Inot found out have caught them on a fly rod using a red worm and a red bead. I have watched some other fishermen using just flies successfully. I havehh not found out what flies they are using but some of the bowfin they caught were large. Bowfin put up a good fight on a fly rod and very good...
I have found that barbless hooks do not work well for smallmouth bass or bowfin. The bowfin will snap the light wire hooks. Tying the hook in an upright position looks like a good idea.
How do you propekrly size them to the hooknd that you are tying on and how can you easily handle them and put them on the hook. I started to tie flies again after I retired after not tying much since the 70s. The bead heads are new to me and I struggle with them.