Thread: Bowfin any good to eat?

I’ve always heard to cook them as soon as you clean them or the meat will have a “cotton” like texture. Also have heard poach them first and they make a great fish cake like a crab cake but have never eaten any myself.


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Thanks for for the info, the flesh after filleting felt kinda like catfish. I just put the fillets in a freezer bag full of water and tossed in the freezer, so we shall se at another date and time...

Originally Posted by Smitty39365

I’ve always heard to cook them as soon as you clean them or the meat will have a “cotton” like texture. Also have heard poach them first and they make a great fish cake like a crab cake but have never eaten any myself.


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I've caught a lot of them over the years but never ate one. Looking forward to your report on supper.

I don't recommend it. Bowfin accumulate Mercury in their flesh, and the older the fish the more Mercury it contains.

Like was stated above, you need to eat them as soon as you catch them, otherwise they become real mushy!!!

Well I will let everyone know how it goes, it’s already frozen so we shall see. I did read that they hold mercury in the flesh. But I think when they do a lot of that testing they just grind up the whole fish. Maybe not. Anyway I think dying of mercury poisoning is the least of my worries! LOL. I will just do a taste test one night when the wife is at work. The flesh did feel really spongy. Will cook it this week and report back!

Ok well I thawed it out, it turned into like jelly. I was able to get some chunks together, roll in ranch dressing then fish fry. Definately fishy tasting, the consistency was like ground fish , didn’t taste bad, not quite as good as catfish. I would say if your gonna keep one, cook it after you clean it and maybe use it for fish cakes. I wouldn’t target these for food, but they aren’t that bad. Someone mentioned mercury, I would rather save my monthly allowable mercury limit for something more tastier.....