Congratulations John! I caught a bowfin about 40 years ago outside of Virginia Beach. Had no idea what I had caught, but it fought like nothing else! Keep the great videos coming!
A lot of bass guys in particular don't like them...which is funny, because bass are technically invasive(stocked) in a lot of the waters you find them in. Growing up in Iowa about the only place we could find them was water systems linked directly to the Mississippi River and you'd often find them nailed to trees and left there. It was sad.
@@ExplorishingAdventures It’s a deal. I’ve spent a lot of time traveling but now using my time off to fish a little. I might combine the two. I’m looking for pike in AZ this week ha.
Nice video! I lived and fished NC from 89 to 97. I always enjoyed the “mudfish”! Once, during a bass tournament, I stumbled into a creek on the pamlico river. Caught a couple largemouth on my rattletrap, and then got demolished by a monster bowfin! Pulled harder than any bass I ever caught! Great memories! Thanks for taking me along!
Little "behind the scenes"....he's down the bank doing his thing, I'm hooking them on bass jigs but having a pain of a time keeping them stuck(you can actually hear me mumbling about it in the background a couple times)and his normal talking to the camera I'm not really picking up but then I hear that excited voice and I knew it was on! lol
John, how do you decide what Bible verse to share? And can comment on how you selected the one at the end of this video? Thank you in advance of any response.
Here in South East Louisiana East usta catch Choupic (AKA Bowfin) huge like that all the time. But now as a adult not so much. It sucks to see all that meat wasted on the bank that someone just tossed away. Nice video and I hope you have a blessed day.
the lake i live on has a healthy bowfin population, what ive learned fishing them is they're 90% smell almost like a catfish but u can pull them with bright bass lures in the sun. Amazing fish, they have an air bladder that allows them to breath on land. you can actually see them gulp air in the summer. please dont kill them theyre not invasive and they dont die until they completely dry out
they're also very hard to hook their mouth is very very thick bone unlike most fish that kinda have this cartilage. 9 out of 10 times they bend the hook
Love this channel man been on it since the beginning.. also 618 fishing this bowfin reminded me of him he catches some nice bowfin alot... But I'm a bass and creek fishing addict... So your channel is perfect fit bc every now and again I'll get to catfishing but nothing like the bite of a good ole small mouth
I just caught my first one out of the creek behind my house 19 inches my hands were shaking I was so excited. Have been wanting to catch one of these dinosaurs for years!! Caught in a live worm under a bobber. Tight lines brother and Fish on you’ll get you one!!
Nice bowfin! That looks like a lot of fun, never caught one. I hate it when people throw trash and dead fish everywhere. Gives us responsible fishermen a bad name.
We're in one of the best places you can ever go to fish for one and I'm not just talking about the spot we fished this day. NC is considered one of if not the #1 place to chase Bowfin, especially a trophy sized fish. If you ever find your way out this way give me a yell and I'll give you a really good shot at getting one. (Never promise anything with fishing! lol)
I know some people don’t like bowfin or gar fishing but if you were going to, I recommend treble hooks for live bait hook up ratio is much better just put one of the hooks in their back and it doesn’t necessarily matter if they come off(the bait that is)
Awesome, I fished that spot this spring....for sure watch out for the gators there. that place especially the river below there is loaded with them. The best way to catch panfish at the first spot is to take a fine net and scoop in the water up against the bank where leaves are. you will get grass shrimp and small crayfish and fish those for panfish. Also, the second spot is in (IMHO) the most dangerous rural countie in NC...you need to be packing heat in that county.
This spot can be a little tricky if the water isn't just right. The first time we fished it all we could catch were gar that we were sight fishing. Haven't seen a Gator in all the trips we've made there but since I've seen turtles that some brilliant locals had shot and the way they slaughter the Bowfin it's not a surprise. The only time I've had to use bait to catch panfish here was when I was trying to target really small ones for bait. Definitely not the worst I've seen. I'd put Lenoir county, in particular Kinston, as more sketchy then this area.
@@ExplorishingAdventures that whole countie is bad...been to Kinston a gazillion times....take my chance there vs the other countie but you were out from the small towns but I can assure sure that area is ruff. wont go into it here but you have to be careful who you talk to there. as to the spill way, if you put a canoe in and just go a little ways down you will see plenty of gators and especially in the canal along the road going down to the spill way.
@@MackinNC1 Yeah, I could see that. There isn’t a spillway near the spot we caught the Bowfin at. If you’re talking the area where this video starts, then yes, that’s the NC Mecca for alligators and that’s a pretty good area but we stay to ourselves no matter where we go for the most part.
@@ExplorishingAdventures yes , I was talking about the first part but there are gators in the second as well....not as many but they go up that nearby river to where it is a creek as well. they are in the entire length of it .
I'll never forget fishing a creek that runs through my property and catching my first one on a jerk bait while bass fishing. I was using an ultralight and hung one about 6lbs and it was a great fight. Turned out there was a healthy population of them in that creek and I still love fishing there in hopes of fighting another one. Personally I think it's awesome catching these prehistoric fish and I let them go. It's a sign of a good ecosystem and they were here before most other species
I love catching bowfin. The best thing I have found for them is a hard weighted minnow lure with a spinning spoon and at least one treble hook. They go crazy for top water frogs too but it can be extremely challenging to hook them without a treble as I can see you found out 😂
18:04-You and Conrad need a net.I lost a brook trout and a spoon trying to do something similar last spring and I had to watch it slowly saunter back to it’s hole with my spoon glimmering behind it.
Nice Bow on that light -med gear. I used to seriously fish these in a lake near Raleigh where there are a ton of them.I caught up to 11lbs and I was going for the state record. This video made me want to fish again for them. Nothing fights better in the dead of the summer. I learned to always use super sharp 3/0 hooks, a steal leader, and let them run before setting the hook. I did try eating once. Horrible.
Thank you so very much for sharing this video with us John. You have my favorite UA-cam channel from day one if me starting to watch UA-cam sir.God bless you sir. 🙏❤🙏❤🙏😊😊😊
bowfin are one of the most fun fish to catch. its hard to get a good hook set because their head is just one big hard bone. they are ancient fish that have been around since the time of the dinosaurs. they are cousins to the snakehead. very strong fish and fun to fight. my personal best was caught on a trotline. it was almost 3 feet long and probably about 15 or 20 lbs. i found using a circle hook with high lbs line that doesnt have much stretch is best for catching them. great fish you go man. love the videos
Nice Bowfin! I caught one on the Chickahominy River- Va, Zebco Deliar cheap scale read 8 lbs. Was a crazy strong fight. Hit on my heaviest combo, good thing, it would have demolished my light tackle. Really enjoy your videos.
@@ExplorishingAdventures im out of Dublin County. Used to live about 15 min away from Jacksonville. I mainly fish the Goshen swamp for them big ole bowfins
the thing about fishing in NC waters is you are fishing for thing in the water and there are things in the waters fishing for you! :) i have seen some big gators in the inner coastal areas.
You aren't wrong but as long as there isn't people feeding them and you're not in their primetime for hunting you're normally pretty good. I used to wade some areas and watch them swim by while I was inshore fishing for drum, trout and flounder.
I know you've probably already passed by the Charlotte NC area, but you're always welcome to swing by for some super fun small lake fishing. Panfish, bass, carp, potential for 10lb bass.
@@ExplorishingAdventures yes sir. I don't really target them to keep them really healthy, 40+ pounds on average, but I can't help but throw a fly at them tailing in the shallows when I get the chance.
Great catch giant bowfin. My pb bowfin is 27.5" at 6.67lb. Keep the good videos coming out man and I'll keep watching. Good luck and tight lines to all. KFNS. TGBTG.
I had one for a while we called Rover, like a dog, because he'd come up and beg for food and you could hand feed him. He was about 10" long. I'd love to get ahold of a baby one for my native fish tanks though!
Awesome video sir, been watching 618 for awhile now and he gets a lot of the bowfin fish. Great catch for sure. Thats a fish that I would like to catch some day for my channel.
My son and cousin caught a 29 1/2", 17 3/4 lb bowfin in a lagoon off of Presque Isle on Lake Erie, in Erie, Pennsylvania. They had that behemoth mounted and that toothy critter looks great on the wall with that big eye spot on its tail.
Bowfin, while not the hardest to hook, that has to be a Longnose Gar, have really hard upper mouths and if the hook doesn't get them right in the corner of the mouth has a hard time sticking.
Ignorant people may have thought that they were snake head. People need to know their fish instead of killing off the wrong species and thrashing the place the way they did. SMH!
Yep bowfin are treated rather unfairly in my opinion. They get confused for snakehead and killed often. A lot of old timers also love to claim that bowfin eat all the good fish(game fish or fish that game fish feed on). Nothing more than wives tales.
@@eduardohidalgo9802 Exactly. Seeing as they were here long before all the other fish, if they were going to eat all the good fish, wouldn't they have done that before now?
I caught one that weighed right at 15lbs on Grendle Creek a tributary of the Neuse River near Grifton NC using a Berkeley Light Rod with 8lb test on a 6in Purple Creme worm about 1974..lol..We call `em Blackfish..
Not to take away from your trophy it's awesome but I see all these records of 10 lbs etc but when I was 15 I was fishing with my mom at a pump station in southern Louisiana, caught a bowfin under a cork with shrimp and it was a 10 minute fight, pulled drag forever and ran all around the open water along the tree line I had strong line and a redfish pole when I caught him. He had to have been pushing 20 lbs bc he was 33 inches long and as thick as the big sunny D containers. We laid him across a 24 inch water pipe and his head and tail were hanging off each side by almost a foot I could hardly pick him up and OMG the teeth were like a shark. I'll never forget that bowfin I've caught much smaller but this fish was just different. The spot we fished was never fished for years and years and bowfin always hung out along the tree line. Great catch y'all.
Can anyone explain why so many are left to rot outside the pond? Seems like the people want nothing to do with them. Great catch though John bet it was a thrill!
I caught a bowfin once years ago, I think I used a nightcrawler, someone told me it was a mud fish I guess that's another name for them, might have been the same size as the first one you caught, that last one you caught 32" that's huge what was you trying to do catch the lock Ness monster lol, when you were catching the panfish earlier was that a little grass shrimp lure? Good day of fishing 👍👏👏👏
I caught a 6.5lb bowfin on a hank parker spinnerbait out of the ocmulgee river in Eastman Georgia and that thing literally folded my spinnerbait blade in half with it's jaw when it hit. Really tough fish.
I just caught my pb bowfin, a 21" fish weighing about 5 pounds or so. I did it on a 6 ft UL spinning rod with some 4 lb sufix monofilament, which made it a great fight. I was jigging for perch and crappie on a lake with my dad, who also caught his pb bowfin that day on his UL rod, a 23" 6 lb fish. We had an interesting day to say the least
Those had to be some fatties! The trip to this spot we took before John came to fish with us my daughter Da Hammer caught one just over 30" on her St. Croix 7' UL.
Ignorant people tend to think that if you kill the "trash fish", suddenly your water will only be populated by game fish. Not how it works, but I've seen it a lot through the years@@youstupidboi2483
Man, you should have been there. I know he was stoked but I was probably just about as excited. This was my goal to put him in the position to have a shot at a fish like this. His last trip this was he struggled and didn't catch one until his last attempt, and just that one so this was definitely exciting for both of us!
Choupique or grinnel, depending on what part of Louisiana you’re in. Some folks eat them; though I’ve never tried it, NEVER underestimate the ability of a Louisiana cook.
I've eaten them before and they can be good but they are odd and if they aren't prepped right you probably wouldn't be able to stomach the meat after seeing what it looks like after it has sat for a while or the fish has died prior to cleaning. Unless you're doing patties of course. As far as common names go, here in NC they are often called Blackfish. Growing up in Iowa they call them Dogfish. They undoubtedly have the most common names of any fish I've seen.
Hey if you don’t like “trash” fish, take them home and bury them about a foot and a half in your garden. Flower bed, whatever. Plants will grow like crazy, and produce delicious fruit!
At least have a use for them. I don't condone unwarranted killing or over harvest of any species but at least use what you take and only take what you can use.
@@ExplorishingAdventures in Missouri it’s illegal to throw back invasive species like carp if you catch them. Those are what’s best to bury in your garden to keep from “wasting” them.
@@Spencer3712 Understood. That’s common in a lot of areas with carp, especially Big Head and Silver Carp. The problem is with species that are native like Gar and Bowfin.
@@Spencer3712 Tht is not true. Common carp are not considered an invasive species, and it is not illegal to return them to the water. It is the bighead and silver carp that are invasive, and cannot be thrown back.
Bowfin are hard to hook set. I’ve always landed about 1-5 to 1-10 but if you clean them alive and cook the meat quickly, they are delicious. Also make great fish cakes
Looks like they left plenty of garbage along with the fish up on the bank were you was fishing ruins it for other fishermen and give them a bad name a few people leave a mess and garbage and ruin it for everyone to bad people have to be like that , that was a big fish never been any place to fish for them looks like a lot of fun on my bucket list to try to catch thanks keep up the great videos
I hate people who do that to fish like that just cause they hate them doesn’t mean u have to kill them and if u are going to kill them take them with u don’t leave them for other people to find
You didn't have to go all the way to the east side of the state for bowfins. I catch them quite regularly in the Yadkin River near the center of the state of North Carolina . But never caught one that size. Good job. 👍
I need to go fishing with guys like y’all so I can actually start catching the bigger fish. I can catch panfish in creeks and rivers no problem but other than that, I’m in year 2 without catching a quality bass
Congratulations John! I caught a bowfin about 40 years ago outside of Virginia Beach. Had no idea what I had caught, but it fought like nothing else! Keep the great videos coming!
People mistake bowfins for snakeheads. Bowfins are not invasive and shouldn’t be killed.
For sure, they actually eat a lot of roughfish rather than preying on desirable game fish
A lot of bass guys in particular don't like them...which is funny, because bass are technically invasive(stocked) in a lot of the waters you find them in. Growing up in Iowa about the only place we could find them was water systems linked directly to the Mississippi River and you'd often find them nailed to trees and left there. It was sad.
Yeah, this is ridiculous. I’d love to catch those and people just throw them (with all the other trash they don’t pick up)
@@rrpostalagain If you can find a way to NC I’ll put you on them.
@@ExplorishingAdventures It’s a deal. I’ve spent a lot of time traveling but now using my time off to fish a little. I might combine the two. I’m looking for pike in AZ this week ha.
Nice video! I lived and fished NC from 89 to 97. I always enjoyed the “mudfish”! Once, during a bass tournament, I stumbled into a creek on the pamlico river. Caught a couple largemouth on my rattletrap, and then got demolished by a monster bowfin! Pulled harder than any bass I ever caught! Great memories! Thanks for taking me along!
No doubt! If I'm going to catch a fish for the challenge and the enjoyment of the fight it's going to be Bowfin first everytime!
Anybody else get super excited for John when his voice changes? Never gets old! NICE Bowfin!
Little "behind the scenes"....he's down the bank doing his thing, I'm hooking them on bass jigs but having a pain of a time keeping them stuck(you can actually hear me mumbling about it in the background a couple times)and his normal talking to the camera I'm not really picking up but then I hear that excited voice and I knew it was on! lol
Nice catch
John, how do you decide what Bible verse to share? And can comment on how you selected the one at the end of this video? Thank you in advance of any response.
Here in South East Louisiana East usta catch Choupic (AKA Bowfin) huge like that all the time. But now as a adult not so much. It sucks to see all that meat wasted on the bank that someone just tossed away. Nice video and I hope you have a blessed day.
the lake i live on has a healthy bowfin population, what ive learned fishing them is they're 90% smell almost like a catfish but u can pull them with bright bass lures in the sun. Amazing fish, they have an air bladder that allows them to breath on land. you can actually see them gulp air in the summer. please dont kill them theyre not invasive and they dont die until they completely dry out
they're also very hard to hook their mouth is very very thick bone unlike most fish that kinda have this cartilage. 9 out of 10 times they bend the hook
You set the hook on these fish so well. I can learn a thing or two from you.
I love the way you fish for anything anywhere. It's cool 👍👍
Love this channel man been on it since the beginning.. also 618 fishing this bowfin reminded me of him he catches some nice bowfin alot... But I'm a bass and creek fishing addict... So your channel is perfect fit bc every now and again I'll get to catfishing but nothing like the bite of a good ole small mouth
Best of luck in future tourneys and UA-cam success 💪💪
WHAT A FIGHT!!!! That's why I love Bowfin!! Always wanted to catch one!!! Awesome video!!!
I just caught my first one out of the creek behind my house 19 inches my hands were shaking I was so excited. Have been wanting to catch one of these dinosaurs for years!! Caught in a live worm under a bobber. Tight lines brother and Fish on you’ll get you one!!
Caught a 28 inch bowfin late August this year, around dusk. Definitely hit my worm hard and was a awesome fight. First one ever
The beast of a bowfin brought to mind , the pike you were fishing for last week . Nicely done
Nice bowfin! That looks like a lot of fun, never caught one. I hate it when people throw trash and dead fish everywhere. Gives us responsible fishermen a bad name.
There are some everywhere you go it seems!
It’s illegal to throw them back in some states.
@@Spencer3712 Bowfin are native throughout most of North America unless they’ve been introduced to a confined body of water.
they do it a lot on Guntersville..
@@ExplorishingAdventures I wasn’t talking about bowfin. I was referring to carp which is what we consider “trash” fish.
What a beautiful bowfin never caught one that I seen other UA-camrs catch them and that's a pretty good-sized one
We're in one of the best places you can ever go to fish for one and I'm not just talking about the spot we fished this day. NC is considered one of if not the #1 place to chase Bowfin, especially a trophy sized fish. If you ever find your way out this way give me a yell and I'll give you a really good shot at getting one. (Never promise anything with fishing! lol)
I know some people don’t like bowfin or gar fishing but if you were going to, I recommend treble hooks for live bait hook up ratio is much better just put one of the hooks in their back and it doesn’t necessarily matter if they come off(the bait that is)
Beautiful Catch, that bowfin was huge , Congratulations.
Awesome, I fished that spot this spring....for sure watch out for the gators there. that place especially the river below there is loaded with them. The best way to catch panfish at the first spot is to take a fine net and scoop in the water up against the bank where leaves are. you will get grass shrimp and small crayfish and fish those for panfish.
Also, the second spot is in (IMHO) the most dangerous rural countie in NC...you need to be packing heat in that county.
Thanks for the help Mack
This spot can be a little tricky if the water isn't just right. The first time we fished it all we could catch were gar that we were sight fishing. Haven't seen a Gator in all the trips we've made there but since I've seen turtles that some brilliant locals had shot and the way they slaughter the Bowfin it's not a surprise. The only time I've had to use bait to catch panfish here was when I was trying to target really small ones for bait. Definitely not the worst I've seen. I'd put Lenoir county, in particular Kinston, as more sketchy then this area.
@@ExplorishingAdventures that whole countie is bad...been to Kinston a gazillion times....take my chance there vs the other countie but you were out from the small towns but I can assure sure that area is ruff. wont go into it here but you have to be careful who you talk to there. as to the spill way, if you put a canoe in and just go a little ways down you will see plenty of gators and especially in the canal along the road going down to the spill way.
@@MackinNC1 Yeah, I could see that. There isn’t a spillway near the spot we caught the Bowfin at. If you’re talking the area where this video starts, then yes, that’s the NC Mecca for alligators and that’s a pretty good area but we stay to ourselves no matter where we go for the most part.
@@ExplorishingAdventures yes , I was talking about the first part but there are gators in the second as well....not as many but they go up that nearby river to where it is a creek as well. they are in the entire length of it .
I'll never forget fishing a creek that runs through my property and catching my first one on a jerk bait while bass fishing. I was using an ultralight and hung one about 6lbs and it was a great fight. Turned out there was a healthy population of them in that creek and I still love fishing there in hopes of fighting another one. Personally I think it's awesome catching these prehistoric fish and I let them go. It's a sign of a good ecosystem and they were here before most other species
Looks like a lovely day & all kinds of fish biting, fish on & good luck 🎣
Great catch! That thing was huge!!!!
Bowly cow what a monster! Beautiful looking trip brother. You and Conrad were on it. Solid multi species action.
I guessed you were in Georgia, but even better you are in my back yard!! We have some monster bowfin here.
NC is one of if not the top destination for Bowfin fishing in the country.
Outstanding video man....keep up the good work...
I love catching bowfin. The best thing I have found for them is a hard weighted minnow lure with a spinning spoon and at least one treble hook. They go crazy for top water frogs too but it can be extremely challenging to hook them without a treble as I can see you found out 😂
18:04-You and Conrad need a net.I lost a brook trout and a spoon trying to do something similar last spring and I had to watch it slowly saunter back to it’s hole with my spoon glimmering behind it.
Nice Bow on that light -med gear. I used to seriously fish these in a lake near Raleigh where there are a ton of them.I caught up to 11lbs and I was going for the state record. This video made me want to fish again for them. Nothing fights better in the dead of the summer. I learned to always use super sharp 3/0 hooks, a steal leader, and let them run before setting the hook. I did try eating once. Horrible.
Thank you so very much for sharing this video with us John. You have my favorite UA-cam channel from day one if me starting to watch UA-cam sir.God bless you sir. 🙏❤🙏❤🙏😊😊😊
Great video love your enthusiasm.
I am surprised you did not hook a big catfish. They love cut bluegill. That was a beautiful fish. Great video Sir.
Yeah I thought I might get one in thhere
We saw one on one of our last trips but have not hooked into one here yet. With the falling water levels that probably has a lot to do with it.
Huge bowfin! I have only caught them by accident, and not quite that large! How cool!
CONGRATS BROTHA MAN!!! Nice catch......
My friends and I have found that keeping the fish usually left on the bank, can be used for garden fertilizer! Tomatoes the size of pumpkins!
bowfin are one of the most fun fish to catch. its hard to get a good hook set because their head is just one big hard bone. they are ancient fish that have been around since the time of the dinosaurs. they are cousins to the snakehead. very strong fish and fun to fight. my personal best was caught on a trotline. it was almost 3 feet long and probably about 15 or 20 lbs. i found using a circle hook with high lbs line that doesnt have much stretch is best for catching them. great fish you go man. love the videos
Enjoyed the video a bunch and the trip back to the state I learned to hunt and fish in.
Nice change up John never caught a bowfin either but they look like good fighting fish
Nice Bowfin! I caught one on the Chickahominy River- Va, Zebco Deliar cheap scale read 8 lbs. Was a crazy strong fight. Hit on my heaviest combo, good thing, it would have demolished my light tackle. Really enjoy your videos.
We've caught some really big ones on light and ultralight tackle but it takes a lot of knowing what you're doing and a little bit of luck too!
Wikipedia about Bowfin: ua-cam.com/video/TUiJKzDelBc/v-deo.html
Wow! That's a heck of a fish.
Congratulations on the bowfin !
Great video! Wish I had more time for fishing and spots that weren't so far from me.
Dang man you've got to have a subscriber meet up. I'm in eastern NC and bowfin are my favorite fish to catch
Where at Josh? We're located out of the Jacksonville/Richlands area.
@@ExplorishingAdventures im out of Dublin County. Used to live about 15 min away from Jacksonville. I mainly fish the Goshen swamp for them big ole bowfins
@@joshuascoot77 I’m not familiar with that area. Is there foot access?
@@ExplorishingAdventures yes there are several places to access Goshen on foot. Its about 45-60 min away from Jacksonville. Kinda close to kenansville
Totally meant Duplin county BTW lol
the thing about fishing in NC waters is you are fishing for thing in the water and there are things in the waters fishing for you! :)
i have seen some big gators in the inner coastal areas.
You aren't wrong but as long as there isn't people feeding them and you're not in their primetime for hunting you're normally pretty good. I used to wade some areas and watch them swim by while I was inshore fishing for drum, trout and flounder.
I know you've probably already passed by the Charlotte NC area, but you're always welcome to swing by for some super fun small lake fishing. Panfish, bass, carp, potential for 10lb bass.
Did you say "carp"? :-)
@@ExplorishingAdventures yes sir. I don't really target them to keep them really healthy, 40+ pounds on average, but I can't help but throw a fly at them tailing in the shallows when I get the chance.
@@greenwoodsbushhogging6704 That would be awesome!
Chunky largemouth bass at the beginning 😍 👌
It was exciting to see you catch that big gar. .
Great catch giant bowfin. My pb bowfin is 27.5" at 6.67lb. Keep the good videos coming out man and I'll keep watching. Good luck and tight lines to all. KFNS. TGBTG.
I said damn when I saw the thumbnail good job for catching that BEAST
That was a wopper Bowfin, Love them, we have a 7 inch juvenile in our basement fishroom. Thanks for sharing.
I had one for a while we called Rover, like a dog, because he'd come up and beg for food and you could hand feed him. He was about 10" long. I'd love to get ahold of a baby one for my native fish tanks though!
Awesome video sir, been watching 618 for awhile now and he gets a lot of the bowfin fish. Great catch for sure. Thats a fish that I would like to catch some day for my channel.
Ok, John....so when are you and some buddies gonna show us some Catfish Noodling!🐟🐟🐟
Looks like Lake Waccamaw.... there's a lot of good fishing around that area.
That is some exciting fishing.
Great video glad you posted keep them coming thanks
My son and cousin caught a 29 1/2", 17 3/4 lb bowfin in a lagoon off of Presque Isle on Lake Erie, in Erie, Pennsylvania. They had that behemoth mounted and that toothy critter looks great on the wall with that big eye spot on its tail.
Nice catch that's a huge bowfin
Nice trip guys
Great editing!!
I always enjoy your videos. I am looking forward to watching this one, too!!
I was just there last week! There are some nice largemouth right around the spillway.
Man I haven't seen you have this much trouble setting the hook in 2 years lol. Love the dedication awsome day!
Bowfin, while not the hardest to hook, that has to be a Longnose Gar, have really hard upper mouths and if the hook doesn't get them right in the corner of the mouth has a hard time sticking.
Blue gil will always be the best bait for bow fin
Ignorant people may have thought that they were snake head. People need to know their fish instead of killing off the wrong species and thrashing the place the way they did. SMH!
Yep bowfin are treated rather unfairly in my opinion. They get confused for snakehead and killed often. A lot of old timers also love to claim that bowfin eat all the good fish(game fish or fish that game fish feed on). Nothing more than wives tales.
@@eduardohidalgo9802 Exactly. Seeing as they were here long before all the other fish, if they were going to eat all the good fish, wouldn't they have done that before now?
@@eduardohidalgo9802game warden caught a guy here locally beating one on the bank and gave him a 1000 usd ticket. Loved to see it.
Yup bowfin. People need to educate before they try to educate. LMFAO. Publicly humiliated.
Awesome looking Warmouth 👌 😎
I caught one that weighed right at 15lbs on Grendle Creek a tributary of the Neuse River near Grifton NC using a Berkeley Light Rod with 8lb test on a 6in Purple Creme worm about 1974..lol..We call `em Blackfish..
That looked Fun !
WOW! I'll have to try for one when I am in NC for vacation
Give me a yell and we'll make it happen!
Awesome video man, I feel ya on the dead bowfin there, I lost my cookies 2 weekends ago down there lol
Yo! Awesome bowfin. I wish I could find some....
I live on the Pungo River in ENC. Come on down here and fish for Speckled Trout, Puppy Drum and flounder. With your luck you might even hook a Tarpon.
Not to take away from your trophy it's awesome but I see all these records of 10 lbs etc but when I was 15 I was fishing with my mom at a pump station in southern Louisiana, caught a bowfin under a cork with shrimp and it was a 10 minute fight, pulled drag forever and ran all around the open water along the tree line I had strong line and a redfish pole when I caught him. He had to have been pushing 20 lbs bc he was 33 inches long and as thick as the big sunny D containers. We laid him across a 24 inch water pipe and his head and tail were hanging off each side by almost a foot I could hardly pick him up and OMG the teeth were like a shark. I'll never forget that bowfin I've caught much smaller but this fish was just different. The spot we fished was never fished for years and years and bowfin always hung out along the tree line. Great catch y'all.
Can anyone explain why so many are left to rot outside the pond? Seems like the people want nothing to do with them. Great catch though John bet it was a thrill!
some people think that they are invasive but they are really not
@@colinmahon19 Yep, they were here long before bass and other fish were here. And it is the best fight of ANY fish.
Wow u still need to come fish our sprtsmn lake. Not fished much. I just hung a 4 lb largemouth 18 in its nice
Cool. I love catching bowfin. DNR suggest you don’t eat them though. Do you know if they make good catfish bait? Thanks
Amazing fish! I have not broken down and tried some cut bait as bait yet but, I am sure I will soon. Thank you for taking us along the adventure.
I caught a bowfin once years ago, I think I used a nightcrawler, someone told me it was a mud fish I guess that's another name for them, might have been the same size as the first one you caught, that last one you caught 32" that's huge what was you trying to do catch the lock Ness monster lol, when you were catching the panfish earlier was that a little grass shrimp lure? Good day of fishing 👍👏👏👏
Bowfins are fighters for sure.
I caught a 6.5lb bowfin on a hank parker spinnerbait out of the ocmulgee river in Eastman Georgia and that thing literally folded my spinnerbait blade in half with it's jaw when it hit. Really tough fish.
Nice bowfin!! Such an underrated fish to catch
It never ceases to amaze how people that enjoy outdoor recreation can be so flagrant with their garbage!
Bowfin and gar are in different families, bowfin being Amiidae and gar being Lepisosteidae.
Lake Waccamaw, presumably? Looks like the dam & river there at least.
I just caught my pb bowfin, a 21" fish weighing about 5 pounds or so. I did it on a 6 ft UL spinning rod with some 4 lb sufix monofilament, which made it a great fight. I was jigging for perch and crappie on a lake with my dad, who also caught his pb bowfin that day on his UL rod, a 23" 6 lb fish. We had an interesting day to say the least
Wow, awesome
That’s awesome
Those had to be some fatties! The trip to this spot we took before John came to fish with us my daughter Da Hammer caught one just over 30" on her St. Croix 7' UL.
hey man, love the videos. i’d love to see a review on your reels in a video somtime
Beautiful Bowfin and a great video as always. It bothers me that people feel the need to kill them and leave them on the ground like that , not cool.
It might be because people think that they're snakeheads.
Ignorant people tend to think that if you kill the "trash fish", suddenly your water will only be populated by game fish. Not how it works, but I've seen it a lot through the years@@youstupidboi2483
My adrenaline is pumping just watching you haul that thing in, John!! Now excuse me, I gotta go see my heart doctor!! :-)
Man, you should have been there. I know he was stoked but I was probably just about as excited. This was my goal to put him in the position to have a shot at a fish like this. His last trip this was he struggled and didn't catch one until his last attempt, and just that one so this was definitely exciting for both of us!
Choupique or grinnel, depending on what part of Louisiana you’re in. Some folks eat them; though I’ve never tried it, NEVER underestimate the ability of a Louisiana cook.
I've eaten them before and they can be good but they are odd and if they aren't prepped right you probably wouldn't be able to stomach the meat after seeing what it looks like after it has sat for a while or the fish has died prior to cleaning. Unless you're doing patties of course. As far as common names go, here in NC they are often called Blackfish. Growing up in Iowa they call them Dogfish. They undoubtedly have the most common names of any fish I've seen.
Hey if you don’t like “trash” fish, take them home and bury them about a foot and a half in your garden. Flower bed, whatever. Plants will grow like crazy, and produce delicious fruit!
At least have a use for them. I don't condone unwarranted killing or over harvest of any species but at least use what you take and only take what you can use.
@@ExplorishingAdventures in Missouri it’s illegal to throw back invasive species like carp if you catch them. Those are what’s best to bury in your garden to keep from “wasting” them.
@@Spencer3712 Understood. That’s common in a lot of areas with carp, especially Big Head and Silver Carp. The problem is with species that are native like Gar and Bowfin.
@@Spencer3712 Tht is not true. Common carp are not considered an invasive species, and it is not illegal to return them to the water. It is the bighead and silver carp that are invasive, and cannot be thrown back.
@@stevebrown3559 Yes I thought since we were all fisherman here that we all knew what I was referring to but thank you for the clarification.
Nice video. You worked hard on that. I have subscribed. Greetings from Belgium. 🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩
What a catch keep up the good catch
Bowfin are hard to hook set. I’ve always landed about 1-5 to 1-10 but if you clean them alive and cook the meat quickly, they are delicious. Also make great fish cakes
There's a spot about 45 minutes from Clarksville that I've caught a TON of bowfin there.
Looks like they left plenty of garbage along with the fish up on the bank were you was fishing ruins it for other fishermen and give them a bad name a few people leave a mess and garbage and ruin it for everyone to bad people have to be like that , that was a big fish never been any place to fish for them looks like a lot of fun on my bucket list to try to catch thanks keep up the great videos
That’s what I start out with in Florida 6 pound test small grub yellow black stripe
3:00 That was a Red Ear/Bluegill hybrid.
I hate people who do that to fish like that just cause they hate them doesn’t mean u have to kill them and if u are going to kill them take them with u don’t leave them for other people to find
In most states it's illegal to catch a fish and toss it on the bank to rot, even rough fish.
Beautiful scenery 👌 😍
You didn't have to go all the way to the east side of the state for bowfins. I catch them quite regularly in the Yadkin River near the center of the state of North Carolina . But never caught one that size. Good job. 👍
They're less common in the hills and mountains. They don't like strong currents.
@@austinhernandez2716 They seem to be very common in the lower part of the Yadkin just north of High Rock Lake.
Boy you are a pretty good caster. I’d be in the trees.
For real. I've started practicing casting in my back yard since I started watching his videos. I'm ashamed of my lack of skill compared to John.
I need to go fishing with guys like y’all so I can actually start catching the bigger fish. I can catch panfish in creeks and rivers no problem but other than that, I’m in year 2 without catching a quality bass
Think you were correct with red ear...
I love catching warmouth