Black Lake, NY Forum

cw14 wrote:whats the ice now?

I gave up! With the weather we've had, I'm sure it's grown some.
Waiting for the melt - maybe the fishing will pick up.

I lied - I did not give up. I was out with a buddy today for some Crappie. 28" of ice We got a few nice crappie and he caught first, for him, Bowfin.
The Bowfin went back in the lake. Why do people throw them on the ice?

The fight:


The fish:

Just an FYI any Bowfin, Snakehead, Burbot caught is supposed to be killed...That comes directly from the NYS DEC...There is a big article in the 13-14 NYS Freshwater Fishing Regulations guide as well as on there site...So next time do us all a favor and gut the thing

pikeman315 wrote:Just an FYI any Bowfin, Snakehead, Burbot caught is supposed to be killed...That comes directly from the NYS DEC...There is a big article in the 13-14 NYS Freshwater Fishing Regulations guide as well as on there site...So next time do us all a favor and gut the thing

Please provide a link to that article - I can find nothing "bad" about the Bowfin - other than it is commonly mistaken for a "Snakehead" which does not inhabit waters this far north. Same goes for the Burbot - I know several folks that eat those from Oneida Lake.
Yes on the Snakehead - but you won't find on in Black Lake.
Here's what I found - http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/77506.html
I will continue to release these harmless, fun to catch, fish in Black Lake.
Sorry for the disagreement.

Phil, I got your back on this one! I don't kill it unless I plan on breadn it and droppn it in some peanut oil!

Page 18 has the picture showing a snakehead, bowfin and burbot. The article says you can mis identify them as a snakehead but only talks about not releasing back a snake head.

pikeman315 wrote:Just an FYI any Bowfin, Snakehead, Burbot caught is supposed to be killed...That comes directly from the NYS DEC...There is a big article in the 13-14 NYS Freshwater Fishing Regulations guide as well as on there site...So next time do us all a favor and gut the thing

For your information, you should know what you are talking about before posting nonsense like this. Here is a link from the DEC website for you and others who may also be ignorant to read. http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/77506.html. I just looked through the 13-14 regulations guide and there is one picture showing the 3 fish and how to distinguish them. The whole purpose of showing it was so that you don't kill a Burbot or Bowfin by misidentifying it as a Snakehead. Really don't want to be so harsh but it is wrong to lie about articles that don't exist and spread misinformation.

So you're going to release a fish back into the waters when there sole source of food is frye from pike, bass, walleye, salmon eggs? They completely destroy our waters eating anything and everything in site..AND THAT IS A FACT.........Another fact is if i catch one opening weekend, i will gut the thing on site

pikeman315 wrote:So you're going to release a fish back into the waters when there sole source of food is frye from pike, bass, walleye, salmon eggs? They completely destroy our waters eating anything and everything in site..AND THAT IS A FACT.........Another fact is if i catch one opening weekend, i will gut the thing on site

They have been here a lot longer than any other species and they have not destroyed anything yet. They are a part of the Black Lake ecological system, for sure.
I see many Bowfin that are thrown onto the ice to die, throughout the winter months. There are many folks that agree with you; but they believe, mistakenly, that they are killing Snakeheads.
So have you found where the DEC recommends killing these fish? I would like to read that.

pikeman315 wrote:So you're going to release a fish back into the waters when there sole source of food is frye from pike, bass, walleye, salmon eggs? They completely destroy our waters eating anything and everything in site..AND THAT IS A FACT.........Another fact is if i catch one opening weekend, i will gut the thing on site

Yes they are a very aggressive fish. I am sure PART of their diet may very well be fry from other fish. However all predator fish in the lake also eat fry from other fish. If we follow your logic we should kill every fish that eats other fish. Bowfin also eat small perch and sunfish which helps keep populations of those fish in balance. Given the size of those species in the lake we could afford to have less of them IMO. Like Phil said, they have probably been in Black Lake longer then any other fish. If you want to feel like a tough guy and kill any bowfin you catch then go ahead. No one can stop you. Just know you are doing if for ignorant reasons.

I find it a little ridiculous that a guy with the handle "pikeman" would condone killing bowfin when pike are notorious for eating everything that swims, I guess we'll all have to start gutting pike too, along with every other predatory game fish, when there's nothing left but carp I guess pikeman will be happy. Bowfin haven't destroyed anything in the thousands of years they've been prowling north country lakes but I guess pikeman's got it all figured out. I guess someone who honestly believes that a full grown bowfins diet is made up completely of frye really doesn't have anything figured out.

Well he capitalized THAT IS A FACT! So its got to be factual! He probably read it on the internet! The heaviest fish we've caught since we owned a camp has been a bowfin. My kid had a blast catching it and it never crossed my mind to kill it.

I must admit, those darn bowfin pull like a train when you hook into one .... really fun fight .... but when it gets to the surface I always get a small feeling of disappointment that it wasn't a bass, pike, or walleye.

I don't think they have any real impact on the lake one way or the other .... but I also wouldn't care if they disappeared.

I've always just let them go .... but I might try eating one. They have a ton of meat on them .... might be pretty tasty.

They taste like mud, just sayin'! I still let them go though. They fight like hell and are way older than I am!

Chill Out you guys on the Bowfin!! Just because one person got it wrong dosn't mean enough to chastize others for their thoughts on the matter. Just keep your eyes open for , God forbid, those invasive snakehead fish should they ever come to our lake. Catch & Release.