The NJDEP Division of Fish and Wildlife has confirmed that a bowfin caught by Chris Hoffman of Hamilton, NJ, is officially a new state record.
Mr. Hoffman was fishing for largemouth bass from his boat in the Delaware River near the Mercer Generating Station in Trenton, NJ. on July 4, 2011, when the fish grabbed a 4″ soft plastic Senko around 7 p.m.
The angler considered himself to be lucky the bowfin’s formidable teeth did not snap the line as he brought the record fish in on 6 lb. test P-Line.
The 10 lb. 14 oz. bowfin, was 29.9″ long and had a girth of 14.6″. It broke the old record, set 23 years ago in 1988, by 2 lb. 10 oz.
The bowfin belongs to a primitive family of fish named Amiidae and is the only surviving species of that family.
The bowfin is a formidable predator that readily feeds on frogs, fish and a wide variety of other vertebrate prey and insects.
For more information on the New Jersey Record Fish Program, visit:
www.njfishandwildlife.com/recfish.htm