see thousands just lying in the clear foot deep water. We went home, got some old broom sticks, and some big fish hooks. We straightened the hooks then nailed them on the broomsticks with chicken wire staples. Back to the swamp, we had a time spearing the choupiques and tossing them in the grass behind us. That's the way it was then and we never thought twice about it. We started home, but we stopped across the street where they were erecting the building and told some of the laborers that we had caught all these choupiques and if they wanted them to bring a wheel barrow. They laughed and said they would go get them after work. Next day, they stopped us and told us that they had gotten two wheel barrows full and couldn't stop laughing. Well that was some of my experience catching them, Ha Ha!
Leo G Sr., 02/05/07
Bagman,
I am glad I found your web site. I grew up on Choupique as a young boy
in South Louisiana. They are hard to come by these days. While growing up,
only a handful of folks were eating this fish. I can
remember them being sold for $2.00 each in the mid 80's. They were
considered trash fish. Even today I found some pictures online and a
co-worker said, "We throw them back". But things have changed and they
are being marketed for their eggs only. This is the best eating fish in
the world when cooked fresh out of the water. I will pass this web site to a few fans I know.
I have seen 'em 5ft before. There is a place called Stephenville near
Morgan City La.. My father fished for them there back in the 70's and
80's, before the rest of the world decided they were not trash fish.
They truly caught some monsters back then.
Thanks,
Eric L, 01/05/07
October 2006, near Luling LA
Bagman,
My dad and I landed a few more nice fins around Luling,LA.
NathanF, 10/09/06
Bagman,
I caught this choupic in Luling, LA using a blue and white spinnerbait. Caught four more after this one
NathanF, 10/01/06
Bagman,
This is a picture of my first Bowfin, which was caught right off the Vermilion River in Lafayette, Louisiana, and was 4 pounds 10 onces. I caught it in a coulee that my friends and I go to to catch spotted and alligator gar. I had no clue that it had Bowfin. I saw it, cast at it, and it took my cork and was fighting without a hook in his mouth. For 10 seconds, it wouldn't let go and was putting up a good fight with just with the cork in his mouth. When he finally spit out the cork I thought he was gone but he came right back and took my bait. It took me about a minute to get him in. Since then I have caught a couple more in the same spot but the coulee seems to be controled mostly by gar.
JoelJ, 09/01/06
Bagman,
I caught this nice sized Bowfin almost a year to the day of my first
catch (See below, June 2004). The
interesting thing about this fish was what I found when I went to pull
the hook out of his mouth. The day before, something broke some 10 lb
test line that I was using to fish for catfish. I re-spooledwith some
braided line and was fishing for gar when this monster took the bait.
When I went to pull the hook out of his mouth, there was my nice, shiny
circle hook with a small piece of my green 10lb trilene in his mouth !!
At least I now know what broke my line !!
MikeT 06/03/05
This
is Carolyn T, with her bowfin caught in the
Chinquapin Canal, Maurepas Louisiana, on January 23, 2005. She hooked
it three times before landing it and, not wanting to be caught, that
fin came off once again! Carolyn tackled it on the ground - before it
could get away again! She's proud of this one!
Mike K 01/27/05
We
had another windfall day today, 28 November. That fish
yesterday was caught on about a three inch long rosie (baby carp) and
#4 snell hook rigged with sinker and standard cork. Weather conditions
were 58 degrees and sunny. The water was running from the Toledo Bend
spillway on the Texas side of the lake, and was running fairly hard,
about 10 mph. We are not sure of the water temp. Attached are several
more pictures of the fish we caught today, on the Louisiana side of
Toledo Bend Lake. They were caught between 10-11 am, (on the Louisiana
side of the Toledo Bend Spillway this time). Again, we caught them on
Rosies, this time Carolina Rigged. Water was not running as hard. Air
temperature was 63 degrees. Wow! What a great two days of fishing!
Respectfully,
MAJ Bill B and Sara B
Fort Polk, La
This
is my first time on the site and I absolutely
love it. My friends always tease me for catching huge bowfins, but I
always tell them they're the most fun fish to fight. I catch an average
of 4 bowfin each time I go out b@$$ fishing. Now that I found this
site, I will be sure to catch many more and send you as many pics as
possible. Here is a pic of my 10 1/2 pounder out of Henderson, LA
(located in the Atchafalaya Basin), it was caught in August 2004. P.S.
When will you be holding a bowfin tournament? Thanx alot I enjoy the
site!
Good Finnin',
Joseph T 09/18/04
Great
Web Page !!! I have attached a photo of a
Bowfin I caught at my in-laws on the Pearl River in Louisiana. This
whopper weighed in at 15 pounds (using bathroom scales) and was 35 1/2"
long. The amazing thing is I caught it on 6lb. test line. Was fishing
with a fillet of shad, for catfish. Using a medium action 6' 6" Berkley
rod, Shimano 2000 series reel and a Tru-Turn #2 catfish hook. This bad
boy fought me for 18 minutes. What a rush !!! All I can remember was
setting the hook and..... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzip. He took off !!
Mike T
