MAY 2011 • LAKECASTER • 18

Spring is the best time

to catch elusive bowfin
By Shannon Tompkins

Southeast Texas sloughs, oxbows, bayous and rivers can

fairly vibrate with a primeval energy that either fascinates
or intimidates human visitors to swamps.
On a fishing trip earlier this month to one such place,
the dark forest of black gum, green ash, buttonbush and
the towering, Spanish-moss-bearded cypresses encas-
ing the slash of thick, dark-green water hummed with a
constant stream of bird calls. Barred owls barked. Wood
ducks squealed. Warblers warbled. Pileated woodpeckers
yammered. Herons croaked.
Cool, still morning air was rich with the distinctive
heavy, organic scent of wet earth, and the water’s surface
wrinkled with swirls and splashes of unseen fish and the
v-shaped wake trailing the silhouette of an alligator lazily
cruising from one bank to the other.
It’s the kind of place where, as a friend said on his
first visit, “You expect a Hobbit to peak out from behind a
cypress.”
No Hobbits live in the swamps. But creatures just as
mysterious and magical and amazing certainly do live in
the backwaters.
One of them arguably is the most appropriate symbol of these atavistic aquatic environments. And this is the
time of year offering the best chance to encounter this singular beast.
I cast a Texas-rig plastic worm against the bell-bottomed base of a cypress and let it fall through the two feet
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of water to the tangle of roots.
A “thump!” shot up the line; I reeled down and set the hook into what I suspected would be yet another
largemouth bass.
It was no bass.
Line tore through the water as the powerful fish bore away, stripping drag in steady spurts. The rod and line MAY SPECIAL
blunted the initial run, and the game became a tug of war until the fish reversed its dogged attempt to dive deep, STRIKE PRO’S HUNCHBACK
shot to the surface and came arching and twisting into the air, revealing itself.
It was a bowfin - the king of the swamp; a fish with as many colloquial names as Satan and a similar disposi- The Hunchback is an exciting new “wake bait” that runs about ½” under the
tion; pound-for-pound the strongest, most challenging fish in Texas freshwater; a fish unchanged for more than surface, producing a wake behind the lure as it wiggles back and forth. The
100-million years and unlike anything that swims. patented shape produces a truly unique action, like a baitfish lost from its
The long, cylindrical fish fought powerfully for a bit longer, thrashing and jumping until I worked it to the
side of the boat where it tried a final escape maneuver unique to this one-of-a-kind species.
school. This lure is perfect for the pro or beginning angler that wants to get
The bowfin began rolling on the surface, doing its best to twist the hook from its mouth. an action similar to a “walk the dog” lure without jerking the rod tip. Features
“That’s what they do; they’ll roll like an alligator,” Todd Driscoll, Jasper-based district biologist for Texas Parks a loud rattle and Owner wide gap hooks. Available in 2 sizes.
and Wildlife Department’s inland fisheries division, said of the bowfins’ epic efforts to shed itself of a hook.
That move and the fish’s incredibly powerful jaws, studded with rows of needle-sharp teeth, can so mangle a
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hook or lure designed for much less savage fish that the hooks break or bend and lose their purchase.
“They will just destroy a spinnerbait,” Driscoll said. We are your Having problems
The 1/0 worm hook held until I slipped a landing net under the fish and lifted it aboard. The hook, its shank Trolling Motor with your reel?
now bent almost 90 degrees, fell out.
The fish was a wonderful specimen. It was an average-size adult male, perhaps 5 or 6 pounds, and “lit up” in Warranty Bring it on in - fast
spawning colors. Its six ventral fins, the edges of its mouth, its throat and part of its belly were a neon turquoise/ Repair Center! turnaround!
green. Its namesake long dorsal fin was rimmed in scarlet, as was its broad, round tail which also was tinted in
neon turquoise and sported a black “eye spot” rimmed with bright orange. 6640 Eastex Frwy (Sears Bldg) - Beaumont
Few freshwater fish more spectacularly colored than a spawning male bowfin.
Spring is the best time to catch elusive bowfin continued on P. 20 409-898-2277 - www.r1bass.com