1.) Can bowfin be found in Tarrant County Waters?

2.)Where in the Great State of Texas is a water that is known for them?

3.)I'm a Damn Yankee from Ohio been here for almost 4 years. I used to catch Bowfin on a regular basis. I found a technic by accident, during an all night catfish and carp tournament. The carp money was all but taken by 1 angler. In self defense i decided I would fish for Mr Whiskers. I caught some bait and setup some ledger rigs with fresh cut bait. It seems the Grendals (bowfin) loved the fresh cut fish. (Blue Gills in Ohio) perch in Texas. not to get confused with real yellow or white perch. That's another post,sorry.
Anyway just wanting to know where and what to use to catch a few of these toothy critters. Any info will be gladly recieved.
Respectfully,
Dale

I hear Caddo lake has a ton, but I've never really targeted them.

Check out this link:

http://www.bowfinanglers.com/tx.html

Good luck.

Any oxbow lake, and most public lakes fed by creeks or rivers.

The further East Texas you get, the more likely you will find bowfin.

West of DFW they pretty much don't exist as far as I know.

AAH! Oxbow lake! thats what I thought a river eddie was!
DUMB! is ME!

Thought oxbow's was a eddie due to what ppl call the ...well, big Eddie below lake houston damn in eisenhower park.

I have caught many up to around 13 lbs. Almost everyone I have caught, I caught it sight fishing for bass. A bowfin is not a picky fish. They will eat anything you put infront of it as long as they don't have to get in a hurry to get it. The key is to put the bait right in it's face and work it slow. I have caught lots on soft plastics such as Brushhogs and Flukes. Also caught them on large spinner baits. They seen to like slow moving waters with lots of cover. These fish, IMO, are one of the hardest fighting fish in fresh water.

I've had luck using rooster tail and other baits that produce a flash.

Buzzbaits are my favorite way, second is poppers. I have found though that the really big ones are easiest to catch by using a live crawdad or thawed/raw shrimp tails on the bottom.



Sadly, there are no grendel where I live that I've seen. Too bad really, they are better fighters than bass IMO.