Bowfin & Gar...

Locals call them "mudfish", "cypress bass", "gindle", and a nuisance, but the official name is bowfin.  This large, powerful predator is very unique among fish.  The fish is equipped with bony plates that sheath the head, a tough scaly hide, and very sharp teeth.  The fins are rounded and the dorsal fin is long and almost "serpentine".  Males have a bright orange and black spot adjacent to the tail fin.  Bowfin have the unique ability to actually gulp air at the surface to survive when waters get hot, shallow, and poorly oxygenated.  They are often confuse by anglers as largemouth bass until they are boated, and many of the "big ones that got away" are often misidentified as bass when in reality they are large bowfin.  Bowfin can reach sizes of 24" to 30" or longer and can attain weights of 12 to 15 pounds.  They prefer sluggish "blackwater" streams and rivers and often seek out woody debris, cypress stumps, and weed beds. This fish plays an important role in coastal Georgia rivers as a predator by helping to keep the sunfishes from over-populating.  The result of a river with many large predators is large bluegill, redbreast, redear, flyer and spotted sunfish.  As fish eaters, they can be caught on suckers, catfish, large minnows and shiners.  Sometimes they can be taken on both topwater and deep-running artificial baits.  The flesh is soft and jelly-like, but can be tasty if prepared properly. It can be smoked and fried as patties after dipping in egg and bread crumbs.  Most anglers tend to kill these fish when they get on the line; however, you are encouraged to release this valuable predator back into the river alive.

The infamous gar has been every angler's nightmare at one time or another.  This toothy, energetic predator can wreak havoc on tackle and more often than not, the angler is forced to cut the line to get him off.  They have a unique covering of armor-like, diamond-shaped scales.  The long snout is full of sharp teeth. Two species of gar are found in this area, the longnose and the Florida gar. These fish regularly feed on the surface and are found in a wide variety of waters ranging from the brackish waters of the estuary to sluggish, swampy "blackwater" streams.  Like the bowfin, the gar can survive in very low oxygenated water by gulping air at the surface.  The longnose can reach sizes up to 6 feet, while the Florida gar only attains a maximum length of approximately 4 feet.  Most range in size from 2 to 3 feet.  Gar are fish eaters and feed on sunfish, catfish, shad, and shiners.  Anglers consider the larger gar very sporting to pursue by rod and reel as well as by spear and bow.  An effective bait is an unraveled piece of nylon rope, which entangles a gar's teeth in the loose strands when it strikes.  Most anglers throw these fish back in the water, however native Americans commonly ate gar by roasting them over coals or open fire.  

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Date of last update: 12/15/2008