16 replies to this topic

[Irate Mormon]

  My pond has almost totally collapsed.  I bought a 14' by 42" pool to replace it.  More than twice the water volume.  I have a bunch of gar, bowfin, and even a carp (that was an accident) who are waiting with bated "breath" for a new home.  Now all I need is a day off.

 

Why no posts here?  I love these guys.  I just wouldn't go swimming with them.

[Sunfish Catcher 321]

Me too.

[dmarkley]

I hope we are going to see pictures!

[fundulus]

Bowfin might do something "funny" like shred a toe or finger, but no one's perfect.

[Sean Phillips]

I'd like to keep Burbot and/or Bowfin sometime, just don't have the tank capacity now. Although depending on the price of a nice used 180 I'm looking at for sunfish I might try to squeeze a bowfin in there since there's a marsh an hour and a half from me that's full of them.

[dmarkley]

I'd like to keep Burbot and/or Bowfin sometime, just don't have the tank capacity now. Although depending on the price of a nice used 180 I'm looking at for sunfish I might try to squeeze a bowfin in there since there's a marsh an hour and a half from me that's full of them.

Hi Sean, which direction is that hour and a half from you?  I'd love to get a bowfin.  But I thought they were protected in PA?

[Sean Phillips]

Hi Sean, which direction is that hour and a half from you?  I'd love to get a bowfin.  But I thought they were protected in PA?

North. They're just candidates in PA so it's legal to harvest.

[predatorkeeper87]

I'd like to keep Burbot and/or Bowfin sometime, just don't have the tank capacity now. Although depending on the price of a nice used 180 I'm looking at for sunfish I might try to squeeze a bowfin in there since there's a marsh an hour and a half from me that's full of them.

listen here sean....don't be stealin' all my bowfin and pickerel from that marsh hahaha

[Kanus]

Bowfin might do something "funny" like shred a toe or finger, but no one's perfect.

While in Florida this past February I dipnetted a maybe 8 inch bowfin and thought "This guy is small enough to lip for a photo without totally destroying my finger." While I was right that the teeth were too small to do any real damage, what really "impressed" me was the power behind their jaws. Sure, catfish can clamp down a bit, but most fish don't really have much crushing power it seems. Then as soon as I stuck my thumb in that little guy's mouth, it was like a tiny alligator had grabbed my finger. I don't know if they do, but that little fish could've certainly crushed just about any Corbicula or small mussel it met. I would hate to see what a big one could to. I'm certain an adult could break fingers in addition to tearing the meat right off.

[Sean Phillips]

listen here sean....don't be stealin' all my bowfin and pickerel from that marsh hahaha

Hey you finally joined! A lot more intelligent people here than on MFK as far as North American fish go.

[Irate Mormon]

I will put up pictures soon, of the new pond, the old pond (and repost the building sequence, and what went wrong).  But really, has anyone ever heard of bowfin or gar biting a human?  My grandkids love the pool - they were swimming in it before I even finished filling it.  I told them they would have to share with the fishes   I'm not really worried about the gar, but the bowfin could do some serious damage if they wanted to.

[Michael Wolfe]

I think the only bowfin "attacks" that I have ever heard of were males guarding a brood, and those were "ramming or charging" events, not "biting" events.  I want to say Dustin or someone got charged and bumped pretty hard once.

[smbass]

I know of one person getting bit by a male bowfin guarding young while they were snorkeling or diving in Lake Erie. I messed with one in a Canadian lake one time and provoked it into attacking a landing net.

[FirstChAoS]

Ancient? I am sure sharks and lampreys are calling those bowfin, gar, and paddlefish young upstarts with their new fangled bones.

[Irate Mormon]

Yeah, I would have to say that Agnathans win that contest.

[predatorkeeper87]

Hey you finally joined! A lot more intelligent people here than on MFK as far as North American fish go.

haha ya we are the minority over there for sure. 

[Mysteryman]

I'd imagine the only people ever bitten by Bowfins were those who were handling them. I'd also imagine that it hurt like hell. You probably shouldn't put your hand onto the mouth of a fish that eats turtles, eh?

 

Now, gars are a different story. While they tend to head-butt you, if they do it with their mouths open, you'd probably get shredded nicely. There is a place back home where you can almost walk across the river on the backs of the gars, but there is a rope swing there for people to swing out right into the pile of them. ( Halsos Mill, Butler County, Al. ) I've never heard of anyone getting slashed, but I wouldn't put it past them.