Quote Originally Posted by sagefisher View Post
Wow, what a great selection of fish. I never have seen a Bow fish, were they imported to the area or are they a native fish? Looks like they can put up a good fight.I have caught some Carp in the past while fishing for Smallmouth bass and I was very impressed with the power those fish have. Looks like you had a great time.Larry ---sagefisher---
Thanks Larry! Yes, Bowfin are native to the U.S. From Wikipedia:"The bowfin (Amia calva) is a bony fish, native to North America. Common names include mudfish, mud pike, dogfish, grindle, grinnel, swamp trout, and choupique. It is regarded as a relict, being one of only two surviving species of the Halecomorphi, a group of fish that first appeared during the Early Triassic, around 250 million years ago. The bowfin is often considered a "primitive fish" because they have retained some morphological characteristics of their early ancestors. It is one of two species in the genus Amia, along with Amia ocellicauda, the eyespot bowfin. The closest living relatives of bowfins are gars, with the two groups being united in the clade Holostei."The ones I've been catching are the Eyespot Bowfin (Amia ocellicauda). I hope to catch a Ruddy Bowfin (Amia calva) in Florida soon.