Post by pup hunter on May 3, 2009 6:38:17 GMT -6
Baxter angler wins bowfin championship
Chuck Steinbauer of Baxter captured this year's grand championship of the Minnesota Bowfin Club.
Steinbauer, an accomplished bass tournament angler, caught and released a 26.5 inch bowfin on Whitefish Lake to earn the title. The MBC is dedicated promoting the catch and release of bowfin, also known as dogfish. Steinbauer is one of the original members of the MBC, which was founded in 1999 and has a competition each spring.
Tom Swanson, the 2002 co-grand champion, finished second with a 24-inch fish he caught on Cross Lake. Chuck Fields, another previous grand champion, took third place with a 23.5 inch fish he caught on the Leech Lake chain.
For more information about the MBC and tournament rules, visit www.get.to/bowfin.
Brainerd Dispatch- June 24, 2007
Dave Maas wins 2006 Bowfin Championship
Dave Maas won his second Grand Championship in the Minnesota Bowfin Club (MBC). The Hillman, MN angler also won the Championship in 2004. Maas took the lead early, registering a 30 inch fish in April this spring, and was never seriously challenged for the title. His nearest competition was a 25 inch fish recorded by Chuck Fields, of Brainerd, for a distant second place.
Maas caught the winning bowfin (sometimes called dogfish) on April 26, 2006, on Mille Lacs Lake. He was sight fishing, and used a ½ oz white jig & pork rind. Mass is the first person to win two Grand Championships since the club began competition in 1999
The MBC tournament occurs each spring to see who can catch and release the largest Bowfin. The Bowfin is considered a “rough fish,” by some. However, this fish puts up a great battle when taken on traditional bass fishing equipment. The MBC promotes fishing for these fish using artificial lures, and releasing them unharmed. Bowfins play a valuable role in the eco-system of any lake.
Owatonna angler wins 2005 Bowfin Championship
Alan R. Stienbauer is the Grand Champion of the Minnesota Bowfin Club (MBC) for 2005. Stienbauer, of Owatonna, MN, was visiting relatives in the Brainerd area when he caught and released a 28.5 bowfin on Lower Mission Lake. The winning fish was taken on May 30, 2005, using a white jig/craw artificial lure in the bulrushes. Mr. Stienbauer credits his brother, local angler Chuck Stienbauer, for putting him on this pattern for bowfin. Many of the best bowfin fishermen are also accomplished bass anglers. The patterns and techniques used in bass fishing are easily adapted to catching bowfin early in the spring.
Finishing close behind Stienbauer this year were Dennis Lothspeich and Todd Berghuis, both of Brainerd, with fish measuring 28 and 27.5 inches respectively. Last years Grand Champion, Dave Maas, finished a distant fourth place with a fish of 25.5 inches.
This is the seventh year that the MBC has held it’s annual competition which is open to the public. The MBC tournament occurs each spring to see who can catch and release the largest Bowfin (dogfish). The Bowfin is considered a “rough fish,” and is not traditionally sought after by sports anglers using artificial lures. The MBC promotes fishing for these fish using artificial lures, and releasing them unharmed. Bowfin play a valuable role in the eco-system of any lake.
The MBC tournament season is held from ice out until June 15th each spring, and results are reported on an honor system. The individual reporting the largest fish each spring is the Grand Champion for that year. For a complete listing of tournament rules and registration procedures, please visit the MBC website at
Past MBC Grand Champions are:
1999 Ken Fields
2000 Chuck Fields
2001 Guy Henkensiefken
2002 Dean Sauer, and Tom Swanson,
2003 Dan Quinn
2004 Dave Maas
2005 Alan R. Stienbauer
Brainerd Dispatch Web Posting June 2003
Dan Quinn wins 2003 Bowfin Championship
Dan Quinn, of Brainerd, MN won the Minnesota Bowfin Club (MBC) Championship for the 2003 season. The MBC runs an open competition each spring to see who can catch and release the largest Bowfin (dogfish). The Bowfin is considered a “rough fish,” and is not traditionally sought after by sports anglers using artificial lures. However, anyone who as ever caught this fish by mistake knows that it puts up a great fight. Unfortunately, many anglers kill dogfish. The MBC promotes fishing for these fish using artificial lures, and releasing them unharmed. Bowfin play a valuable role in the eco-system of any lake.
The MBC tournament season is held from ice out until June 15th each spring, and results are reported on an honor system. The individual reporting the largest fish each spring is the Grand Champion for that year. Quinn recorded a 31 inch Bowfin on the Whitefish chain. Quinn’s fish was caught on 5-29-03 on a tube bait. This fish weighed 9# 1oz. (The MN State record is 10# 15oz.). Second place went to Bee Khang, of St. Paul, MN. He entered a 28 inch Bowfin caught on a Renosky Crystalina Crippled Shad on 5-24-03 at Skimmer Pond in Hennepin County. Third place went to the 2001 Grand Champion, Guy Henkensiefken of Baxter, with a 26.5 inch fish caught on 5-8-03. For a complete listing of tournament rules and registration procedures, please view the MBC website at get.to/bowfin
Web posted Saturday, May 31, 2003
Outdoor notes
Bowfin club opens competition to public
The Minnesota Bowfin Club has opened its annual fishing contest to the public.
In the past the title of "Grand Champion" was earned only by club members. Now any fisherman has the chance to win this prestigious title, which goes to the individual who catches on an artificial lure and then releases the largest bowfin. For a complete list of tournament rules, log onto the MBC web site at get.to/bowfin.
The current leader is Guy Henkensiefken, a past Grand Champion, who has a 26.5-inch bowfin to his credit. Second place is occupied by Dennis Hanson with a 25 inch fish, and tied for third are Tom Swanson and Chuck Fields, each with a 24-inch fish.
Watch the Dispatch for more on this exciting event
MINNESOTA BOWFIN CLUB OPEN ANNUAL COMPETITION TO PUBLIC
The Minnesota Bowfin Club (MBC) was started in the Brainerd Lakes area in 1999. The MBC is dedicated to those fishermen who enjoy the challenge of catching one of Minnesota's most aggressive "rough fish" on artificial lures. The tournament season is held each spring, and results are reported on an honor system. The individual reporting the largest fish each spring is considered the Grand Champion for that year. The current MN State record is 10lbs, 15oz. The Bowfin (dogfish) is considered a "rough fish", and has no possession limit or closed season. However, MBC promotes a catch & release philosophy. Tournament rules state that all Bowfin must be returned to the water alive, and unharmed in order to preserve this resource. Competition for the title of "Grand Champion" has been limited to members only in the past. However, there has been an increasing demand by sportsmen to have their released Bowfin recognized through this competition. In response, the MBC will now open it's annual competition to all individuals wishing to register a Bowfin caught under the tournament rules. For a complete listing of tournament rules and registration procedures, please view the MBC website at get.to/bowfin
Sauer, Swanson share 2002 Bowfin Grand Championship !!!
Two members of the Minnesota Bowfin Club (MBC) will share the title of Grand Champion for the 2002 season.
Dean Sauer, Breezy Point, and Tom Swanson, Brainerd, each registered a bowfin measuring 26.5 inches in length. A length measurement is used rather than a weight so fish can be immediately released without injury.
This year's competition was closer than any of the previous years and marks the first time there has been a tie for the Grand Championship. Both fish were pulled from Whitefish Lake. Swanson caught his on May 21 while using a jig and tube to target non-aggressive fish during cold-front conditions. Sauer caught his on May 29 while using a white spinnerbait.
The MBC, started in 1999, is dedicated to promoting the catch and release of the bowfin (dogfish). The tournament season begins each spring at ice out and runs until June 15. Results are reported on an honor system. The fisherman who reports the largest fish each is Grand Champion for the year. Live bait is not allowed so fish can be returned to the water unharmed immediately after they're measured.
Bowfin are most readily caught in April and early May when they move into the shallows during the pre-spawn period. This year's cold weather pushed back their spawning cycle. While some fish were caught earlier in the spring, most of the bigger fish started showing up in mid-May.
History repeated itself this year. As during last year's quest for the Grand Championship, another MBC member, Dixon Esary, Aitkin, landed a bowfin that measured 27 inches. It would have made him Grand Champion but it was caught on live bait. Esary was fishing with a crappie jig tipped with a minnow on 4-pound test line when the fish hit. The fish could not be officially registered in the MBC competition, however, due to the stipulation of only using artificial lures. Esary's fish was successfully released.
Web posted Saturday, May 11, 2002
This fish study is worth public funding
By VINCE MEYER
Outdoors Editor
The new walleye tagging study on Mille Lacs, reputedly one of the largest such studies in history, has important implications for how Mille Lacs walleyes will be fished in the future.
All that's fine, but the really big study -- a study sure to shake the foundations of sport fishing -- quietly took place a week ago on Farm Island Lake, where a group of dedicated fishermen set out to unlock the springtime secrets of one of nature's most noble fish.
We're talking, of course, of the bowfin. Revered by none, scorned by many, the bowfin nonetheless supplies countless fishermen with some of their fondest fishing memories. Who among us hasn't felt the steady tug of a bowfin and not thought he finally hooked a 10-pound walleye? The command "Get the net!" is issued fervently, and soon two people peer into the water for that first look of.....a 5-pound bowfin.
We all can hardly wait for that first hookup this summer. But while the rest of us were dusting off our fishing tackle and waiting for that most insubstantial of events, the walleye opener, the Minnesota Bowfin Club was engaged in the first annual Bowfin Open.
It was a tournament by name only. Sixteen club members set out in a hailstorm on May 5 to answer an urgent question: Where can bowfin be found this early in spring?
Who among us hasn't wondered?
Well, don't ask the club. Nobody succeeded in catching a bowfin, not even Guy Henkensiefken, last year's club grand champion, who admitted, "The cold weather affected our ability to locate bowfin today. Because this is such a new sport, more research is needed to learn about the movements of these fish when the water temperatures are so low."
Perhaps the DNR should fund this tournament? Lesser studies have garnered DNR money. Couldn't a few Mille Lacs dollars be funneled over to the Minnesota Bowfin Club?
Chuck Fields, club president, said the club was issued a tournament permit only after agreeing to submit a detailed report of the tournament to the DNR regional fisheries office.
But as of Wednesday afternoon the much-anticipated report had yet to arrive.
"I haven't seen it yet," said Tim Goeman, DNR regional fisheries manager, "but that doesn't mean it's not in one of my in baskets."
Evidently there are weightier matters around the DNR regional offices these days.
Yet Goeman offered to search for the report. But before he could he was asked if he knew where bowfin could be found in the early days of May.
"I don't really know," Goeman replied. "We know they move in shallow when the water warms, like a lot of other fish. I would expect at this time they're very inactive, hanging deeper until things warm up."
The Minnesota Bowfin Club wants to help the DNR build a database on the bowfin. For this the club should be applauded. These people went fishing in a hailstorm, all for the greater understanding of the bowfin. Water temperatures were frigid. If any bowfin were around they weren't in a biting mood.
The tournament pushed on for four hours. Open to the public, it included husbands and wives, fathers and sons, brothers and friends.
What other fish unites us like the bowfin?
Despite the lack of fish, the coming season promises more of the thrills of bowfin fishing. The local club will decide its title June 15, when the angler who has caught and released the longest bowfin since ice-out will be crowned club champion.
Meanwhile, the club is debating where to have next year's Bowfin Open. In deference to the reigning club champion, Henkensiefken was asked to forward his recommendations. Club members no doubt hoped the Baxter angler would slip up and unwittingly reveal the lake where he caught last year's winning fish.
"But like most successful fishermen," Fields said, "he was reluctant to disclose his recommendations for next year's lake at this time."
Reprint from the Brainerd Dispatch 7-8-01
Baxter fisherman wins coveted bowfin title
By VINCE MEYER
Outdoors Editor
It took two years but the Fields brothers finally have been bumped from the top of the Minnesota Bowfin Club.
The grand champion for 2001 is Guy Henkensiefken, Baxter, who unseats last year's champion, Ken Fields, who the year before knocked his brother, Chuck, off the throne. Henkensiefken won the coveted title with a 23-inch bowfin he caught while fishing with a plastic worm.
"It's always exciting to win," Henkensiefken said. "It's a great sport for that time of year."
The MBC tournament season runs from ice-out until June 15.
Unlike the Fields brothers and most other club members who catch bowfin while fishing for bass and crappies, Henkensiefken targets the maligned roughfish.
"It's the biggest, meanest, most aggressive fish out there," said Henkensiefken, who wouldn't say where he caught the winning bowfin. "Most good bass lakes are also good bowfin lakes. I've found you can get them with spinnerbaits early and then as the water warms I switch to a worm and jig."
Henkensiefken didn't rush to the phone to notify club president Chuck Fields when he caught the winning fish.
"I saw Chuck on the water a few days later and told him then," he said. "I had no idea it was the winning fish. Later I asked him where my new boat was, but he gave me no reaction."
Every tournament series has its hard-luck stories and this year's MBC tale of woe is from Jim Kehborn, a Backus resident who caught a 26-inch bowfin on live bait. Club rules prohibit the use of live bait.
"I think they should change that rule and open it up," said Kehborn, who was fishing off a dock for panfish on Norway Lake when he hooked the 26-inch brute. "I usually pick up a few every spring but that was the only one I caught this year."
Another hard-luck story came from Bill Ludenia, a Brainerd resident who landed a 28-inch bowfin he failed to register before the deadline.
"It was an oversight on my part," said Ludenia, a first-year member of the club who caught the bowfin while fishing in a Lions Club bass tournament on Whitefish Lake. "I assumed if you could prove the catch it would be accepted. Next year I'll know when the deadline is."
Fields said Ludenia filed an official protest "but I told him I had to cut it off somewhere."
Next year the club will remain at 25 members. Fields said a better effort will be made to communicate with club members and clarify the rules.
"Maybe I'll launch a Web site," he said. "The mailing takes up a lot of time."
Reprint from the Brainerd Dispatch 4/22/02
Bowfin club season about to begin
The Minnesota Bowfin Club (MBC), started in 1999, is dedicated to fishermen who enjoy the challenge of catching one of Minnesota's most aggressive roughfish on artificial lures. The tournament season takes place each spring and results are reported on an honor system. The individual reporting the largest fish is Grand Champion for the year. The current state record is 10 pounds, 15 ounces.
The Bowfin, commonly known as dogfish, is a roughfish with no possession limit or closed season. However, MBC promotes catch and release. Tournament rules state that all bowfin must be returned to the water alive and unharmed. Membership in the club is limited. Lifetime memberships are available. Phone (218) 828-6154 for tournament rules or more information.
They're not just a roughfish but a tough fish. The bowfin isn't beautiful, but it deserves to swim
Reprint from Brainerd Dispatch 5-20-2001
VINCE MEYER
Outdoors Editor
Fishermen elsewhere founded the Minnesota Walleye Alliance, Muskies Inc., Trout Unlimited, the Bass Anglers Sportsman Society and the North American Crappie Association. But lest you think Brainerd-area anglers lack for inspiration consider that it was here that the Minnesota Bowfin Club was founded.
Yes, the bowfin, more commonly known as dogfish, has a club of its own. Two dollars buys a lifetime membership, but the 24-member club doesn't want to grow. In fact, founder Chuck Fields, a Crosslake resident, wanted to keep membership at 20. "I have to keep track of this stuff," he said, "and I don't want to put a whole lot of time into it."
But the clamoring among area anglers to get into this elite organization was so great that Fields relented and let in four more guys. The rest of us will have to wait until a current member drops out.
A guy caught a bowfin and threw it on the beach near his cabin. The next day he had second thoughts about having a decaying fish so near and he tossed it back into the water. It swam away.
The MBC's purpose is to honor the club member who annually catches and releases the largest bowfin between ice-out and June 15. When a club member catches a bowfin he measures it and calls in the length. The grand champion doesn't get a cash prize, only bragging rights for the season. The longest bowfin caught so far this season is 26 inches.
The MBC's mission is to encourage the catch-and-release of bowfin. Long-classified as a roughfish, the bowfin inspires almost universal scorn among fishermen. Admit it: you've caught a bowfin and tossed it in the weeds somewhere on shore, haven't you? Some say bowfin are called dogfish because of the barking sound they make when they've been out of water too long.
They're not just a roughfish but a tough fish. I heard a story recently from a guy who caught a bowfin and threw it on the beach near his cabin. The next day he had second thoughts about having a decaying fish so near and he tossed it back into the water. It swam away.
Bowfin not only are hardy, they're tough fighters that have fooled more than one fishermen into thinking he hooked the biggest walleye in the lake.
"When you get a bowfin on your line," Fields says, "your heart is pumping, the excitement is incredible, then you get it up to the boat and say "Oh, it's a dogfish.' A lot of people kill them. But why? They fight as good as any fish in the lake. As far as I know they don't cause any harm."
Indeed, while predators such as muskies, northerns, bass and walleyes prefer cigar-shaped prey, bowfin readily eat small panfish. In lakes where panfish are stunted the bowfin may be the Most Valuable Predator.
The MBC is a step in the right direction, but I doubt the Deerwood Dogfish Catchers will form any time soon. Most of us don't even report our bowfin catches when we talk fishing with our friends. The bowfin will never inspire state-funded studies, how-to magazine articles, movies, art or poetry.
Around here can't do much to save the swordfish, restore salmon runs to the Columbia River, Atlantic cod to the Grand Banks or striped bass to the Chesapeake Bay. But we can release the bowfin. When the national campaign gets underway we can say it started here.
Chuck Steinbauer of Baxter captured this year's grand championship of the Minnesota Bowfin Club.
Steinbauer, an accomplished bass tournament angler, caught and released a 26.5 inch bowfin on Whitefish Lake to earn the title. The MBC is dedicated promoting the catch and release of bowfin, also known as dogfish. Steinbauer is one of the original members of the MBC, which was founded in 1999 and has a competition each spring.
Tom Swanson, the 2002 co-grand champion, finished second with a 24-inch fish he caught on Cross Lake. Chuck Fields, another previous grand champion, took third place with a 23.5 inch fish he caught on the Leech Lake chain.
For more information about the MBC and tournament rules, visit www.get.to/bowfin.
Brainerd Dispatch- June 24, 2007
Dave Maas wins 2006 Bowfin Championship
Dave Maas won his second Grand Championship in the Minnesota Bowfin Club (MBC). The Hillman, MN angler also won the Championship in 2004. Maas took the lead early, registering a 30 inch fish in April this spring, and was never seriously challenged for the title. His nearest competition was a 25 inch fish recorded by Chuck Fields, of Brainerd, for a distant second place.
Maas caught the winning bowfin (sometimes called dogfish) on April 26, 2006, on Mille Lacs Lake. He was sight fishing, and used a ½ oz white jig & pork rind. Mass is the first person to win two Grand Championships since the club began competition in 1999
The MBC tournament occurs each spring to see who can catch and release the largest Bowfin. The Bowfin is considered a “rough fish,” by some. However, this fish puts up a great battle when taken on traditional bass fishing equipment. The MBC promotes fishing for these fish using artificial lures, and releasing them unharmed. Bowfins play a valuable role in the eco-system of any lake.
Owatonna angler wins 2005 Bowfin Championship
Alan R. Stienbauer is the Grand Champion of the Minnesota Bowfin Club (MBC) for 2005. Stienbauer, of Owatonna, MN, was visiting relatives in the Brainerd area when he caught and released a 28.5 bowfin on Lower Mission Lake. The winning fish was taken on May 30, 2005, using a white jig/craw artificial lure in the bulrushes. Mr. Stienbauer credits his brother, local angler Chuck Stienbauer, for putting him on this pattern for bowfin. Many of the best bowfin fishermen are also accomplished bass anglers. The patterns and techniques used in bass fishing are easily adapted to catching bowfin early in the spring.
Finishing close behind Stienbauer this year were Dennis Lothspeich and Todd Berghuis, both of Brainerd, with fish measuring 28 and 27.5 inches respectively. Last years Grand Champion, Dave Maas, finished a distant fourth place with a fish of 25.5 inches.
This is the seventh year that the MBC has held it’s annual competition which is open to the public. The MBC tournament occurs each spring to see who can catch and release the largest Bowfin (dogfish). The Bowfin is considered a “rough fish,” and is not traditionally sought after by sports anglers using artificial lures. The MBC promotes fishing for these fish using artificial lures, and releasing them unharmed. Bowfin play a valuable role in the eco-system of any lake.
The MBC tournament season is held from ice out until June 15th each spring, and results are reported on an honor system. The individual reporting the largest fish each spring is the Grand Champion for that year. For a complete listing of tournament rules and registration procedures, please visit the MBC website at
Past MBC Grand Champions are:
1999 Ken Fields
2000 Chuck Fields
2001 Guy Henkensiefken
2002 Dean Sauer, and Tom Swanson,
2003 Dan Quinn
2004 Dave Maas
2005 Alan R. Stienbauer
Brainerd Dispatch Web Posting June 2003
Dan Quinn wins 2003 Bowfin Championship
Dan Quinn, of Brainerd, MN won the Minnesota Bowfin Club (MBC) Championship for the 2003 season. The MBC runs an open competition each spring to see who can catch and release the largest Bowfin (dogfish). The Bowfin is considered a “rough fish,” and is not traditionally sought after by sports anglers using artificial lures. However, anyone who as ever caught this fish by mistake knows that it puts up a great fight. Unfortunately, many anglers kill dogfish. The MBC promotes fishing for these fish using artificial lures, and releasing them unharmed. Bowfin play a valuable role in the eco-system of any lake.
The MBC tournament season is held from ice out until June 15th each spring, and results are reported on an honor system. The individual reporting the largest fish each spring is the Grand Champion for that year. Quinn recorded a 31 inch Bowfin on the Whitefish chain. Quinn’s fish was caught on 5-29-03 on a tube bait. This fish weighed 9# 1oz. (The MN State record is 10# 15oz.). Second place went to Bee Khang, of St. Paul, MN. He entered a 28 inch Bowfin caught on a Renosky Crystalina Crippled Shad on 5-24-03 at Skimmer Pond in Hennepin County. Third place went to the 2001 Grand Champion, Guy Henkensiefken of Baxter, with a 26.5 inch fish caught on 5-8-03. For a complete listing of tournament rules and registration procedures, please view the MBC website at get.to/bowfin
Web posted Saturday, May 31, 2003
Outdoor notes
Bowfin club opens competition to public
The Minnesota Bowfin Club has opened its annual fishing contest to the public.
In the past the title of "Grand Champion" was earned only by club members. Now any fisherman has the chance to win this prestigious title, which goes to the individual who catches on an artificial lure and then releases the largest bowfin. For a complete list of tournament rules, log onto the MBC web site at get.to/bowfin.
The current leader is Guy Henkensiefken, a past Grand Champion, who has a 26.5-inch bowfin to his credit. Second place is occupied by Dennis Hanson with a 25 inch fish, and tied for third are Tom Swanson and Chuck Fields, each with a 24-inch fish.
Watch the Dispatch for more on this exciting event
MINNESOTA BOWFIN CLUB OPEN ANNUAL COMPETITION TO PUBLIC
The Minnesota Bowfin Club (MBC) was started in the Brainerd Lakes area in 1999. The MBC is dedicated to those fishermen who enjoy the challenge of catching one of Minnesota's most aggressive "rough fish" on artificial lures. The tournament season is held each spring, and results are reported on an honor system. The individual reporting the largest fish each spring is considered the Grand Champion for that year. The current MN State record is 10lbs, 15oz. The Bowfin (dogfish) is considered a "rough fish", and has no possession limit or closed season. However, MBC promotes a catch & release philosophy. Tournament rules state that all Bowfin must be returned to the water alive, and unharmed in order to preserve this resource. Competition for the title of "Grand Champion" has been limited to members only in the past. However, there has been an increasing demand by sportsmen to have their released Bowfin recognized through this competition. In response, the MBC will now open it's annual competition to all individuals wishing to register a Bowfin caught under the tournament rules. For a complete listing of tournament rules and registration procedures, please view the MBC website at get.to/bowfin
Sauer, Swanson share 2002 Bowfin Grand Championship !!!
Two members of the Minnesota Bowfin Club (MBC) will share the title of Grand Champion for the 2002 season.
Dean Sauer, Breezy Point, and Tom Swanson, Brainerd, each registered a bowfin measuring 26.5 inches in length. A length measurement is used rather than a weight so fish can be immediately released without injury.
This year's competition was closer than any of the previous years and marks the first time there has been a tie for the Grand Championship. Both fish were pulled from Whitefish Lake. Swanson caught his on May 21 while using a jig and tube to target non-aggressive fish during cold-front conditions. Sauer caught his on May 29 while using a white spinnerbait.
The MBC, started in 1999, is dedicated to promoting the catch and release of the bowfin (dogfish). The tournament season begins each spring at ice out and runs until June 15. Results are reported on an honor system. The fisherman who reports the largest fish each is Grand Champion for the year. Live bait is not allowed so fish can be returned to the water unharmed immediately after they're measured.
Bowfin are most readily caught in April and early May when they move into the shallows during the pre-spawn period. This year's cold weather pushed back their spawning cycle. While some fish were caught earlier in the spring, most of the bigger fish started showing up in mid-May.
History repeated itself this year. As during last year's quest for the Grand Championship, another MBC member, Dixon Esary, Aitkin, landed a bowfin that measured 27 inches. It would have made him Grand Champion but it was caught on live bait. Esary was fishing with a crappie jig tipped with a minnow on 4-pound test line when the fish hit. The fish could not be officially registered in the MBC competition, however, due to the stipulation of only using artificial lures. Esary's fish was successfully released.
Web posted Saturday, May 11, 2002
This fish study is worth public funding
By VINCE MEYER
Outdoors Editor
The new walleye tagging study on Mille Lacs, reputedly one of the largest such studies in history, has important implications for how Mille Lacs walleyes will be fished in the future.
All that's fine, but the really big study -- a study sure to shake the foundations of sport fishing -- quietly took place a week ago on Farm Island Lake, where a group of dedicated fishermen set out to unlock the springtime secrets of one of nature's most noble fish.
We're talking, of course, of the bowfin. Revered by none, scorned by many, the bowfin nonetheless supplies countless fishermen with some of their fondest fishing memories. Who among us hasn't felt the steady tug of a bowfin and not thought he finally hooked a 10-pound walleye? The command "Get the net!" is issued fervently, and soon two people peer into the water for that first look of.....a 5-pound bowfin.
We all can hardly wait for that first hookup this summer. But while the rest of us were dusting off our fishing tackle and waiting for that most insubstantial of events, the walleye opener, the Minnesota Bowfin Club was engaged in the first annual Bowfin Open.
It was a tournament by name only. Sixteen club members set out in a hailstorm on May 5 to answer an urgent question: Where can bowfin be found this early in spring?
Who among us hasn't wondered?
Well, don't ask the club. Nobody succeeded in catching a bowfin, not even Guy Henkensiefken, last year's club grand champion, who admitted, "The cold weather affected our ability to locate bowfin today. Because this is such a new sport, more research is needed to learn about the movements of these fish when the water temperatures are so low."
Perhaps the DNR should fund this tournament? Lesser studies have garnered DNR money. Couldn't a few Mille Lacs dollars be funneled over to the Minnesota Bowfin Club?
Chuck Fields, club president, said the club was issued a tournament permit only after agreeing to submit a detailed report of the tournament to the DNR regional fisheries office.
But as of Wednesday afternoon the much-anticipated report had yet to arrive.
"I haven't seen it yet," said Tim Goeman, DNR regional fisheries manager, "but that doesn't mean it's not in one of my in baskets."
Evidently there are weightier matters around the DNR regional offices these days.
Yet Goeman offered to search for the report. But before he could he was asked if he knew where bowfin could be found in the early days of May.
"I don't really know," Goeman replied. "We know they move in shallow when the water warms, like a lot of other fish. I would expect at this time they're very inactive, hanging deeper until things warm up."
The Minnesota Bowfin Club wants to help the DNR build a database on the bowfin. For this the club should be applauded. These people went fishing in a hailstorm, all for the greater understanding of the bowfin. Water temperatures were frigid. If any bowfin were around they weren't in a biting mood.
The tournament pushed on for four hours. Open to the public, it included husbands and wives, fathers and sons, brothers and friends.
What other fish unites us like the bowfin?
Despite the lack of fish, the coming season promises more of the thrills of bowfin fishing. The local club will decide its title June 15, when the angler who has caught and released the longest bowfin since ice-out will be crowned club champion.
Meanwhile, the club is debating where to have next year's Bowfin Open. In deference to the reigning club champion, Henkensiefken was asked to forward his recommendations. Club members no doubt hoped the Baxter angler would slip up and unwittingly reveal the lake where he caught last year's winning fish.
"But like most successful fishermen," Fields said, "he was reluctant to disclose his recommendations for next year's lake at this time."
Reprint from the Brainerd Dispatch 7-8-01
Baxter fisherman wins coveted bowfin title
By VINCE MEYER
Outdoors Editor
It took two years but the Fields brothers finally have been bumped from the top of the Minnesota Bowfin Club.
The grand champion for 2001 is Guy Henkensiefken, Baxter, who unseats last year's champion, Ken Fields, who the year before knocked his brother, Chuck, off the throne. Henkensiefken won the coveted title with a 23-inch bowfin he caught while fishing with a plastic worm.
"It's always exciting to win," Henkensiefken said. "It's a great sport for that time of year."
The MBC tournament season runs from ice-out until June 15.
Unlike the Fields brothers and most other club members who catch bowfin while fishing for bass and crappies, Henkensiefken targets the maligned roughfish.
"It's the biggest, meanest, most aggressive fish out there," said Henkensiefken, who wouldn't say where he caught the winning bowfin. "Most good bass lakes are also good bowfin lakes. I've found you can get them with spinnerbaits early and then as the water warms I switch to a worm and jig."
Henkensiefken didn't rush to the phone to notify club president Chuck Fields when he caught the winning fish.
"I saw Chuck on the water a few days later and told him then," he said. "I had no idea it was the winning fish. Later I asked him where my new boat was, but he gave me no reaction."
Every tournament series has its hard-luck stories and this year's MBC tale of woe is from Jim Kehborn, a Backus resident who caught a 26-inch bowfin on live bait. Club rules prohibit the use of live bait.
"I think they should change that rule and open it up," said Kehborn, who was fishing off a dock for panfish on Norway Lake when he hooked the 26-inch brute. "I usually pick up a few every spring but that was the only one I caught this year."
Another hard-luck story came from Bill Ludenia, a Brainerd resident who landed a 28-inch bowfin he failed to register before the deadline.
"It was an oversight on my part," said Ludenia, a first-year member of the club who caught the bowfin while fishing in a Lions Club bass tournament on Whitefish Lake. "I assumed if you could prove the catch it would be accepted. Next year I'll know when the deadline is."
Fields said Ludenia filed an official protest "but I told him I had to cut it off somewhere."
Next year the club will remain at 25 members. Fields said a better effort will be made to communicate with club members and clarify the rules.
"Maybe I'll launch a Web site," he said. "The mailing takes up a lot of time."
Reprint from the Brainerd Dispatch 4/22/02
Bowfin club season about to begin
The Minnesota Bowfin Club (MBC), started in 1999, is dedicated to fishermen who enjoy the challenge of catching one of Minnesota's most aggressive roughfish on artificial lures. The tournament season takes place each spring and results are reported on an honor system. The individual reporting the largest fish is Grand Champion for the year. The current state record is 10 pounds, 15 ounces.
The Bowfin, commonly known as dogfish, is a roughfish with no possession limit or closed season. However, MBC promotes catch and release. Tournament rules state that all bowfin must be returned to the water alive and unharmed. Membership in the club is limited. Lifetime memberships are available. Phone (218) 828-6154 for tournament rules or more information.
They're not just a roughfish but a tough fish. The bowfin isn't beautiful, but it deserves to swim
Reprint from Brainerd Dispatch 5-20-2001
VINCE MEYER
Outdoors Editor
Fishermen elsewhere founded the Minnesota Walleye Alliance, Muskies Inc., Trout Unlimited, the Bass Anglers Sportsman Society and the North American Crappie Association. But lest you think Brainerd-area anglers lack for inspiration consider that it was here that the Minnesota Bowfin Club was founded.
Yes, the bowfin, more commonly known as dogfish, has a club of its own. Two dollars buys a lifetime membership, but the 24-member club doesn't want to grow. In fact, founder Chuck Fields, a Crosslake resident, wanted to keep membership at 20. "I have to keep track of this stuff," he said, "and I don't want to put a whole lot of time into it."
But the clamoring among area anglers to get into this elite organization was so great that Fields relented and let in four more guys. The rest of us will have to wait until a current member drops out.
A guy caught a bowfin and threw it on the beach near his cabin. The next day he had second thoughts about having a decaying fish so near and he tossed it back into the water. It swam away.
The MBC's purpose is to honor the club member who annually catches and releases the largest bowfin between ice-out and June 15. When a club member catches a bowfin he measures it and calls in the length. The grand champion doesn't get a cash prize, only bragging rights for the season. The longest bowfin caught so far this season is 26 inches.
The MBC's mission is to encourage the catch-and-release of bowfin. Long-classified as a roughfish, the bowfin inspires almost universal scorn among fishermen. Admit it: you've caught a bowfin and tossed it in the weeds somewhere on shore, haven't you? Some say bowfin are called dogfish because of the barking sound they make when they've been out of water too long.
They're not just a roughfish but a tough fish. I heard a story recently from a guy who caught a bowfin and threw it on the beach near his cabin. The next day he had second thoughts about having a decaying fish so near and he tossed it back into the water. It swam away.
Bowfin not only are hardy, they're tough fighters that have fooled more than one fishermen into thinking he hooked the biggest walleye in the lake.
"When you get a bowfin on your line," Fields says, "your heart is pumping, the excitement is incredible, then you get it up to the boat and say "Oh, it's a dogfish.' A lot of people kill them. But why? They fight as good as any fish in the lake. As far as I know they don't cause any harm."
Indeed, while predators such as muskies, northerns, bass and walleyes prefer cigar-shaped prey, bowfin readily eat small panfish. In lakes where panfish are stunted the bowfin may be the Most Valuable Predator.
The MBC is a step in the right direction, but I doubt the Deerwood Dogfish Catchers will form any time soon. Most of us don't even report our bowfin catches when we talk fishing with our friends. The bowfin will never inspire state-funded studies, how-to magazine articles, movies, art or poetry.
Around here can't do much to save the swordfish, restore salmon runs to the Columbia River, Atlantic cod to the Grand Banks or striped bass to the Chesapeake Bay. But we can release the bowfin. When the national campaign gets underway we can say it started here.