Anybody catching any ?

Wish I was. They fight like the devil.

Do they still have the World Bowfin C'ship down on the upper end of the Mobile Delta? I went one year for the weigh-in and they had a truck bed full of mudfish up to 15 or so pounds. Most all of 'em still alive and meaner 'n hell, too.

I was just talking to some buddies the other day about how there are not near as many of them as it used to be. That and jackfish (chain pickerel). We used to literally wear them out as a kid!!! They were fun as heck to catch and were in about every slough, or slow-moving creek around.
Nowadays, a lot of kids don't even know what the are!

I still catch bowfin occasionally, but chain pickeral are rare. I haven't caught one in 10 years. Used to catch them often.

I believe that tournament still takes place in July.
We have plenty of them in our oxbow off of the Alabama river. They know how to fight.

theres still a ton of them. its weird but ive seen more below oliver damn in tuscaloosa than anywhere

Thats one species I've never caught.Caught several pickerel while bass fishing in swamps but never a bowfin.

Might have to get a swap going for the elusive bowfin
140 inch whitetail for an ice chest full of grinnel (I can throw in some alligator gar and carp to complete the slam).

first time I caught a bowfin I tried to lip it like a bass. bad idea. for any one that has ever had a snapper clamp down on them and not let go, this is what a bowfin bite feels like.

I have been bit by mangrove (grey) snapper on numerous occasions and I have learned that the bigger they are the longer their teeth are and they always sink their teeth in as deep as their teeth are long and they usually hold on for about 10 seconds which seems like an eternity and it would make men lesser than me cry.

Had a mango grab my pinkie finger

Those mangrove's have some serious pins for teeth. We caught several down in the everglades last week. Fun to catch.

A Bowfin (Grinnell) is a spooky looking fish. I caught one on a jug one time and that sob went crazy when I lifted it out of the water!

Used to catch Jacks all the time on spinnerbaits in sloughs when I was a kid. Too lazy to do that any more.

Lonster

theres a lake behind my house full of jacks i hate those things they will steal a crappie minnow in the blink of an eye. ive caught several big grinnel in bass tournaments that will break your heart once you find out what they are.

Im not trying to be ugly, but that was dumb....ouch!

little brother thumbed a nice mangrove snapper near Big Pine Key on evening. Funny(to us) to watch him try and shake it off.....

The bowfin tournament was just this past weekend! There are still plenty of them down here and plenty of Jack fish too! The black water creeks that run into the Tombigbee from the West are full of Jacks and the dang bowfin are thick everywhere! They'll destroy a spinner bait but are definitely fun to catch!

Neither of these species are fish that you will want to "lip"! Lol!

A grinnell is only good for garden fertilizer, but a jack is some good eatin. You just gotta figure out a way to deal with the bones. Best way we found was to scale him, then fillet him and leave the skin on. Then make a bunch of cuts down to the skin, but not thru it, and make them very close together to cut thru all the bones. The skin is the only thing holding the fillet together when you finish. Then fry him really crisp and eat skin, bones, and all. They have a great flavor.

Dadgum. Who puts on the bowfin tournament? Still the same tackle shop that did it 10 years ago? I can't remember the name.