Bowfins feed on all sorts of aquatic animals-crustaceans, adult insects and larvae, and small fish. Generally, they are a scarce fish of no commercial value. They are dogged fighters when caught on sporting tackle, but their flesh is generally considered poor eating. Distribution of the bowfin in NY state. Dark dots represent where actual samples of bowfin were taken.
White dots represent historic distribution of bowfin.
A 258 KB image of the bowfin is also available for download.