I know someone... stand by. If he isn't banned, I'll give him a heads up on another board he slums around on.

 

there was an article in "the fisherman" magazine a while ago, essentially they hang around the same places as large mouth bass, edges of weed beds etc. the author said they are good eating. if you don't eat them, you should kill them anyway

Dan/Shout

 

do snakeheads make good chum bait or cut bait? WHat eat them if i cut them up?

 

Paging Capt. Mike Starrett ...

Snakeheads quake at the mere mention of his name ...

 

Snakeheads are invasive and damaging to environments, if you get one remove it and notify game and inland fisheries. do nto under any circumstances release them.

 

most of the guys who have caught them are bass fishing, and the snakehead is just a by catch. They like to hit poppers in the early morning, minus ones in midday. Work the shollows along the edges where smaller feeder streams are entering the main body of the river.

 

Largemouth bass are an invassive species in the Chesapeake region. Should I kill them even if I'm not going to eat them?;-) The same goes for rainbow, cut throat and brown trout, right?

I think snakeheads are here to stay, although I've heard that they supposedly have lower salinity tollerances than bass, so will likely be more tightly confined. I also read that some Japanese were po'd a few years back because someone released LM bass into a pond that had been stocked with Chinese snakeheads....the bass were eating the snakeheads! If they're good to eat (and I've heard that they're great), I'd like to catch some, too. Please post on here if you end up fishing for them. Sounds like a lot of fun.

 

Heard from a DNR guy they are thick in Dogue creek on the Virginia side. You can catch them from shore there. Overall, topwater frogs are one of the best baits to use.

 

http://www.nationalbass.com/ I've been out lmb fishing on the Potomac around DC w/Capt Steve and he knows his stuff - this was bout 4 yrs ago. Since then, he's taken a real interest in snakeheads for sport - may want to check him out. Also, check the LMB Board here for Capt Mike Starret's (sp) post and pics about his catches, very cool!

 

"Can these fish be deep fry?"

I'm really not one to bash around here...

But what creature on god's green earth can you not fry? And once fried, doesn't taste good?

 

http://www.indianheadcharters.com/

 

I gotta agree with Mako22. I'd eat a fried shoe lace.

 

Few years ago - Bass Pro Shops offered a prize if you brought in a SnakeHead. So many were brought in that the reward was cancelled.
Most of the Potomac guides will take you fishing for them - if you ask.

The media really caused a scare with the wild stories about Snakeheads and calling them - FrankenFish . There is even a low budget movie about Snakeheads.

I got a feeling the big 30 to 50 lb Blue cats in the Potomac slurp Snakeheads down for dinner.

 

lol and those blue cats are another problem in the potomac man. i would love to hook one those monstor blues damm.

 

I am here.....not banned Jonah unless I post some of my short stories. These guys will have to wait for the book if I ever finish it..
Back to orginal thread,,

Snakeheads are here to stay like it or not.. but consider this:

They take topwater baits in the heat of the summer.
They get to three feet long.
They are better than flounder to eat.
They fight like a sailfish and run like a greyhound.
They are sometimes very difficult to get to strike.
They can totally wreck a lure with there conical teeth.
LGMouth love to eat the fry.

So maybe it is not such a bad thing..

I consider it a bonus on my trips..

And if anybody ever figures out how to tan the skin I want a pair of boots made out of them.


On the second fish the Blue Cat
Perhaps the second most valuable on the Potomac may soon be a trophy fishery.

Capt Mike

 

There's 2 of them in a pool in the Northbranch behind my house. A biologist told me they are active in early May. He said the best bait is any old plug lure. Just cast it in the pool a few times and you should get one.

 

We bowfish the Dogue Creek, Pohick Bay area and get some snakeheads that way. The largest so far about 10lbs, as thick as a man's calf! Good eating firm white meat, ugly as sin! They'll sun themselves on top of lilly pads during the day but are extremely shy, you really have to ease up on them.

 

Now I REALLY want to catch one. Forget the Shad run....

This is also a pretty comical situation. Largemouth eat small snakeheads, large snakeheads probably eat medium largemouth, blue cats eat everything, and to get away from that carnage you need to go above great falls to fish for walleye, tiger musky, and trout. There's a not a single "native" species in that bunch, but imagine how boring the Potomac would be without all of that.

 

I spent more than a few hours going after one snakehead that made its way inside an urban stream last year and took residence in a deep pool for a while. This guy was easily 10 pounds and 30 inches long too. I went there with the intention of finding one after I read about how the MNCPPC and Montgomery County DEP guys shocked up two adult snakeheads out of NW branch, far upstream from the Anacostia (just below Route 29, below a water fall/natural blockage). So I put that together and hit another stream with a blockage preventing further upstream migration and there he was.

So... I went back a half dozen times. First with flies, then with top water, then with crank baits, worms.. finally went back with a 5 gallon bucket full of small bluegill and still didn't get him. He rose up for air three times right in front of me one day too. After that he may have split because I only saw him on two different trips. I did however catch a lot of bass during my numerous snakehead hunts.

I talk to a lot of regulars on the Potomac and the fast water up by Chain Bridge holds them well, in addition to the more popular bass haunts inside Mattawoman Creek. The anglers around Chain Bridge like to throw broken back rapalas, bass color, the 3 to 4 inch size. They will actually sight cast for them too. The snakeheads give away their position when they come up to gulp air ( to fill air bladder) just like a tarpon. When they do... it's game time. But all I know is that just because you know where one is, doesn't mean he's going to play.

 

only dominant native species in that area was the sturgeon back in the day... but look what happened to them