River has finally come down and the fishing has improved. But more rain today . . .

Got a surprise while smallie fishing with this 10 lb pike. Kept if for a baked northern dinner. While cleaning out pops this 9" dogfish (bowfin). I must say I can't recall the last time I found a dogfish in the gut of any fish I've cleaned before. We don't really target northerns in the summer, and have never cleaned a pike in the winter with a dogfish inside.

Anyone use a lure looking like a dogfish with success for pike/musky? I'd like to have one in the tackle box.

Nice catch!

Good eating and trapping bait all in one package

I don‘t think there are many things that swim that a pike won’t eat. Suppose the same could be said for most fish. If they think they can eat it, they will. I’ve always been intrigued by bowfin. I’ve never seen one around here.

Eagleye, I was thinking the same thing...lol

I have never known anything to eat a Dogfish. I am wondering if that is a Northern Mud Minnow. They look similar to a dogfish and are very common around here. They look like a dogfish but dogfish has scales and the Mudminnow has a soft skin similar to a trout.

Thanks for the input. This fish had a black spot near the tail fin and the dorsal fin ran along the top for quite a ways similar to a dogfish. I had to look up Northern mud munnow and noticed the dorsal fin is different.

I was thinking the same thing. Most dogfish I've seen have a spot at the end of the tail.
They also have an elongated fin on their back. I don't see that on that fish.
Years ago, my dad was in the minnow business. That looks like what we referred to as a Wisconsin Mud Minnow. Although, I've never seen one quite that large.
A really interesting post, though. Thanks for posting it.

Caught a dogfish last week on a rapala fishing walleye on local lake,4 or 5 pounds. They fight like heck. Have found mice and small muskrats in pike before.

I've caught quite a few of them in the channel at our lake house. Never caught one on an artificial though, only live bait.
They are a tough fish. Threw one on dry land to show my grandkids who were coming up to the lake. After around 3 hours on dry land, it was still alive.

Well, fellas . . . if I hadn't taken the bucket of guts and stuff out to the marsh for the critters to snack on I could take more pics.

I did blow up the original picture and then take pics of it and saved.

You can definitely see the black spot near the tail fin and note the shape of the skull and mouth. Note the dorsal fin runs along and nearly meets the tail fin.

Note the teeth on this thing. I've lost many lures to dogfish in the weedbeds fishing largemouth bass. Mudminnow have teeth like this?

In my opinion this is definitely a dogfish and not a mudminnow.

In Quebec above the 48 degree line we catch pike with something like that but it has a round tail, I do not remember any spots on them.. I think the natives there called the Loto loto, not sure about that. But we would get a lot of them in the pike stomachs. What were they? burbot?......jk

After seeing the teeth, I believe you are correct. It does look like a Dogfish. I have never known anything to eat them.

Me either! I always check stomach contents to match the hatch so to speak. But I do not recall finding a dogfish in any stomachs ever. Back in the '60s fishing with Dad we lost many a Johnson silver minnow to the dogfish. When we did land one, Dad would knock it over the head and set it up on a stump for the eagles to eat. Some areas we knew up on pool 7 were just nasty with dogfish and we would use a steel leader to the Johnson silver minnow. Anyway, always something different on the river.

Ever since I was a kid dogfish would end up on the end of my line inadvertently fishing for other things. Learned to tell the males from females by the spot on the tail of males and drab Grey color of females. Is it possible that the one the pike ate is an invasive snake head? I think they are similar looking. Just curious. I like eating pike but prefer them 24 to 28 inches and fillet the Y bones out.

It's a bowfin/dogfish. I have never found one in a fish stomach either.