Found answer to where all (or most) of the bowfished Snakeheads end up...

[VuDism]

So it is pretty clear to most of us that the struggle of catching a snakehead with hook and line is due to the fish being bowfished every single night in Mattawoman creek and other Potomac river tributaries etc...

It turns out... they are sold to The District Fishwife... a union fish market I never heard of...
anyway... Snakehead meat is sold to consumers for $14.00 per pound.

see article...
https://www.sciencenews.org/blog/gor...-try-eating-it

well... no wonder I'm always snagging bass while snakehead hunting...

[Shady]

Yes, I've heard of this. At least they're not going to waste

[Romo]

Sad.... they are incredibly hardy fish though and maybe once there are some restrictions put in place by F&G or people lose interest due to low populations they will begin to recover. I think the latter is the more likely scenario sadly. When they were first found up here in philly and south jersey they tried to dump rotenone and shock every pond, river or creek and you didn't hear much about them or see many aftet that. People forgot about them for a couple years and then all of the sudden BOOM they are absolutely everywhere.

[Frogsauce]

I struggle to understand why you would want more of an invasive species instead of less. They do damage to the existing fish populations and other ecosystems where they invade. I'm glad to see it overfished, I hope it gets over-fished right out of the east coast. But that will never happen.

[BassMoore]

every fish you catch except rockfish and perch is an invasive species..

fish eat fish..

snake heads eat fry... they dont eat eat fri larger then 4 inches... well a cat fish also sucks up thousands of fri with one gulp.. bass eat fri.. perch eat fri.. bluegil.. yellow perch.. frogs.. its the cycle of life.. these snakeheads arent hurting any fishing... talk to local bass fishernmen from out of state who fish FLW and BASSMASTER.. and theyll tell u the potomac is REDHOT bc of these snakeheads.. everything wants to eat more.. more aggressive.. its only helping fishing.

giving us more things to fish for, and quality fish to eat.

[VuDism]

I struggle to understand why you would want more of an invasive species instead of less. They do damage to the existing fish populations and other ecosystems where they invade. I'm glad to see it overfished, I hope it gets over-fished right out of the east coast. But that will never happen.

Bass out-numbers Snakehead 100 to 1.
I see what your are saying... but there are worse invasives out there... at least Snakeheads are fun to catch and are very edible... some invasives aren't even recommended for eating because of unclean waters !

[Frogsauce]

Well, I suppose all people disagree on some points. But I've got damn near every fish and wildlife organization in the country backing the invasive argument for snake head. All that takes is a little good search.

[clm]

The MD DNR has backed off the kill them all approach, so a little good search will show that change as well. Nature adapts. It always has. More babies get eaten, they tend to produce more babies to counter.

[VuDism]

This can end up being a cycle...

For now... these bow fisherman can make a quick buck for a couple of years...
... then suddenly one year there aren't many snakeheads around to bow... so they quit because it isn't cost effective...

couple years later... BOOM the snakehead population comes back... and so do the bowfishing.

[Pc4sun]

Does anyone know why Mattawoman is so hot for snakeheads? I suppose because bass is so hot there too. Where the Patuxent (around the Upper Marlboro area) seems better for cat and perch. Is this correct?

[Frogsauce]

Quote from the DNR website:

What can you do? If you catch a northern snakehead, kill it and DO NOT put it back in the water. If the snakehead has a tag, measure the length, make note of the exact location of capture, and call the toll free number printed on the tag. Information that you provide is important in determining control and management strategies.

http://dnr2.maryland.gov/fisheries/Pages/snakehead.aspx

[VuDism]

Does anyone know why Mattawoman is so hot for snakeheads? I suppose because bass is so hot there too. Where the Patuxent (around the Upper Marlboro area) seems better for cat and perch. Is this correct?

It's the environment of mattawoman. Shallow (1-2ft) areas and relatively slow moving water. Grassy with a lot of cover/ spadderdock etc.

[BassMoore]

my buddy scott is a scientist who worked on the whole snakehead thing.

they only eat small fish..

it takes 1 20 lb cat fish.. which there are thousands of those.. some are invasive as well.. that can suck up an entire lite of snake heads. and dont u think if they taste good to us.. they also taste good to other fish.. wanting to eat them more..

would also explain why the snakeheads are so aggressive with ANYTHING that comes near their fry.. also explains why they just stop cold hitting anything.. when they arent spawning or watching fry.. they dont care about your bait.

they spawn 4 times a year.. which is where theres hot periods on catching them.

[VuDism]

On another note. I think snakehead has an overall positive effect on the economy with regards to areas surrounding the Potomac river... Just among my group of friends, many of them got into fishing recently just to fish Snakehead. I got into kayak fishing specifically to target snakehead. Before I was just a shore bottom fisherman...

[Frogsauce]

Well, the MD and Virginia regulations are still correct. If you take a snakehead, you have to immediately kill it. So hopefully adamant snakehead fishers like yourself can help solve the problem.