Boffins are controversial. The mere mention of these “trash fish” on social media can spark a comment war. They’ve been here since the Jurassic period, but I first found them 20 years ago at the bottom of Columbia Lake in Arkansas. I was 12 years old, fishing on the muddy banks of a spillway. Fighting bowfin was much more violent than bream and bass – I had become accustomed to it.
Connected: These are the 10 lowest rated freshwater fishes
Everything I learned in those early days I learned by putting boots on the ground. Information about bowfin catches was scarce, and it remains rare today. Much of what I discovered while following these downtrodden people across seven states came from my ability to understand water. Bowfins thrive in river and tidal systems, but ironically they do not like current. Targeting them in these areas means using flows to create a road map to places where water is essentially not flowing at all, or at least very little. If you’re ready to shake these brawlers, here are the most important things I’ve learned about finding and hooking them in moving water systems.
ride the tide
The inland parts of the coastal lowlands where the tide reaches but not the salinity are some of my favorite places to target big bowfin. Success revolves around fishing the grassy floodplains and feeder creeks during the falling tide. Sawgrass banks, thick mats of hydrilla, and other forms of river grass or tide-influenced pads provide excellent habitat for bowfin. But as the tide falls and vegetation is exposed, the fish will move out of these hiding places and condense into small, weed-filled pockets. I like to target these fish with creature baits or a soft plastic that imitates crayfish. You can pierce through cover with them, and work them slowly and accurately, which is often important because in shallow water, a bowfin is usually unwilling to go very far for food.
Read further: These aggressive dragons are the ultimate gamefish. Here’s how to catch them
joint discussion
Google Maps is your best ally when targeting creeks and rivers, and what you are looking for are confluences. These are collection areas for wood and debris washed up by floods, and when it settles here, it provides ideal current breaks for ambush predators such as bowfin. In these locations, I like to fish both live and dead bait, with fresh bluegill or shad being my bait of choice. I like to bait on the bottom – although, sometimes I’ll use a sliding float as a strike indicator – and I like to use a size 2/0 octopus hook. Some anglers prefer to use a steel leader to deal with the bowfin’s tough, jagged mouth, but I find that tying 65-pound braid straight gets the job done and allows a more natural presentation.
Excited
I currently live in South Florida, where almost all flowing freshwater has man-made drainage systems. These pump stations, with their spillways, are concentration points for bowfin. In slow-moving water bodies, the increased flow generated by these structures creates more oxygen, which in turn attracts more bait species. If there is grass or other vegetation on either side of the central flow in the spillway’s basin, you have found the perfect place for the bowfin to exit the stream and stay close to a food source. Turbulent conditions at these locations also create pockets of water that trap baitfish, making them easy targets for predatory bowfin. I like to cast the bait deep along the edge of the grass as the fish tend to hold tight to the bottom where the current is slowest.
