yeah in florida they are called mud fish ! they dont get put back in the water ! fertilizer or buzzard food !

Cool. I have never caught one of them.

Don't ever let a cajun see you throwing one back! LOL. Those things are known as Choupique (sp?) in Louisiana and they like eating them! My biggest, to date, was about 11 pounds. I believe the Texas state record also came from Lake Fork. If my memory serves me right (which I tend to doubt sometimes) it was about 24 pounds and caught by a lady angler on a rattletrap.

robertwb, which pappadeaux are you speaking of?

My wife is cajun, she doesnt fish, but recalls catching "shoe-pick" as a young'un. for many years when I caught a different species of fish I asked her "Is this a "shoe-pick"?, the answer was always no. I was seriously having doubts about her ever fishing or maybe she had got it confused with some saltwater fish untill one day we were out in the boat & I caught a big bowfin, she started hollaring "Its a "shoe-pick" (choupique). She lived in New Iberia, they didnt eat them.

Great Fish, doesn't look to tasty though!

The one off of I-45 between Research Forest and 242

The first thing that I noticed about this fish was that it was very aggressive, not just when hooked, but even on land. He whipped his tail very hard and appeared to be very strong. It wasn't your typical "fish-outta-water". It's movements and tail whips seemed to be more deliberate, almost as though it was "ill-tempered".....It almost wiggled like a snake would when on his stomach....very strange!

Yea, the one that has a small canal feeding into it.

sorry but Illegal here in Texas to use any edible fish for anything but consumption or bait. If you need fertilizer go to home depot

Man those things sure put up a great fight!!!!! Caught one around 8# at Palestine years ago!!!!!

WOW! An 8# Bowfin must have really been fun to catch man! My best estimate for this one was around 4-5#, and he was absolutely reckless on the other end of my line!

I grew up fishing the Mobile/Tensaw River delta and they were everywhere. They even did an annual tournament in the summer just for bowfin. We called them grinnel. No one ate them but some people fed them to their hogs. Great fight, but they will ruin a spinnerbait or crankbait. 13 and change is my personal best.

Sure we Cajuns eat em up!I have several aunts who walk the creek banks looking for them.I think it has more to do with their size and the fight they put up more than their worthyness as table fare.They're relatively easy to find during the summer too,cause they will be active when nothing else is except for gar.

They can be a mean Critter.