Traced as a surviving fossil, the bowfin is the only existing member of the Amiidae family, a group of fish that grew in the Cretaceous period more than a hundred million years ago. Of little commercial value because of their poor-tasting flesh, bowfin are excellent fighters and are caught by anglers wherever they are abundant, although mostly unintentionally. When not abundant, they are a rare catch, and many anglers are unfamiliar with them. Although they are sometimes considered pests or nuisances by anglers seeking other quarry, bowfin are helpful in constraining otherwise large, stunted populations of smaller fish.
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| Bowfin Fish |
