dc410
Well-known member
Nice job, Fred! Did ya grill one up yet?
P
poopdeck
Well-known member
- Joined
- Dec 7, 2013
- Messages
- 2,333
That's a nice fish. What kind of fly?
F
fishhead
Member
- Joined
- Jun 7, 2011
- Messages
- 121
They looooove some frog patterns. And are DELICIOUS.
Fredrick
Well-known member
Not a snakehead but definitely a living dinosaur my first Bowfin . This fish smashed my fly with some bad intentions big blowup when it hit . Fish was about 5 lbs I can't wait to get out and catch another one of these dinosaurs.
afishinado
Moderator
Staff member
SNJChef
Member
- Joined
- May 6, 2011
- Messages
- 553
Nice... Been killing them past 2 weeks spinnng, no luck on the fly yet. Not from the lack of trying just no luck, I'll order 12 of your snake charmers HAHA.
O
outsider
Active member
- Joined
- May 28, 2010
- Messages
- 1,538
Why do you put your fly rod in your mouth?
jifigz
Well-known member
Because his hands are full. Lol. Just teasing ya. Frederick, you turning all of your snakeheads loose? What's been your best patterns for them?
I haven't caught a bowfin since I was in 8th grade when I lived in and fished south Florida all of the time.
Fredrick
Well-known member
Yeah I need two hands to hold the fish when holding it horizontally and it's not easy to get the fly rod in there when your hands are full . That and it looks manly.
Judigz you need flies that push water and are weedless enough for where you will be fishing . They hunt off vibrations in the water and sometimes follow your fly for a way before they hit so you need to keep it moving more then you would for largemouth. They kind of remind me of a cross between a largemouth and a musky .
salvelinus
Well-known member
If you had a culture done on that grip I don't think you'd put it in your mouth again. Or maybe that builds your immunity. :-D
SurfCowboyXX
Member
- Joined
- Sep 13, 2011
- Messages
- 501
Palm sweat and fish slime only add to the flavor profile.
M
Mike
Well-known member
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- Nov 10, 2006
- Messages
- 5,421
Unfortunately, snakeheads are getting closer to home for many eastern Pa anglers this summer. Numerous confirmed reports. They are in Octoraro Ck below Chester Octoraro Res and spawning. Likewise, they are in Tohickon Ck again down toward Ralph Stover State Park. They are also being reported in The Giving Pond in Delaware Canal State Park. Tidal Neshaminy Ck has also become a hot spot this year.
afishinado
Moderator
Staff member
Two interesting articles about snakeheads in the Potomac:
If the Potomac River had a post office, the northern snakehead's photos would be plastered front and center on its bulletin board. Instead, Maryland's Department of Natural Resources offers a bounty for this vile invader, whose prolific expansion and voracious appetite have painted a big bull's-eye on its camouflaged back.
Native to Malaysia and Indonesia, Channa argus reached the Potomac illegally through aquarium dumping and the food-fish trade. Air breathers capable of overland travel, snakeheads feed voraciously and reproduce prolifically. Their seemingly unrestrained expansion threatens the Potomac's native fisheries, as the invaders compete with native fish for forage and disrupt largemouth bass nesting.
Joining the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Potomac River Fisheries Commission to promote the killing of snakeheads for research and environmental benefit, the Maryland DNR is offering anglers who catch these invasive predators the chance to win a $200 gift card from Bass Pro Shops; a Potomac River Fisheries Commission fishing license; or discounted use of state park facilities.
To enter, anglers submit catch details and a photo of their dead snakehead through the DNR Angler's Log. DNR staff will randomly draw the winner on November 30, 2012, if there is a tie.
"We don't expect that anglers will eradicate the snakehead population," says Joe Love, DNR Tidal Bass program manager. "We do believe this promotion and inspiration of anglers can help control the snakehead population. The information we gain from the Angler's Log reports is also helpful in assessing the abundance, spread, and impact of these feisty fish."
Keep in mind that it's illegal to possess a live northern snakehead anywhere in the U.S. or to transport them into the country or across state lines.
How to Catch Them
Snakeheads often intercept baits intended for bass, leaving tournament fishermen lamenting their inability to work key shallow-water habitat like grass beds, lily pads, and docks without hooking the ravenous pests. Waging war against this unsightly nuisance, Potomac anglers like Capt. Steve Chaconas take the fight to the snakeheads by targeting them in the shallow vegetation where these ambush masters lie in wait, bodies submerged, heads peeking through the weeds. Chaconas catches snakeheads by flipping a 4-inch Mizmo tube on a Mustad 3/0 Ultra Point tube hook, but he favors the unbridled fury that comes with a topwater frog bite.
"They will fly out of cover to nail a topwater [bait], sometimes slashing and missing and returning to nail it," says Chaconas, who favors a Mann's black Super Frog. "Then it's like trying to pull a dog off a fire hydrant. They undulate like a snake and try to back up, thrashing at the surface the entire time once you get them near the boat."
On the Table
Also a fan of this ferocity, Chef Chad Wells of Baltimore's Alewife Restaurant not only specializes in snakehead dishes, but he also helps organize a tournament aimed at encouraging the species' eradication by promoting its value as both a sport fish and table fare. Open to hook-and-line or bowfishing tactics, the daylong event includes sampling snakehead cuisine.
"The sport-fishing thing is where it's at," Wells says. "They're a great sport fish and food fish."
Some may never warm up to handling, much less eating, these ghastly pests, but catch-and-release is not an option. Snakeheads have staked their Potomac claim, and they aren't leaving unless anglers show them the fillet table. And judging from a June tournament on the Potomac, anglers are happy to oblige. More than 1,400 pounds of snakehead were caught.
Link to source: http://www.outdoorlife.com/blogs/gone-fishin%E2%80%99/2012/08/how-catch-northern-snakeheads-and-why-you-should-kill-invasive-species
WASHINGTON — Ugly fish invaders have been living in the Potomac River for more than a decade.
But a study indicates the population of northern snakehead has stabilized, and has probably started to drop in at least some areas of the river.
The study looked at snakehead population changes over as long as 12 years in four Virginia tidal creeks: Aquia, Dogue, Little Hunting and Pohick.
During that time, the department has been using electrofishing to capture snakeheads and estimate their populations in those creeks.
In every creek except Aquia, the study found population growth followed by stabilization.
In Little Hunting Creek, population estimates dropped every year from 2013 to 2015.
“What we think is happening is intense exploitation, because everybody now likes to eat them, they like to catch them. The bow fishery has taken off. People are hunting them at night with bows and arrows and lights,” Odenkirk told WTOP.
He said the snakeheads appear to be doing what many invasive species do in a new environment; their populations go up, and eventually level off.
“Hopefully we don’t have a whole lot to worry about,” he said.
If you catch a snakehead and want to keep it, Virginia law says you have to kill it.
But people continue to keep live snakeheads and move them to new waterways in the area.
That’s why Odenkirk says his department will push to get the penalty for intentionally moving the fish bumped up from a Class 3 misdemeanor involving only fines, to a more severe Class 2 misdemeanor.
“People might think twice about moving fish around if they know if they get caught they’re going to have to hire an attorney, and they’re looking at potential jail time,” he said.
Link to source: http://wtop.com/virginia/2016/06/biologist-snakehead-population-dropping-in-potomac-river/
If the Potomac River had a post office, the northern snakehead's photos would be plastered front and center on its bulletin board. Instead, Maryland's Department of Natural Resources offers a bounty for this vile invader, whose prolific expansion and voracious appetite have painted a big bull's-eye on its camouflaged back.
Native to Malaysia and Indonesia, Channa argus reached the Potomac illegally through aquarium dumping and the food-fish trade. Air breathers capable of overland travel, snakeheads feed voraciously and reproduce prolifically. Their seemingly unrestrained expansion threatens the Potomac's native fisheries, as the invaders compete with native fish for forage and disrupt largemouth bass nesting.
Joining the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Potomac River Fisheries Commission to promote the killing of snakeheads for research and environmental benefit, the Maryland DNR is offering anglers who catch these invasive predators the chance to win a $200 gift card from Bass Pro Shops; a Potomac River Fisheries Commission fishing license; or discounted use of state park facilities.
To enter, anglers submit catch details and a photo of their dead snakehead through the DNR Angler's Log. DNR staff will randomly draw the winner on November 30, 2012, if there is a tie.
"We don't expect that anglers will eradicate the snakehead population," says Joe Love, DNR Tidal Bass program manager. "We do believe this promotion and inspiration of anglers can help control the snakehead population. The information we gain from the Angler's Log reports is also helpful in assessing the abundance, spread, and impact of these feisty fish."
Keep in mind that it's illegal to possess a live northern snakehead anywhere in the U.S. or to transport them into the country or across state lines.
How to Catch Them
Snakeheads often intercept baits intended for bass, leaving tournament fishermen lamenting their inability to work key shallow-water habitat like grass beds, lily pads, and docks without hooking the ravenous pests. Waging war against this unsightly nuisance, Potomac anglers like Capt. Steve Chaconas take the fight to the snakeheads by targeting them in the shallow vegetation where these ambush masters lie in wait, bodies submerged, heads peeking through the weeds. Chaconas catches snakeheads by flipping a 4-inch Mizmo tube on a Mustad 3/0 Ultra Point tube hook, but he favors the unbridled fury that comes with a topwater frog bite.
"They will fly out of cover to nail a topwater [bait], sometimes slashing and missing and returning to nail it," says Chaconas, who favors a Mann's black Super Frog. "Then it's like trying to pull a dog off a fire hydrant. They undulate like a snake and try to back up, thrashing at the surface the entire time once you get them near the boat."
On the Table
Also a fan of this ferocity, Chef Chad Wells of Baltimore's Alewife Restaurant not only specializes in snakehead dishes, but he also helps organize a tournament aimed at encouraging the species' eradication by promoting its value as both a sport fish and table fare. Open to hook-and-line or bowfishing tactics, the daylong event includes sampling snakehead cuisine.
"The sport-fishing thing is where it's at," Wells says. "They're a great sport fish and food fish."
Some may never warm up to handling, much less eating, these ghastly pests, but catch-and-release is not an option. Snakeheads have staked their Potomac claim, and they aren't leaving unless anglers show them the fillet table. And judging from a June tournament on the Potomac, anglers are happy to oblige. More than 1,400 pounds of snakehead were caught.
Link to source: http://www.outdoorlife.com/blogs/gone-fishin%E2%80%99/2012/08/how-catch-northern-snakeheads-and-why-you-should-kill-invasive-species
WASHINGTON — Ugly fish invaders have been living in the Potomac River for more than a decade.
But a study indicates the population of northern snakehead has stabilized, and has probably started to drop in at least some areas of the river.
The study looked at snakehead population changes over as long as 12 years in four Virginia tidal creeks: Aquia, Dogue, Little Hunting and Pohick.
During that time, the department has been using electrofishing to capture snakeheads and estimate their populations in those creeks.
In every creek except Aquia, the study found population growth followed by stabilization.
In Little Hunting Creek, population estimates dropped every year from 2013 to 2015.
“What we think is happening is intense exploitation, because everybody now likes to eat them, they like to catch them. The bow fishery has taken off. People are hunting them at night with bows and arrows and lights,” Odenkirk told WTOP.
He said the snakeheads appear to be doing what many invasive species do in a new environment; their populations go up, and eventually level off.
“Hopefully we don’t have a whole lot to worry about,” he said.
If you catch a snakehead and want to keep it, Virginia law says you have to kill it.
But people continue to keep live snakeheads and move them to new waterways in the area.
That’s why Odenkirk says his department will push to get the penalty for intentionally moving the fish bumped up from a Class 3 misdemeanor involving only fines, to a more severe Class 2 misdemeanor.
“People might think twice about moving fish around if they know if they get caught they’re going to have to hire an attorney, and they’re looking at potential jail time,” he said.
Link to source: http://wtop.com/virginia/2016/06/biologist-snakehead-population-dropping-in-potomac-river/
jifigz
Well-known member
I don't think people should move the fish but good luck stopping them. I also don't think they are or will be as damaging as once feared. Let's not all forget that most species people fish for most places are not native to where they are caught.
sarce
Well-known member
- Joined
- Feb 16, 2013
- Messages
- 1,504
Snakeheads have not impacted anything here on the Potomac. Predators quickly learned they can be eaten just like any other fish. Bass eat the fry. Intense bow fishing pressure also has kept their numbers in check. They also prefer shallow, incredibly weedy areas and really don't seem to bother hanging out anywhere else for any amount of time. Their habitat requirements fit a niche that is only part of the ecosystem. Although they do seem to like bridges and other manmade structures too.
Nice fish, Fredrick! I have yet to catch one. They are quite afraid of people around here, extremely tough to approach.
Nice fish, Fredrick! I have yet to catch one. They are quite afraid of people around here, extremely tough to approach.
