05/15/2026
Every year fishermen post pictures of “snakeheads” caught in states where snakeheads do not even exist.
Most of the time the fish is actually a bowfin, one of the most misunderstood native fish in America.
I once talked to a younger angler in Ohio who claimed a game warden told him to kill every bowfin because they were invasive snakeheads. The problem was there were no established snakeheads where we were fishing. I think he simply misidentified the fish and tried to justify killing it afterward.
That confusion happens all the time because bowfin look aggressive with long bodies and sharp teeth. Social media has made it worse, with people calling almost every strange predatory fish a snakehead.
But bowfin are native and have been in North America since the age of dinosaurs. One easy way to tell them apart is the tail. Bowfin usually have a rounded tail with a dark spot near it, while snakeheads have a more pointed tail.
Have you ever caught one?
Aaron B. Futrell, Author|Owner, Delong Lures
