Geez, I like texas folks, I was just kiddin!

I got a bro in law from Winter, Texas. Salt a the earth. My best fishin buddy and he has a lot more bad to say about Minneesotans than you guys have.

My dad taught me to always kill the rough fish, I thought it was a law. Carp, sheephead. I figure one less dogfish, then one more bass or walleye.

I don't mind eatin bullheads or catfish and there ugly. I turn back flathead cats and channels over 4 lbs. I release most game fish unless their bleeding

I'm jealous of you guys fishin, We've still got 20 plus inches of ice, give me a break, I'm just tryin to integrate this site a little

I call them mudfish....cuaght one in Florida. Only damn foosh I have ever caught with a spinnerbait.

Hey beeflover,

No harm, no foul. Most everybody knew you were kidding about TX. Everybody knows that it's the people in Louisiana that will eat anything. It's OK for me to say that since I grew up there.

It's an ecosystem. You remove one thing, what happens is that something that depended on what this thing did will suffer.

I know you were kidding, so was I. If you gonna give it, be prepared to get some in return.

Ain't that the truth. They eat them big *** rats!

I totally agree with Starlessdragon.... if its a fish and fights good, its a GOOD THING! HECK, they should stock bowfin! I fish for everything, and sure enjoy some variety.

I'm from Louisiana myself. We all grew up with the notion that if something would try to eat us given the chance, we should always try to eat it first.

CC - You're my kind of fishermen! If I ever had the money for a private pond, I probably would have it stocked with bowfin. It would be deep, and cold at one end, and shallow and warm at the other...Maybe a deep pond with a lagoon. I'd stock with the a lot of Smallmouth bass, and carp, and then I'd throw in some bowfin, some largemouth, some catfish, bluegill, and many more species for variety.

As much as I love the fight, I love catching a variety of fish almost as much. I consider all fish equal, so I'd never just kill a fish cause I didn't like the way it looked or because I was dissapointed I'd caught it. Seems to be that catching a rough fish and killing it for no reason is just the same as catching a bass and killing it for no reason. I wouldn't do either. If I'm gonna kill a fish I catch, it's only to eat it.

Kat - You're totally right about the eco system. Everything has it's place there, another good reason not to waste any fish. It's not as if you kill a bowfin or gar a bass will magically appear and take it's place. It's a balance, and nature does a pretty good job of keeping it balanced without us.

what could you catch a grenil on?

Grinnel make excellent fertilizer!

When caught, return them to the good earth, under about four inches will do.

Good fighter or not, they consume mucho bass and bass fry.

fishmagnet, Please do your homework on the bowfin. As stated before, they are some of the most efficient predators out there. This means for what they eat, they produce little waste. That translates into they don't eat very often since they don't need to. This is in direct contradiction to your statement that they are "voracious eaters". They have never ruined any body of water they are located in.

thank you

I have caught bowfin on baby brush hogs and spinnerbaits and crankbaits and once I caught 2 in the 10 lb range at lake fork in 3 casts using a buzzbait.

Starless, LOL, you are a smart feller and I respect the heck out of ya. There are two things that happen when a grinnel nails a high dollar bass lure, it destroys the bait (1 fish = 1 bait) and dissappoints the angler (who thought he had a trophy LMB!). At one point in time there was a statement in the Texas Fish and Game handbook that recommended disemboweling the fish before returning it to the lake (turtle food) because it was believed that the fish was truly a nest robber and threat to the "desireable species" recruitment process.
The actual 'bias' was probably handed down by generations of fishing folks all over who viewed them as worthless due to the difficulty in preparing them for a meal (like the gar, the carp and the buffalo, they are harder to clean than other species) and therefore shunned them for any redeemable quality.
In Louisiana, southeast Texas and other gulf coast states, they are called Choupique (sp?, pronounced "Shoepick"). You would be hard pressed to find a self-respecting Cajun that would pass up a choupique meal!

Everyone saying do not kill a grenel has never had one destroy a 15 dollar lucky craft.

I kill em, then remove hook. then let em fall.