Bowfin (dogfish gender id)

[MNFishhunter]

Male with a spot. Correct.?

Female.... no spot....correct?

[Schollmeier]

usually. on rare occasion the female can retain the spot into adulthood. Young bowfin always have the spot on the tail. Bright green fins and sometimes mouth are the male spawning season colors - your male shows them faintly but I've seen pics of Bowfin with really wild spawning colors.

[MNFishhunter]

Why are these fish more prevalent in some areas over others. There are always accidental when I catch them (blindcasting)except one time. I see them swimming at night and can throw a fly to them and no response? Also do you know when they spawn and what typical habitat is?

They are a great battle on the fly and would like to specifically target them.

[Schollmeier]

Dang - had a big write up and lost it, intarwebs ate it.

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Basically they specialize in nitches that other species often avoid. Like any fish they can be weird at times and ignore everything, at other times attacking everything.

[OnAFly]

Nice catch. I've had them hit on flies, but I can't seem to really sink the hook in. They are a blast to catch, but finding them around the cities can be tough. It seems they end up on the wrong end of an arrow more often than not. Too bad cause predators are good for fisheries.

I've always thought the blue fins were a trait of males during the spawn.

[Comit 2]

I posted this in the bass forum.

Bowfin are a lot like Tarpin! They use there air bladder as a lung. So you can often see them gulp air off the surface of the water. With the ability to to get oxygen from the surface they have a huge advantage in water 80 degrees or better (low oxygen). They will push bait fish into shallow water and pin them to the shore line. This makes small dams prime spots for Bowfin.

Bowfin have small eyes so bright colors, a lot of flash and vibration will get there attention. In early June they spawn in the weeds in shallow water (Bass spots). Male Bowfin will (the one's with the spot near the tail) take on a green coloration.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowfin

When they gulp air off the surface they will give there location away. Quite often you can tell if they are in the area just my watching the surface of the water for a few minutes. Small rivers with dams like the Cannon river are hot spots for Bowfin.

http://www.hotspotoutdoors.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/2810255/1