Black Lake, NY Forum

I have a buddy that caught a 27 inch Bowfin at Black Lake. Upon doing some research, learned that a 27 incher is pretty darn big. He obviously released it, but has a nice picture that he could use to get a replica mount. Is 27 inches "mount worthy"?? I really have no idea and neither does my buddy.

Only if the bowfin is mounted with its mouth open showing all its teeth. Thousand Island bait store has one mounted on the wall the last time I was in there some 10 years ago.

I've only caught a few over the years, and none of them were that big. I think a 27" anything is big!

If you like it and think it looks cool, then by all means get a replica. Cool replicas aren't always of big fish .... average sized replicas done really well can be awesome!

My personal best is 25", I don't know how big they get but man do they put up a fight. The Bowfin is not considered a sport fish (by anyone that I know at least) so I would have to say that if the mount brings back the good memories of the fight than go for it.

I would say 27" is a big bowfin. This 30" bowfin was caught on a point near Baily Island back in August 2008 in 10 FT of water and I thought is was a monster. I was hoping a had the state record largemouth until it's ugly face surfaced :0).

Last year, I had one a little over 30". Took some pictures and put him back in. If I recall correctly, the state record is only 12 or 13 pound; an achievement thingy from the DEC is for 5 pounds. I spotted his head sticking out of some reeds along the shoreline while wading in about 2 feet of water. Same reaction though - ecstatic until I realized what it was. At that point, I also realized I wanted a net (I like keeping my blood in my fingers.) There was a group of people at their camps on shore watching; as I made my way back to the docks (about 50 yards behind me) while fighting the fish, one of them shouted, "I don't know what he caught, but it must be scary! Look! He's retreating!"

was that last year over the fourth of July? Maybe at log cabins?

Last year my 12 yr old daughter caught her first one @ 28 inches and I caught one 32 inches both on the north side of the bridge jigging for crappies.

we caught two this week both were 23" and 27" they weighed 7 and 8 lbs

My personal best is 31" and i have a perfect replica of it on my wall for a hasty $500, even a 27 inch bowfin is mountable, especially if you think you wont catch one bigger than that.

most people i know despise them, in fact they kill them..i never catch them so it doesn't
matter to me

Just because they are ugly doesn't mean they deserve to be killed/wasted. They are a ton of fun to catch; especially on light tackle.

They pull like a freight train ..... and I've heard they taste great.

If I catch one this year, I'll keep and eat it ..... seems to be a ton of meat on a big one. I wonder if they have bones like a pike, or are more like a walleye.

They taste like MUD!

Bowfin...gotta love 'em. I've only ever caught one, a few years back, about 18 inches long. Couldn't tell what in blue blazes it was until I got it into the boat. Hugged the bottom like a channel cat one second and jumped like a bass the next. Have respect for them and please don't kill them. They've been around for over 100 million years and were swimming when the T-Rex was alive. I'd read their meat cooks up like oatmeal, and one web site does honour them as being America's top sport fish for 100 million years.