all right tim's got a fish come on come
on
yeah i see if we can actually land one
of these creatures
it's gonna boggle your mind got it
we've got a bowfin
hiding beneath the plant-strewn surface
of this vast wetland
lurks a swamp monster that is capable of
striking
with incredible speed i can sense that
you think this is another episode
about the notorious snapping turtle but
it's not
this ancient being is armed with a mouth
full of needle-like teeth
and trust me when i say that this
creature is unlike
anything we have featured before
welcome to west virginia's green bottom
swamp
this location is shrouded in war and my
good friend
wildlife expert tim brust for years has
been telling me about the monsters
living amongst the watery shadows
tim is a man of his word and i believe
details he tells
but catching one of these supposed
monsters
is going to require a tactic we have
never featured on the brave wilderness
channel
a fishing pole okay we've got a
short walk down to the edge of a marsh
we're going after a true swamp monster
in the fish kingdom something known as a
bowfin
this is a very ancient looking fish
species in fact its lineage dates back
150 million years if we can actually
land
one of these creatures it's gonna boggle
your mind
right now tim is getting all of the rods
and reels set up he's gonna technically
be our fisherman today
i'm gonna be the net man this is really
a two-person job when it comes to
landing a bowfin
to actually reel one of these fish in is
very difficult
the hook doesn't fully set in the fish's
mouth they're really
clamped onto that bait so it can really
let go at any point you want to reel it
in as slow as you possibly can
and when it gets close there i will be
waiting in ambush almost like this fish
does
to catch its prey and with the net i
will hopefully be able to scoop it up
and we'll get it under control uh we
just have a basic spinner rod here
with about 12 to 15 pound test on it
because we're not really fighting the
fish we're just going to try to
lure them in so we can get them with a
net and we've got a circle hook
attached to the bait and we have a
bobber and that's about all you need
just have to find right habitat and fish
are there you'll catch them
with two lines in the water it's now a
matter of being patient
as tim is confident it won't be long
before the smell of our fresh bait
permeates the underwater labyrinth of
swamp plants
okay now we wait
that is the skull of a bowfin
and it's essentially like a helmet it is
completely constructed of bone
but what you definitely notice are those
incredibly long
sharp teeth when i say i don't want to
be bitten by bowfin that is exactly why
and their mouths can gape open
significantly to swallow down their prey
hole
but if you get your fingers stuck in
that mouth and this fish spins it's
going to be a very painful
and very bloody end to this episode and
these plates here that look like shields
are called the operculum that actually
covers up and protects the fish's gills
so if a predator comes in and tries to
make a meal out of one of these
creatures and a very tough time getting
through that skull
such a primitive fish
considered a taxonomic relic the boffin
is the sole surviving species of the
order amiformace
which dates back to the jurassic period
and while they've certainly evolved
since swimming in the presence of
dinosaurs
they're still considered primitive fish
bomber just went down i think we got
something bobber's definitely down
yeah we might have something here i
gotta grab grab the net
it's right here okay
so stand up here at this point okay yeah
we definitely have something
this is crazy okay we might have a bow
we got this tim
let's hope it's a bowfin fishing not a
snapping turtle i guess that's another
one of the threats we could catch
snapping turtles it could be a snapping
turtle
[Music]
close it off yeah i think it's all ah
it's off
and we still got the bait no it must
have been a bowfin if it was a snapping
turtle we definitely would not have the
bait
oh that was our first bowfin
that's a bummer definitely our first bow
fin on well
cast back out we know they're biting
that's a good sign
awesome remember setting a hook in the
mouth of a bowfin
is unlikely which means that if we have
a fish on the line
and it gets tangled in the weeds all it
has to do
is spit out the bait and we will lose
our chance to safely net it
all right see who's got a fish
still on
come on come on come out here i want you
to stand up here
look like a decent fish yeah yeah i see
all right don't move just don't move
they just let go yes yes we got one
this is fantastic we've got a boatman
wow good size too well done tim
all right i am literally walking through
the sticks
of a beaver dam right now all right let
me get back over here whoa
we got one
check it out there is the bow thing
wow what a cool
cool looking fish
how about that that is the bowfin
wow now they get the name bowfin from
the really long
fin that runs down the dorsal length of
the fish's back
but you'll notice that the tail very
closely resembles
the shape of the head that's a sort of
defensive mimicry
so if a predator comes in and bites onto
this fish they may bite the tail
instead of the head giving the fish the
opportunity to propel itself forward
and escape now you can see there's
several chomps out of the tail of this
fish
that could quite possibly be from a
common snapping turtle another one of
the dominant predators here in this
wetland ecosystem
or it may even be from a male bowfin
during breeding season they will
sometimes battle against each other
for the rights to a breeding territory
but one other aspect about this fish
that's very cool
is that the males are actually the ones
responsible for parental care
not only will they guard the nests and
eat anything that comes close
but they'll actually take care of the
young until they're about four inches in
length
so when it comes to the fish world this
is definitely what you consider
a good papa now there's a difference
between the males and the females the
females are a bit larger
so i'd likely say that this is a female
and that is a big big bow fin
i'm gonna get my measuring tape i would
say that this fish is
all of 23 inches in length
that is definitely what you would
consider a full-grown bowfin
you can see there its mouth opening and
closing and its gills flapping
it's actually taking in gulps of air
right now that's one of the most unique
things about these fish
is that they're capable of breathing not
only underwater but above the water as
well
in shallow water these fish can survive
for an extended period of time
and they will secrete a very slippery
mucus from their skin
to keep them hydrated in a completely
almost dried up
situation wow you can see all of the
slime
dripping off of its body in fact they
can even
slither up and over short periods of
land like if they're in a body of water
that begins to dry up
and they need to scoot themselves over
land to get to a bigger body of water
this fish is capable of staying hydrated
and of breathing
through that process see that right
there that was a gulp of air
all right let me let this fish back down
into the water they have a lateral line
that runs down the length of their body
which helps them to feel
vibrations in the water now the bowfin
is an ambush predator
they will lie in weight in the weeds
wait for something like a smaller fish
a tadpole a frog to swim by then they
will dart out engulf it in that large
mouth
swallow it down and then tuck back down
into the weeds
what a cool and alien looking fish i'm
so excited that we got one
i'm gonna lift it up one more time very
gently here i know it's about time for
you to get back into the swamp
how cool was that getting up close
with one of the most primitive fish
species on our planet
the bowfin i'm coyote peterson be brave
stay wild we'll see on the next
adventure
all right let's get this fish back into
the swamp
in the swampy realms of the eastern
united states
the bowfen rules is one of our planet's
most primordial creatures
and their ability to survive beyond the
time of dinosaurs
has made them one of my favorite
all-time fish species
once considered a nuisance it's now been
proven by ichthyologists
that these predators are a very
necessary part of the food chain
as they help maintain an important
balance within the ecosystem
so while they may be rather uneasy on
the eyes and certainly aren't considered
a fish fry favorite
if you happen to find one on the end of
your line watch out for their teeth
and do your best to safely release these
prehistoric relics
back into the wild hey coyote pack
if you thought the bowfin was an
impressive river monster
make sure to go back and watch the
episode where i noodled a 50-pound blue
catfish out of the muddy depths of the
tennessee river
with my bare hands and don't forget
subscribe and join memberships so you
can brave alongside me and the crew
on our next wild adventure