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

[Cowpokey]

I was just thinking...

$14.00 per pound is a bit expensive for an "invasive" fish no?
I would think if you wanted to "rid" of them so badly shouldn't it be cheap ?

Supply and Demand sets the price, not desire to control the population.

[CoptrDoctr]

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.

I'm pretty sure that MD hasn't backed off at all: "If you catch a northern snakehead, kill it and DO NOT put it back in the water"
http://dnr2.maryland.gov/fisheries/Pages/snakehead.aspx

[Cowpokey]

I'm pretty sure that MD hasn't backed off at all: "If you catch a northern snakehead, kill it and DO NOT put it back in the water"
http://dnr2.maryland.gov/fisheries/Pages/snakehead.aspx

It would be nice if there was a date on that article. the 2014 MD DNR fishing book says if you intend to keep snakehead you must immediately kill.

[VuDism]

I'm pretty sure that MD hasn't backed off at all: "If you catch a northern snakehead, kill it and DO NOT put it back in the water"
http://dnr2.maryland.gov/fisheries/Pages/snakehead.aspx

We covered this as outdated information a couple of pages back.
Per the 2014 guidebook it is NOT REQUIRED to kill

[Romo]

So you maintain that Joe Fisherman knows more than the fisheries biologists? Come on...

Ah you are putting words in my mouth. I am not implying that neither I nor Joe Fisherman know more than a biologist. What I am simply stating is that I don't care what the biologists say. Fisheries management, as has been proven with many species over the past few decades, is far from an exact "science." No one can predict how species are going to interact, what the effect will be on baitfish, vegetation, etc. All we can do as recreational anglers is enjoy what nature and/or bucket biologists afford us. I can't go around killing a beautiful creature like a snakehead because someone in harrisburg or annapolis wants me to because it maybe possibly might affect the invasive species that happened to land here decades prior and are now cherished and have built up million dollar tournaments around. But that's just me.

[VuDism]

Snakeheads have made the potomac river and tributaries a much more interesting place to fish than before they were introduced.

From my research on Snakeheads and how to fish them etc I've found that there are people who actually travel to the DC area from all over the country just to fish Snakehead. People take vacation to come to this area, hire a guide, just to fish Snakehead.

[clm]

All I'm saying is, it's great that you enjoy catching them and they are tasty. But look outside your own personal gain for a while and try to see what the long term damage might be. Then make a decision for yourself. It's hard to be unselfish when your doing something you love. Ask the 1990s blue crab population. Or the 1980s striped bass population. Fisheries damn near wiped them out. DNR to the rescue.

This is not true.
There is a difference between "invasive" and "introduced".

So you maintain that Joe Fisherman knows more than the fisheries biologists? Come on...

This is not true.
There is a difference between "invasive" and "introduced".

So you maintain that Joe Fisherman knows more than the fisheries biologists? Come on...

In some instances Joe fisherman may know better. According to the hype I'd expect to only catch snakeheads, yet I have yet to catch one. Tons of bass, blue gill, crappie, catfish, but no snakeheads. The learned scholars tend to over react as was stated earlier in some instances. I tend to believe more of what I see, versus what I'm told.

[VuDism]

In some instances Joe fisherman may know better. According to the hype I'd expect to only catch snakeheads, yet I have yet to catch one. Tons of bass, blue gill, crappie, catfish, but no snakeheads. The learned scholars tend to over react as was stated earlier in some instances. I tend to believe more of what I see, versus what I'm told.

I too have yet to catch a snakehead. I've been trying since April. I've caught plenty bass in the process.
Even reports and angler logs i've been reading... people are catching dozens of bass and only one snakehead strike etc.

Seems like they are more easily spooked now too because of pressure from bow fisherman... i remember reading some logs back in 2010-2011 about how snakeheads would swim next to the kayak and gulp air and stare at the fisherman with no issues... now they swim away so fast as soon as they see you.

Last weekend I spotted a 20+" snakehead in the shallows and I crept up and he saw me and swam off so fast.

[CoptrDoctr]

We covered this as outdated information a couple of pages back.
Per the 2014 guidebook it is NOT REQUIRED to kill

This was a hot topic today. I typed up my response and it didn't send the first time... OOPS!

[buzz]

Ah you are putting words in my mouth.

Oh no sir. Quite the opposite.
I was just asking for clarification. Thank you.

[Memory Maker]

Well MM, agree to disagree on the DNR track record. They did much more than just ban fishing them. I believe they did right by the other species, and I'll take their word (and the rest of the east coasts word) for the snakehead too.

Well .......... I and some other old timers lived it ...that was back when I fished every weekend and couldn't get enough fishing .... I saw it first hand ......... all I'm saying is that the DNR has a tendendancy to overreact ......... like poisioning a whole pond before checking to see if they were other places ........ within months of poisioning the pond, snakeheads were "discovered" in the Potomac ........... in numbers ....... soooo .... why didn't they know this if they were on top of things. Go back and look at the quotes from the Biologists and you will see. Then check snakeheads out in the Asian countries. They have not taken over there.

Yes the DNR is good and I totally support their efforts ........ but I know what the track effort has been.

[Snakehead Hunter]

From what I read from multiple forums, you only have to kill if you intend to keep it. I don't think they can make a rule that force people to kill since this is still a free country. I go fish for SH very often but I usually only catch bass, so I just give 5 biggest bass to whoever want them. It is a known fact that bass eat SH fry, so I'm doing my part to control bass lol.

[JohnE]

That's right. As I understand it, it is only illegal in VA to possess or transport a 'live' snakehead. You want to keep it and eat it, you must kill first in order to transport. Not sure about what Maryland's current stance on them is since I don't fish for them over there, but I would think they are most likely matching what VA is doing. The information I've read and videos I've seen strongly suggest that they are not the menace people thought they would be. There are still tons of them around here. I have seen a lot lately myself, just have a hard time getting them to bite. Oh, and I could care less if they did eat up all the damn bass in the Potomac. I only care about them eating up the baby stripers.

[Snakehead Hunter]

...

[JohnE]

Current info from VDGIF website: "Anglers may legally possess snakehead fish taken from Virginia waters provided they immediately kill the fish and notify VDGIF".

I would not test them on possessing a live one even paddling back in with it. If you transport across state lines: "Maximum criminal penalties
under the Lacey Act are 5 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for an individual and a $500,000 fine for an organization". The lines on which state owns the water you are fishing can be pretty tricky around here. Not sure what if any penalties can be enforced in VA for transporting a live one, but I'm going to do some more research and find out.