Fishing's Odd Couple: Bowfin and Gar

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Doug Stamm
Michigan Natural Resources: March/April 1997

Long considered a trash fish by most anglers, the bowfin is an excellent catch-and-release sport fish. It is very strong for its size and when fighting-mad, is quite capable of breaking a good fishing rod.

Although it's commonly acknowledged that beauty is only skin deep, it's been said ugly goes clear to the bone. Whether or not that's true, our state waters are home to two of the least lovely fish you'll likely ever see: the bowfin and the gar. (Actually, Michigan has two species of gar--the more common longnose and the infrequently caught and seldom-seen spotted, but the pair are similar enough to be treated as one here.) Let's take a closer look at these unusual fish.

The Bowfin

The bowfin often is referred to as a "dogfish" by unknowing anglers. They don't realize the object of their scorn actually is a beneficial predator which helps control populations of other, more-desirable fish. Such fish populations, if left unchecked, may become overly abundant and consequently unhealthy.

A particularly rugged fish, the bowfin is capable of surviving in oxygen-poor waters where many other fish could not. A denizen of muddy and weed-choked still waters, the bowfin also has a couple of strange-but-true qualities which distinguish it from other species. For starters, the bowfin is capable of breathing the same air as you and I. It often gulps mouthfuls at the water's surface. And it will, at times, bury itself in lake-bottom mud during dry spells to survive a drought.

Hardly the dining equal of such fine-eating species as walleye, whitefish or yellow perch, the bowfin can, if properly prepared, provide passable table fare. Playing an important role in nature's scheme of things, the olive-colored bowfin serves a most worthy purpose as predator par excellence. Bowfin will eat almost anything that moves from insect to leech to crayfish and, as previously mentioned, other fish.

Those who know about such things say the bowfin is one of a handful of "living fossils"--little changed from the fish which swam in prehistoric waters. The bowfin (so named because of its prominent bow-like fin) is a ferocious fighter every bit the sporting equal of other more highly sought gamefish. If you've ever tied into one, you know just what a fighter the bowfin can be. The current state record for sport-caught bowfin is a 35-inch 14-pounder taken in 1981 in Livingston County's Little Crooked Lake by Michael Miller of Westland.

If you are ever lucky enough to catch a bowfin, please afford the fish the respect it deserves, but don't get too careless when handling it. Those slashing teeth which suit its predatory lifestyle can inflict serious hurt to incautious human fingers. And, if you're of a mind, return it to the water to live out its life's purpose. You'll be glad you did.

With a face only a mother could love, the longnose gar is easily recognized by its long and thin toothy snout, flinty-hard scales and lean body. It, like the bowfin, may be eaten--but only if you're really hungry. Relatively few anglers choose to do so largely because of its tough, hard-to-remove scales. Gar eggs are said to be toxic to humans. Gar inhabit many of Michigan's inland lakes and the more sluggish sections of larger streams.

They're notoriously tough fish capable of living several hours out of the water and are, seemingly, nigh-on impossible to kill. Because of their long and hardened snout, longnose gar are difficult to hook. The current Michigan state record for a sport caught longnose was set in 1995 by Dennis Promo of Dearborn Heights when he took a 53-inch, 18-pound monster from Livingston County's Williamsville Lake. Seldom do gar much exceed three feet in length. As a rule, male longnose gar are smaller than females of the species.

Longnose gar are strictly carnivorous, eating other fish with an occasional frog, crayfish or insect thrown in for good measure. Despite their fearsome appearance and predatory nature, little evidence points to the longnose gar as a truly detrimental species.

Though the spotted gar lacks the long thin snout of the longnose, its body too is distinctly torpedo-shaped. Little is known about the seldom-seen spotted gar's life history. It's thought the only state waters where spotted gar typically reside are those of Lake Erie's western basin. The spotted gar, like the longnose, is a particularly adept predator and eats mostly other fish, though an occasional crustacean might be taken for the sake of menu variety.

Gar are particularly fast-growing fish capable of reaching lengths approaching 20 inches in their first year of life. Like other modern-day swimming dinosaurs such as the bowfin and lake sturgeon, gar are primitive fish little changed from prehistoric times. Like bowfin, gar can survive in waters few other fish tolerate and also can gulp large quantities of air at the water's surface.

Gar may not be particularly pretty nor good eating, nor do they provide much sport. Still, they, along with the bowfin, are one of the most unusual and peculiar looking fish found in Michigan waters. If you ever have occasion to meet one or both members of this very odd couple, we think you'll agree.