Dogfish

[MedicDan]

I don't know if this is weird, bvut I was up on Leech Lake this last Sat.-Tues. Today and There was a 5 gallon pale sitting in the water. Thinking it was a marker of some sort, I left it alone, after jigging by it for 3-4 rounds, I noticed it didn't stay still, it just was floating around. I went over to it and had my friend pick it out of the water. We opened up the cover, and found a dead dogfish. It had been killed by someone by slicing a knife through it. After weighing it. It came out to beat the state record at 17 lbs. This thing was HUGE! Somebody didn't like it though, I don't even think they thought it was a record. It was huge, we needed to people to get it in, cause we were in shallower water with a small Johny boat. Just found this kind of odd.

[Ralph Wiggum]

That's a huge dogfish! Hopefully, leaving the bucket there was a mistake. I don't care if it was a dogfish. If it was a state record and I caught it, you bet I'd claim the title!

[LEECH21]

Personally I'd take credit for any Minnesota State Record fish. Dogfish, bullhead, carp, sucker,...it doesn't matter. Dogfish are one of the states coolest fish. I love catching them. It makes me sick that someone would do such a thing.

[Mr Special]

That's sad to hear. I think dogfish are very cool looking plus they put up one heck of a fight. I've thought about going after the state record personally. Back in 97 on the Miss under the Hastings Dam. Someone had caught and killed a huge Gar "Another really cool looking fish". When I say huge this thing measured at 47" and was super fat. They had crushed it's skull and stabbed it numerous times. I'm sure these fish didn't deserve such a faith. Considering they gave a great battle till the end. It's sickening how some people just don't care or don't know any better. A lot of people are still under the impression that you can't release rough fish and that they're supposed to kill it. I recently had to correct a co-worker of this mentality.

Good luck everyone

[Pig_sticka]

I personally didn't think it was ok to let dogfish go back into the water, same as carp or any other rough fish. Did the rules change?

Dogfish do look real weird and kinda sweet with the neon green fins and body markings. I have a lake where I can catch as many as I want of those things if I actually wanted to. Most would be in the 4-6 lb range probably.

[MedicDan]

Quote:

---

That's a huge dogfish! Hopefully, leaving the bucket there was a mistake. I don't care if it was a dogfish. If it was a state record and I caught it, you bet I'd claim the title!

---

When I looked at it, the person had done this on purpose. It was cut open, had a string tied around its mouth and was in a duct-taped shut bucket.

[so haaad]

Unfortunately, there is a lot of trash that floats on top of our Minnesota waters...and of course, their actions give the rest of us a bad name.

[Mr Special]

I'm not sure if it was ever a rule to not release rough fish.

But what I do know is that disposing of fish improperly is against the law.

Have you ever caught a dogfish in the spring, those colors are really cool.

[Ralph Wiggum]

Yeah, I didn't mean killing the fish being a mistake. I meant leaving it in the bucket floating on a lake. It's one thing if you don't want to release it, but have the decency to dispose of it properly.

[iland99]

Check out these two DNR reports:

Quote:

---

CO Lloyd Steen (Ray) cited three adult males fishing in a boat and using the suckers they were catching as batting practice with a baseball bat. Final score: Game Warden 3, Sluggers 0.

---

AND

Quote:

---

CO Jackie Glaser (Mound) reported two individuals in Eden Prairie were catching bullheads with a rod and reel, electrocuting them with a "bug zapper" and leaving them lay on the public fishing pier.

---

[Lost]

Quote:

---

I personally didn't think it was ok to let dogfish go back into the water, same as carp or any other rough fish. Did the rules change?

---

Any fish that you're not going to use needs to be put back in the water. From page 20 of the fishing regulations manual:

"Any fish that is caught and will not be utilized must be immediately returned alive back into the water. A person cannot wantonly waste a fish that is caught by leaving it or any usuable portion on the ice, thrown up on the bank, or intentionally killing it and returning it back into the water unless authorized."

Quote:

---

Dogfish do look real weird and kinda sweet with the neon green fins and body markings. I have a lake where I can catch as many as I want of those things if I actually wanted to. Most would be in the 4-6 lb range probably.

---

So, where's this lake you talk about? I'd love to spend a day just catching these beautiful fish.

[wackywabbitt]

Sorry,but I'm not with you guys on this one-Big dissapointment when I reel in a dogfish, and I'm going to dispose of them somehow not return them to the water. I've actually seen fisherman get chewed out by nearby boats for not killing them. At the lake where we are you can't leave a stringer of anything tied up to your dock without the dogfish chewing them up. Also kids don't like swimming amongst them.

[Pig_sticka]

If you knew where to catch them in the lake other than just spring I could email you the lake. Spring fishing there must be hundreds in the shallows and you actually have to watch what your doin going after crappies or these things get on your line. Fun fight if you actually wanted to have these on the line, I usually use a pliers and let them go back in the water. But I would have no clue where to catch them right now, not unless they stay in shallow just swimming around.

[Pig_sticka]

Lost,

I do know of a dogfish spot after thinking it over other than the one I was just mentioning. I believe it is the rice creek chain that holds many dogfish, I caught a few each time out when I just went goofing around. If you fished below the Peltier Lake Dam, not right below the (Contact US Regarding This Word) though fish the creek right on the south side of the highway 14 bridge. But I am sure the whole creek is full of them, they just might be more concentrated in this spot. This spot has about all the junk fish you want but it wouldn't be hard to locate those dogfish. Also if anyone likes northerns that can be a good spot also with live bait.

[buzzsaw]

Dogfish are absolutely fierce! They bend hooks like no other fish! If you want to catch them they are all over Clearwater Lake and easy to find... just troll up in the lilypads and you'll spot them. Drop a line in front of them and it is on like Donkey Kong! I saw a few this weekend that were definitely over ten pounds. My opinion is that they are nasty rough fish that should be disposed of... I'm sure others will disagree and I'm OK with that.

[vern]

Yep, I really don't understand the dogfish killing mentality. Why dispose of them? Like sturgeon & gar, dogfish are native to Minnesota & have been around unchanged for millions of years. They are not harming our waters in any way. If anything they are helping by thinning out the stunted panfish population in our metro lakes. Don't hate em' just because you think they're ugly. Personally, I think they are cool looking, interesting & one of the toughest fighters out there. By the way, it was illegal to release the "non-native" carp at one time, but that law was changed back in the early 80's I believe. The law never applied to native rough-fish like suckers, dogfish, gar etc. - only to carp. - Vern

[LEECH21]

I love dogfish as well. Well said vern!

[TSCTSC]

where? which lake?

And btw, is dogfish = bullhead?

[Ralph Wiggum]

No, a dogfish is technically know as a bowfin. They're completely different than anything you've seen swimming, but they like to cruise the shallows. They're long and have a fin all the way down their back, with an eye-spot on/near the tail fin. Do a Google search on bowfin and you'll find pics. They fight like mad and are quite fun to catch! Anyone ever eaten one?

[mille lacs muskie bum]

Dont even get to talking about killing dogfish around me. You will deffinatly lose.

[Aquaman01]

As stated above - Bowfin are native, and hold a proper position in the ecosystem (the top, usually). It is in fact illegal to "wantonly waste" fish.

Can ya eat 'em? Not recommended. The liver produces an enzyme toxic to humans AND OTHER FISH!

This is why only an uneducated moron with no foresight would slash & dump 'em. Think about it a minute - if no other fish eat adult bowfin...then what does?

According to fisheries biologists with the University of Minnesota, the only natural predator of bowfin is BIGGER BOWFIN! If an angler wants to make a limiting impact on the population of this fish then the smartest move is to RELEASE THE BOWFIN!

[Matt Johnson]

First dogfish on spinnerbaits, now dogfish on buzzbaits... it's a new craze! At least it seemed that way this morning while pre-fishing for a tourny

A few weeks back I landed about a 7 pound dogfish while pitching a spinnerbait, now this morning I hooked into a piggie while tossing a buzzbait. It swirled out from the shallow reeds and made a sprint at the buzzer causing a good size splash and a huge adrenaline rush! At first I thought I had on a 6 pound largie.

I think I'm starting to get a little hooked on catching dogfish, because now everytime I see one swimming I cast for it. They certainly put up an awesome fight!

Good Fishin,

Matt Johnson

[Pig_sticka]

Thats too bad Matt

They do put up a good fight but I just hate taking those things off. Spawn crappie fishing those things can be a pain on some lakes. You see a bed and cast onto it and find out that it was a dogfish bed and then they rip up the whole spawning area.

There is one cool thing about them though and that is their cool neon green spot.

[ricqik]

I have one prime bowfin lake. I go there acouple of times a year just to fish for them. You can catch them all day, 20 maybe 30. There is one particular bowfin I'm still looking for in this lake. Caught him when he was about 24", he should be close to if not 30" by now if he's still alive. He won't be no record breaker but he'll definately be a fish of a life time. If only I would've held him for more pics I might've changed my mind and kept him. I'd have a one of a kind mounted specimen, the only one of it's kind with a pic to prove it, every other bowfin caught that claim to be what this one is, is just here say..

[Ralph Wiggum]

I nearly caught the biggest dogfish I've ever seen this weekend. He scared a [PoorWordUsage] out of me because this mammoth just appeared about 4 feet from the boat behind my spinnerbait. He took a swipe but it pulled out of his mouth when I set the hook. It was easily 10 lbs, though.

Another dogfish story...over the 4th, we caught 2 of them off the dock, one of them was chomping on a dead sunfish. We were fishing with my girlfriend's 4 and 5 year old nieces. Later on that night I had to explain to their uncles just what the heck these fish were. It seems that the girls were telling them about the "puppyfish" that we had caught!