It was a week for firsts...
Took my new(old) boat out for its first bowfishing trip.
Took a friend out for his first bowfishing trip.
Shot my first Buffalo and first spotted gar.

Tuesday we got 10 Buffalo and 1 Common:
http://www.siloutdoors.com/imagehosting/4934a033cc4805ad.jpg
Randy and his first fish with a bow

http://www.siloutdoors.com/imagehosting/4934a033cc2105d9.jpg
http://www.siloutdoors.com/imagehosting/4934a033cc2c8ab5.jpg
Me and all 11. We gave them all to some bank fisherman.

Wednesday we got 2 Buffalo, 2 Common and 3 spotted gar:
http://www.siloutdoors.com/imagehosting/4934a033f611e79b.jpg
http://www.siloutdoors.com/imagehosting/4934a033f6405fa1.jpg
http://www.siloutdoors.com/imagehosting/4934a033fe4c05b6.jpg


We also saw a huge cloud of bowfin babies! It made the entire trip worthwhile. We thought they were buffalo sucking air from afar so we trolled over and saw the huge black cloud. At first we thought they were catfish but we netted a few and saw they were bowfin. We scared a big portion of the group underwater before we could get a good picture off, but you get the idea.
http://www.siloutdoors.com/imagehosting/4934a033f621569f.jpg
http://www.siloutdoors.com/imagehosting/4934a033f63113c5.jpg

Looks like your having a good time, way to whack them.

Nice bowfishing...Hmmm what kind of gar are those in pic6 and the one being held in pic5???

Where are bowfin? I have never heard of them.

Where are bowfin? I have never heard of them.

We always called them DawgFish . . . prehistoric lookin' critters.

The gar are all spotted gar, one was just much darker than the other two for some reason. The Rend Lake tourney in March turned out a new record spotted gar of 12lbs! Ours were maybe 2/3 lbs.

As for the bowfin, I wish I would have seen their parents to get a shot off. I've never seen a full grown bowfin other than at Bass Pro's aquarium. I think they are usually either in rivers or lakes formed around rivers. I'm pretty sure someone posted a pic not too long ago of one on an arrow - maybe in the Rend Lake tourney thread?

http://www.siloutdoors.com/imagehosting/4934a033f63113c5.jpg
Wow that is cool! I've not ever seen one that small. It would have been soooooo neat to put one in an aquarium to see just how fast they grow.

Yep the pic I think you are talking about is from the Billy Davis Memorial...

http://www.siloutdoors.com/imagehosting/43349ebe0c70b561.jpg

Nice shootin'!

The bowfin cloud is totally cool. Those little buggers must grow fast.

Great job. I've hit 2 bowfin (dogfish/grinnel)so far but couldn't keep em attached! GRRR. I want one for the IB9C that IL Bowfishers has going on.

I saw this cloud of baby bowfin again yesterday. I shot at a bowfin laying still in some black mud but missed it. The black mud turned out to be the babies crowded around their mom (or dad??) that scattered when the big one took off. I am kind of glad I missed - the parent fish seemed to be protecting the babies. Hopefully I can shoot some of those babies in years to come...

I've heard of bowfin actually biting waders who come too close to the schools of their babies. I guess they are good parents for fish.

Would be a neat thing to see (the guarding, not the biting). :)

Old post I know- but these baby bowfin photos are cool! Good job snapping that, very cool- they behave just like juvenile snakeheads.. Parents included, staying close and all.. Little buggars are cute..