# Two HUGE Bowfin/Dogfish



## STOLI69

My neighbor was fishing my lake last night and he called me around 
8:00 pm and wanted to know if Dogfish were a threat to our lake. I was not sure but because it was soo big...and I thought I had heard they had a lung...I told him to put it in a bucket with water and we would take a pic and then take it back to the water. He ended up catching a second one with in another hour. Both of them were caught on live Perch. The smaller Dogfish took a 8 inch perch and the bigger one took a 4 inch perch. I am glad we put them back in the lake because Chris did some re-search and they are actually GOOD for a lake. Neat looking and incredibly NASTY fish. Good thing Chris had a glove on cuz one of them bit him and did not want to let go. They also got their limit of Hogzilla Gills!
Don


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## Reel_Screamer86

I would of never turned them loose, they feed on the other spawning fish eggs!


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## STOLI69

My neighbor Chris, the guy who caught them, spent a couple hours researching them and sent me the links. NO where did it say to kill them or that they are bad for the lake. Actually, all the literature I read said they were good for the lake and a sign of a healthy lake. I can attest to the fact my lake IS healthy! Happy fishing.
Don


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## sslopok

I have caught some huge dogfish on the muskegon river and they are awesome fighters. Many fish feed on eggs and I am glad you threw them back in. They were put here for a reason and should remain there.
sslopok


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## STOLI69

Thanx sslopok. I thought we did the right thing:corkysm55. Have a great night.
Don


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## stickem

STOLI69 said:


> My neighbor was fishing my lake last night and he called me around
> 8:00 pm and wanted to know if Dogfish were a threat to our lake. I was not sure but because it was soo big...and I thought I had heard they had a lung...I told him to put it in a bucket with water and we would take a pic and then take it back to the water. He ended up catching a second one with in another hour. Both of them were caught on live Perch. The smaller Dogfish took a 8 inch perch and the bigger one took a 4 inch perch. I am glad we put them back in the lake because Chris did some re-search and they are actually GOOD for a lake. Neat looking and incredibly NASTY fish. Good thing Chris had a glove on cuz one of them bit him and did not want to let go. They also got their limit of Hogzilla Gills!
> Don


you just killed more fish by putting them back in the lake....THEY HAVE NO NATURAL PREDATORS..so they will keep eating your gills and perch..and nothing will eat them:lol::lol: nice job!!!the only good dogfish is a dead dogfish..same goes for carp
Stick


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## stickem

see below....some people think carp are harmless....






this is what i think!!!!!


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## sfw1960

Predators keep population stunting *in CHECK.*
:fish2:
STOLI69 _DID_ do the right thing , plus he's more educated than others on this site....


:lol:


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## Chad Smith

I caught this dogfish the other day, dam thing bit me too. Just like the Sturgeon, Dogfish are prehistoric and yes they suck air into their bladder when in low oxygen level waters. They are fun fish to fight but I hate those bastards.:lol:


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## stickem

sfw1960 said:


> Predators keep population stunting *in CHECK.*
> :fish2:
> STOLI69 _DID_ do the right thing , plus he's more educated than others on this site....
> 
> 
> :lol:


I DISAGREE 100% ill be the one laughing when all your game fish are depleted by trash fish...every trash fish we kill ..we help you rod and reel people out..every carp we kill thats one more hatch of eggs that survive and more plants...every dogfish we kill thats a few more fish you all can catch,,every gar pike we shoot thats more game fish for you guys....so your telling me that so the lakes that are open to any size pike are properly managed..? and in check..no...i dont think so JMO


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## DE82

stickem said:


> I DISAGREE 100% ill be the one laughing when all your game fish are depleted by trash fish...every trash fish we kill ..we help you rod and reel people out..every carp we kill thats one more hatch of eggs that survive and more plants...every dogfish we kill thats a few more fish you all can catch,,every gar pike we shoot thats more game fish for you guys....so your telling me that so the lakes that are open to any size pike are properly managed..? and in check..no...i dont think so JMO


:lol: One of the most uneducated statements I've ever read in my life

First of all you are aware that carp are not native and bowfin are right? Because if you were you wouldn't make a statement like "they will eat all the game fish" Second do you know a bowfins eating habits? Because they are very close to a big largemouth or northern pike. Third of all, thank you for telling us how you know more about the eco system than mother nature, for years upon years bowfin, a native fish has done just fine without anybody trying to control them.

Can you shoot them with a bow? Yep, is it your legal right? Yep. Am I going to complain if you do? No, but don't sit here and act like a fisheries biologist and tell us that what you do is for all of us when in reality you shoot bowfin, crap or anything else you do because you like it and nothing more and rather you want to believe it or not the waters bowfin live in would be no worse off without you shooting them. 

Again, going by your logic, all big bass and pike should also be taken out because they eat game fish.

By the way are far as your "no natural predator" goes....big fish eat small fish....if you need somebody to elaborate on that......


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## Reel_Screamer86

Everybody is entitled to their own opinion.


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## DE82

Reel_Screamer86 said:


> Everybody is entitled to their own opinion.


Opinion is one thing, fact is another  Fact is bowfin are no threat to ANY lake what so ever, feed very close to bass and pike and do not NEED to be controlled by anybody or anything. They're a native fish and one of the oldest fish we have in freshwater.

I guess in the end all you can try and do is teach and present facts to people, what they do with them is up to them


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## stickem

DE82 said:


> :lol: One of the most uneducated statements I've ever read in my life
> 
> First of all you are aware that carp are not native and bowfin are right? Because if you were you wouldn't make a statement like "they will eat all the game fish" Second do you know a bowfins eating habits? Because they are very close to a big largemouth or northern pike. Third of all, thank you for telling us how you know more about the eco system than mother nature, for years upon years bowfin, a native fish has done just fine without anybody trying to control them.
> 
> Can you shoot them with a bow? Yep, is it your legal right? Yep. Am I going to complain if you do? No, but don't sit here and act like a fisheries biologist and tell us that what you do is for all of us when in reality you shoot bowfin, crap or anything else you do because you like it and nothing more and rather you want to believe it or not the waters bowfin live in would be no worse off without you shooting them.
> 
> Again, going by your logic, all big bass and pike should also be taken out because they eat game fish.
> 
> By the way are far as your "no natural predator" goes....big fish eat small fish....if you need somebody to elaborate on that......


all im saying is if they were not a threat to lakes/game fish they wouldn't be considered "trash" fish and BASS AND PIKE HAVE NAVE NATURAL PREDATORS...DOG FISH NO ~JUST MY OPINION~


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## DE82

Congrats on the catch to, they are few and far between in all the waters I fish. My biggest was 7lbs on LSC from shore. I know they are a fight and a half.


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## DE82

stickem said:


> all im saying is if they were not a threat to lakes/game fish they wouldn't be considered "trash" fish and BASS AND PIKE HAVE NAVE NATURAL PREDATORS...DOG FISH NO ~JUST MY OPINION~


Again, no, they are called "trash" fish because they taste like crap and are boney. I've caught pike with baby bowfin in the stomach, I know for a fact a big largemouth will go after them and I caught a 28inch walleye with a bowfin in it's stomach as well. Big fish, eat little fish, it doesn't matter what kind.


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## stickem

that may be true...but they should never be released back into the lake..thats just not smart IMO all im saying..to one his own i guess


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## DE82

stickem said:


> that may be true...but they should never be released back into the lake..thats just not smart IMO all im saying..to one his own i guess


 Fisheries biologist and the DNR disagree


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## sslopok

Dogfish are nothing new to Mich. They are native like others have said. Lakes have been doing well here for a long time with dogfish in them. I have never heard anyone say that a lake is overrun by them either. Ignorance is why we are losing animals to extiction everyday. You wanna kill fish for fun and feel good about, go kill snakeheads and gobies or something! 
sslopok


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## stickem

your right it is fun to shoot them..and people have been doing it for years.they are not going to go anywhere..im not saying im right and im disagreeing with you its just my opinion everybody is entitled to one i guess a bowfishermen has a different mindset then a hook and line fisher
have a good one
Stick


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## diztortion

Must be something about not killing every animal just because one might be inclined to feel they are a "trash" fish. I catch countless numbers of "trash" fish a year. I don't intentionally kill them due to the fact I feel they are threatening game fish. I see it all the time on the river, people throwing fish in the rocks to let them rot and die.


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## quest32a

DE82 said:


> Congrats on the catch to, they are few and far between in all the waters I fish. My biggest was 17lbs on LSC from shore. I know they are a fight and a half.


You know, I was going to stick up for you on this thread because for once I agree with you. But then you go and post something like this. You are honestly telling me that you caught a state record dogfish? And not only was it a state record, but nearly 3 lbs bigger than the current state record. 


In addition, it would be the single biggest bowfin ever recorded in the midwest. 
http://www.lake-link.com/anglers/fish/fish.cfm?FishID=44

I do my best not to doubt others catch, but really dude? Why make something like this up?


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## DE82

quest32a said:


> You know, I was going to stick up for you on this thread because for once I agree with you. But then you go and post something like this. You are honestly telling me that you caught a state record dogfish? And not only was it a state record, but nearly 3 lbs bigger than the current state record.
> 
> 
> In addition, it would be the single biggest bowfin ever recorded in the midwest.
> http://www.lake-link.com/anglers/fish/fish.cfm?FishID=44
> 
> I do my best not to doubt others catch, but really dude? Why make something like this up?


Meant to say 7lbs 

If you honestly believe though bigger dogfish haven't been caught in Michigan than I just don't know. I saw a guy get a 21lber out of the MO, caught it under the fin on a spawn sac. I'm positive the state record sheapshead isn't the biggest one caught in this state too, most people don't care to register a "trash" fish, heck most people don't even know how you would register for a record or even know the records. 

For the record, the 21lber was measured on two digital scales, mine and another guys, the guy took it home to eat he said. Be that as it may I meant to say 7lbs for mine, caught it off shore on a largemouth bass, was reeling in a small largemouth and the fish came out of nowhere and took it, battled it for about a half hour my dad said on 4lb line. Pretty sure because I caught it on a bass, even if it was 50lbs the record wouldn't have mattered since that's not a legal fishing method, not that I was fishing with a bass but my guess would be since that's what it hit on, the fish wouldn't have counted


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## quest32a

DE82 said:


> Meant to say 7lbs
> 
> If you honestly believe though bigger dogfish haven't been caught in Michigan that I just don't know. I saw a guy get a 21lber out of the MO, caught it under the fin on a spawn sac. I'm positive the state record sheapshead isn't the biggest one caught in this state too, most people don't care to register a "trash" fish, heck most people don't even know how you would register for a record or even know the records.
> 
> For the record, the 21lber was measured on two digital scales, mine and another guys, the guy took it home to eat he said. Be that as it may I meant to say 7lbs for mine, caught it off shore on a largemouth bass, was reeling in a small largemouth and the fish came out of nowhere and took it, battled it for about a half hour my dad said on 4lb line.


Oh I don't doubt that there are some very, very big dogfish caught in Michigan. 

But I must say I completely doubt your story. How do you misstroke a 1 in front of a 7. I could understand if it was a 17lb fish and you mistroked and hit 27 instead, but to just randomly include a 1 in front of the 7 is no mistake. You were making stuff up and got caught.


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## DE82

quest32a said:


> Oh I don't doubt that there are some very, very big dogfish caught in Michigan.
> 
> But I must say I completely doubt your story. How do you misstroke a 1 in front of a 7. I could understand if it was a 17lb fish and you mistroked and hit 27 instead, but to just randomly include a 1 in front of the 7 is no mistake. You were making stuff up and got caught.


:lol: What ever gets you through the day. I'm glad to see a mod can call people out anytime he wants, you do it in the trout forums as well, other members, have even brought it up in the paint creek group and the SE MI forums before, not one or two people, but 6-7 people. 

Frankly when somebody tells me I'm lying when all I did was make a typo I think that's BS. I type fast and sometimes crap gets in there that shouldn't be, most of the time I catch it, sometime I don't. Way to hold the standard though.

and besides all that point where do you get off questioning somebody's catch when there's a forum rule against it? So because you're a mod you feel like you have the right to talk down to people and break rules? I don't see Walleye Mike on here questioning people's catch, or Steve doing it, I don't see ANY mod talking down to people and calling out a catch but YOU. Then I tell you I meant to say 7 and all the sudden you take it a step further and call me a lair? I may be a lot of things but a lair isn't one of them. Don't believe me go talk to some people that actually fish with me and people I've met off this very site. 

I'm well aware that could very well get me banned but I'm tired of being talked down to by you, your PM's in the past and your crap every time I post something and I feel I have the right to speak up and defend myself. I'm sure in your mind you did nothing wrong but I have more than one thread from other members that say otherwise and all somebody has to do is look on this forum for them. 

Good bye


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## sea nympho

stickem said:


> you just killed more fish by putting them back in the lake....THEY HAVE NO NATURAL PREDATORS..so they will keep eating your gills and perch..and nothing will eat them nice job!!!the only good dogfish is a dead dogfish..same goes for carp
> 
> Stick


 
Dude, I don't even know where to start! 

It's good to see most has already been pointed out.


You are getting caught up in the same hooplah bs as the _snakehead_ in FL. And hung-up on the phrase "trash-fish". 'Trash' by WHO's standard?...Yours? I ,and thankfully most, fisherman choose science.
ALL fish have predators when they're small enough to be eaten by the bigger fish in the lake. Duh?..right? Each bowfin (& fish in general) spends a SIGNIFICANT portion of its life subject to the pike, walleye, bass, perch, crappie, trout, muskie, etc, that are big enough to feed on it. Plus, ANY fish swimming close enough to an alpha-pike in a bad mood is gonna get it, especially considering their modest size.
Like Robert said...predators BALANCE poulations. Do you _like_ catching 4" bluegills, 18" pike, 12" bass? :lol:
Maybe it's a way of justifying the fact that when bowfishing, one kills every fish he 'catches'.
I'm willing to bet even if one killed _every_ bowfin he caught he still would not make an appreciable dent in the balance of power in the lake.
I've more points to make...but I really just don't care any more.


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## STOLI69

Hey Chad, that photo is NASTY:yikes:. Cool BUT freaky looking.


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## STOLI69

WOW!! I just can not believe all the animosity on this site:gaga:. I am glad I fish private lakes the majority of the time. Thanx for the support DE82 and sfw1960. I just realized there was a page 2 for the comments. UNBELIEVABLE!!! I just thought catching not one but TWO huge Bowfin was kinda cool and wanted to share. I was hoping to let people know after a few hours of research we learned Bowfin are NOT trash fish and are actually a good sign of a healthy lake. God help the ignorant. Hope everyone has a GREAT week of catching:corkysm55!
Don


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## Reel_Screamer86

Not to keep the "fire" burning but in some water's there are "alot" of trash-fish and some have to be culled to balance the predation to survival rate for the smaller fish and larger fish... To me all the fish spoken above in this thread, if and when we bring any of them to my boat they never get a chance to swim again.. Call me ignorant or what have ya but it's my right to do so, and them are my "FACTS" and i'm sticking to them....

So to all that are riding "stickem" we all have a right to do what we want as long as it complies with the fishing/hunting regulations..


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## deep6in

STOLI69 said:


> I just thought catching not one but TWO huge Bowfin was kinda cool and wanted to share. I was hoping to let people know after a few hours of research we learned Bowfin are NOT trash fish and are actually a good sign of a healthy lake. God help the ignorant. Hope everyone has a GREAT week of catching:corkysm55!
> Don


Those are some nasty looking fish, but cool to see and fun to catch. I can vouch for Stoli on his lake being quite healthy. I have fished his lake on a few occasions and we have never been left without a limit of hog pan fish(in fact it is rare to catch a throw back fish on that lake). We have caught some amazing bass and seen and caught some huge pike. The carp in that lake are monsters and now we see a few bowfin caught and the lake seems to be in it's prime. I think you did the right thing Stoli. Keep up the great fishing and keep up the great pics. And most of all keep on inviting me to come out and fish that lake with you


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## Catcher35

so... in this opinion, you should kill all pike and musky you come across too. All Waters are supposed to have an apex predator that swims. Yes, it is your opinion and it is a wonderful example of ignorance.


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## Catcher35

Sorry, that last message was for "stickem" and indirectly for the message from "reelscreemer86." Another good example of ignorance.


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## STOLI69

Hey, at least his Avitar pic is hot:corkysm55.


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## STOLI69

Oooops...I thought you were responding to Reel Screamer86. You re-posted while I was posting. Now I sound ignorant:gaga:. Sorry.


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## DE82

STOLI69 said:


> WOW!! I just can not believe all the animosity on this site:gaga:. I am glad I fish private lakes the majority of the time. Thanx for the support DE82 and sfw1960. I just realized there was a page 2 for the comments. UNBELIEVABLE!!! I just thought catching not one but TWO huge Bowfin was kinda cool and wanted to share. I was hoping to let people know after a few hours of research we learned Bowfin are NOT trash fish and are actually a good sign of a healthy lake. God help the ignorant. Hope everyone has a GREAT week of catching:corkysm55!
> Don


No problem. Be glad you didn't get them on a spinner or crank, they flat out tear lures UP :lol:


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## GVDocHoliday

Stickem, you do a huge disservice to all bowfisherman when you open your mouth. Next time you have a thought...just let it go.


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## sfw1960

GVDocHoliday said:


> Stickem, you do a huge disservice to all bowfisherman when you open your mouth. Next time you have a thought...just let it go.


:lol: :lol:

h0W dU y00 sPeLL !Gn&RT???
:evilsmile


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## MPT

Those must have put up a great fight. They are pound for pound the hardest fighting freshwater fish. Evidently preety tasty too...
http://www.bowfinanglers.com/recipes.html


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## diztortion

*Nathan's Fried Fins*

Hey, I've been hoarding a massive amount of Bowfin in my freezer out back for a while now, and I just cooked my biggest fillets up last night. All I did was take a cast iron skillet, fill it about 2" deep with oil, salt and pepper the fillets, sprinkle a good bit of powder cornmeal on top. I dropped them in there and they came out as the whitest meat I've ever cooked. *I knew the oil was hot enough to cook when the mosquitoes flying into it began to sizzle when they hit!* They fillets were about 4 lbs a piece and took 7 minutes both sides, not too long. The skin was left on and made for a nice textured feel. Cotton-Fish? Ha, what fool cooked their Fin wrong enough for it to taste like cotton? Definitely an excellent taste. Thought this might be helpful to post somewhere, seeing as it's so simple.


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## DE82

It mostly depends on the water you get them out of, their size and the water temp as to how they taste IMO. It's just like Pike, I won't eat Pike in the summertime out of warmer water because I don't like what it does to the meat but cold water, winter, early spring, late fall, 24-28inches I love some pike


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