monster bowfin "rumble at the island"

[tangledline]

monday aug 11 went to bass pro shops by public transit from queen and victoria park
long ass trip 2.5 hours each way.....oh but it was worth it.....i am broke again

tuesday aug 12 tangleline and kearney go to toronto islands
arrive at 8:15 am
putting together rods reels and lures...
have no worms at this point
but want to try out the glow in the dark gulp alive grubs....nearly everybody on this forum has mentioned they are worth a try...so i do...with a jig head ....
now i feel we have been struggling lately with braid and water clarity issues so i have lowered my test to 10lb braid
and was going to attempt to attach 8 lb mono leader but the mono snapped twice while i was testing it with my hands...so let's skip the mono...10lb test is small enough i hope...
i also set up another rod with a glow in dark mepps #4 white
kearney and i both have newly spooled line so we are just casting away to improve its performance
i have carp following both lures or they take off...50 /50 reaction...glow in dark makes them curious
i have a carp come 3 inches from the grub...eyeing it up...checking it out...kearney startles me with notification he has spotted a bass but it took off...one of only two spottings all day...
i resume fishing..target carp for some reaction to the grub...practice casting...
then from the darkness of the deep weeds surfaces a monster bowfin with a gash and blood on her nose
i notify kearney and launch the grub into sacrifice position...oh its gonna be bad i could tell as soon as the bowfin eyed the grub then turned on it and increased speed of attack taking the grub on the run until i set the hook....
the bowfin ran for the weeds and i fought hard to convince it to turn and circle back towards me on the dock...
the bowfin lept out of the water and thrashed around until it had no more fight.....
kearney is 100 meters away and running...i don't have the net..no way i am gonna reach in with one hand and bring the fish out it just ain't gonna happen..especially cause at this point its snapping at me...head out of the water...
furious....its blood boiling...kearney arrives and i steer the bowfin into the net..keeping the line tight so it doesn't get us..as it seriously is trying...we go to take the lure out and i gotta hold it down with two hands as poor kearney unhooks it...but wait it won't give up the grub..kearney and the bowfin fight over the grub...see pic of what kearney retrieved..i then try to pic up the bowfin that is struggling to free itself and devour the camera man...kearney...i struggle to subdue the bowfin...sorry about the barbaric photos but if i loosened my grip...kearney was gonna get bit...bowfins like to lunge out of the holders hands and attack camera men as they do not like to be photgraphed.
so we release the bowfin after measuring it at 29 inches in length and 16 inches in girth.
the bowfin splashes me ...swings out into the canal then circles back towards me..
its not done..its snapping at me and letting me know its got some words for me..
then we have a stare down..i take pics...it would not go away..i chase it off with the net.
the bowfin seriously wore me out for an hour...i had to get a coffee and drink water..
thankyou kearney for you went above and beyond the call of a net man and i am sorry that the bowfin is gunning to get you too.

 

[frozenfire]

that is one serious amia calva

 

[tangledline]

part two
kearney and i travel the island hunting for fish only we can not find them...one more timid bass and that was that.
then our guests arrive....two boys around 12 their dad and uncle....we try to find fish we try to fish but the storm roles in on us...we play soccer under a canopy...rain stops we fish..we get rained on again...we get eaten by mosquitoes even with bug spray...the sun comes out and we fish and its a great day together...we had lots of laughs and fun but noooo fish...except carp...they were way too timid today...but the boys tried really hard to get them...and they cast better than i could last year....impressive....
we had a good day together...the fishing was fun ...and we did not catch any fish after the bowfin in the morning.
i think he followed us all day..stalking us....yikes.....

 

[David Kearney]

Lol!! Thats some funny shit DC. Thats pretty much how it happened...hey I don`t mind gettin skunked though, it was a good day on the Island, enjoyed the friends, the sun, the rain, and the fun! Can`t wait to do it again...

P.S. Tangledline, Jojo read the report, and loved it!!

 

[tangledline]

the tools of the species...teeth ouch!

 

[bcorrea]

I use to catch some Amia Calva in PC Bass games hehehe! Never caught one in the real life! Nice fish buddie!

 

[reefrunner]

Fantastic report from the Toronto Isles. Brilliantly written.

Congrats on the monster bowfin.

I enjoyed the read; Thanks.

 

[David Kearney]

LOL do you see the fear and determination on Tangledlines face, holding that monster.

We discussed it, and Tangledline believes that this is the same fish I caught earlier in the year. Same cut on the nose, and same missing tail, it`s alittle bigger than when I caught it, which just goes to show you that catch and release is working on the Island...we will meet again, oh yes!

Well done again Tangledline.

 

[ec1]

nice huge bowfin!
And that's gulp for you! The tail breaks off very easily, but the fish seem to love it!

Crazy how you landed the fish even though your jig head bent so far.

 

[tangledline]

the bowfin i caught august 11 is the same bowfin kearney previously caught.....just bigger...no wonder it was so upset with us and hard to subdue....it had experience...now i know why it wanted to bite us.. it recognized us...
interesting that we found it at a different part of the islands...and that its cuts on its face had not healed...but the tail appeared in better shape- no blood..seemed to have healed but not grown back. so the bowfin did not swim away after being released...he came back and confronted us...what on earth was going through his mind?
i am very happy to see catch and release being successful!

 

[ec1]

Nice! To catch a fish and catch it again in a few days!
These ARE your pets!!

 

[David Kearney]

Nice! To catch a fish and catch it again in a few days!
These ARE your pets!!

probably more like 2 months...but stll good!

 

[tangledline]

kearney caught this bowfin june 10 in the back part of a pond and then i caught it aug 11 in a canal 400 to 500 meters away by water...

 

[frozenfire]

you should name her

 

[windsorlad111]

holy cr*p.. i have no idea what I would do if I caught a fish like that.