Business & Tech
Middlefield Fisherman Catches Primitive Fish in Chester Creek
Harry Barber has hooked many fish in his 80 years of angling, but only recently did he catch the elusive Bowfin, an aggressive predator that swims the depths of the Connecticut River.
With 70-plus trophy fish award pins from the State Department of Energy and Environmental Protection to his credit, Harry Barber of Middlefield's Lake Beseck neighborhood ranks as one of Connecticut's top anglers. Barber, who admits to being "in my mid eighties" agewise, has hooked about every fish that bites bait or lure in our waters. At least he thought he had until last week when he caught two individuals of a species he had never landed before.
"They are bad news fish," says Barber of the two bowfin, each more than two feet long, he caught in the Connecticut River off Chester. "When they started chopping my big shiners [his bait] in half, I thought it was a snapping turtle." Both fish put up a battle, worthy of the 50-pound test Barber was using.
Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.
Barber took the fish home alive and was keeping them in a water-filled old refrigerator in his back yard. "They are a tough fish," he said admiringly.
The bowfin is a rugged, primitive fish, little changed from ancestors that lived along with the dinosaurs. Like several other primitive fish it has organs that allow it to breathe air gulped into its swim bladder, an adaptation for oxygen-poor water. It is also able to deliver a particularly nasty bite with sharp canine teeth. Bowfins can get up to about 20 pounds.
Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.
The bowfin is not native to Connecticut. It is most common in the Mississippi Basin and in the southeastern part of the country, as well as along the Gulf Coast. Bowfin live in the Mid-Atlantic states as well as in the Delaware River, the Great Lakes region and St. Lawrence River and western New York and Pennsylvania. They are native to Lake Champlain but not the rest of New England.
Many years, ago, however, bowfin were introduced in Connecticut. Most were exterminated, although a population thrives in Wolcott's Scovill Reservoir. More recently, bowfin were introduced into the Connecticut River in Massachusetts. Several catches like Berber's have been reported from the river but the species remains uncommon there.
