Lake LeBoeuf

My son and I fished LeBoeuf this morning caught 27 throw backs(small gills ,crappie and 3 small perch).
Took home 3 crappie and 9 bluegill.
10-12 inches of snow on the ice.
Fished off the tavern side (Rt.19) and two other huts off the other parking area.

Fishing 1/2 to 2/3 out towards the island in about 28-32 ft. of water. Most fish are suspended 18-25 ft. sometimes a little deeper.

ORIGINAL: crappiehunter7

alright, theres some nice crappies in there if u can get on em. my cuzn got a 19 1/4" last year

That's amazing!

Shoulda had it weighed...state record is 19 1/4" too. 4# 2.88 oz!! Big slab.

http://fishandboat.com/images/staterecord/crappie/00record_crappie.htm

Lake leboeuf is a dying lake! theres no good fishing anymore the stupid bowfins eat every other species.

Keep telling people that colvinj, makes more room for me and a few others who fish the lake.

Nope, been fishing there for 35 years and never caught one in the lake, I have how ever caught them in French Creek.

There was about 10 inches of ice and 10-12 inches of snow and no slush as of Sunday 2-14. You can add on another 5-6 inches of snow this week?
Bought some certified minnows and my son and I plan on being there Saturday morning.
Now we're talking about bowfins I'll probably start catching them.... nasty things!

I fish there alot and have never caught one myself ?? or seen any caught there for that matter

ORIGINAL: crappiehunter7

i just cant believe you havent caught any of them before out of there
but dont through them back, there really bad for the lake

Not true.

Bowfin
Family Amiidae

Family overview: The one bowfin species that exists today, Amia calva, is all that remains of a large group of marine and freshwater fishes that thrived about 150 million years ago. A “living fossil,” the bowfin shows some body features, such as a lunglike swim bladder, which are typical of primitive fish, and other characteristics, like smooth scales, which are found in the more highly evolved soft-rayed fishes......As a Pennsylvania candidate species, the Commission strongly encourages anglers to immediately release bowfins back to the water unharmed.

More here:
http://fishandboat.com/pafish/fishhtms/chap8.htm#bowfinl

I've been advocating a bowfin forum, but thus far have been unsuccessful.

...but they've been here for 150 MILLION years.
I'd think if they were that bad for a body of water there would be no other fish left by now?

Kill em if you want, I'm just sayin....they're delicious.

well they havent always been there,
and they do eat almost everything
and not to be rude but sometimes the commision doesnt have a clue what there talking about

Almost every lake i fish has a population of bowfin in it, i would disagree on the bowfin hurting the fishery.

Crappiehunter yes the bowfin have always been in there, that lake has for a long time been apart of the french creek water shed, french has a healthy pop of bowfin, so has leboef. Not to be rude but in your last post "you dont have a clue what your talking about"


They are notinvasive, they are important part of the eco system. You may have feelings of dislike for them, but they are doing nothing more than the bass,pike and musky are doing. Even if we took all of those bowfin out of the lake, the pike population would get bigger. IMO pike are a better preditor than a bowfin any day. Bowfin have a tendency to miss the target alot while a pike will have a higher "hit" rate whn attacking. And pike are more active all year long, so do you have a problem with pike, and musky also?

How can any fisherman know what species are "bad" for a lake? I am sure most people who are making these claims have aquired mass amounts af data, from different bodys of water, over many years. Tracking the suvival rate of yearlings of all the game fish in the water, lookin at how weather, spawning conditions, and other influences have adjusted the population densitys of all the fish have changed over the past so many years. Taking in account the x factors such as stocking efforts from the public, and harvest rate by local anglers. With this wealth of infomation make the claim that this solo species of fish is causeing all the "trouble" and terrible things every fisherman is claiming... All i want to know is can i see your data that justifies your claim.

I agree with Catchabigone I've lived in Waterford all my life and have only seen one person catch a bowfin there. I usually catch blue gill and crappie there and I fish there all the time on my dad's and my boat.

going to lebouef  this weekend and i was wondering what the ice conditions were there?
and where a good spot to land some crappies might be