Snakehead in Mattawoman Creek, MD - July 16

[ComeOnFish]

On July 16, 2011, I made the second snakehead fishing in Mattawoman Creek, MD. This time I was well prepared to catch snakehead. I tried to understand what Redfish said when he was standing up and explain what he saw along the edge of weed line/grass bed a week ago. I knew the target area and had two good lures. And I stuck with my game plan. I caught my first and second snakehead.

But I was not prepared to handle snakehead on a sit-on-top kayak. Snakehead was hard to contain. I felt I was handling a big fat eel. They sprang out of the net into the water few times. I scoop them with the net again. Once the hooks came off, it was a war. I had hard time to contain them because the fish was big and slimy and the Hobie pedal was in the way. It took me 15 minutes for the first one to have a good grip on it. Next time I am not bring the Hobie because 1) the fins of pedal drive caught a ton of weed (I was PADDLING in 6” – 1.5’ of water) and 2) the pedal drive was in the way when handling the snakehead in the kayak.
Next time, I will bring a towel and bigger net for sure.

My video Log:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UprN9nGMhII

[tufnik]

Good job, and great video! The fried snakehead looks good. Also, I've always used frogs, but next time I'll try fluke for variation. It was also helpful to show how you killed it. I'll also make sure I have a net.

Thanks for sharing!

[Redfish12]

Great video Joe! That first one looked like it put up a great fight! Glad the flukes worked, I'm thinking that green one will work on overcast days.

That snakehead looked very tasty, I'm going to have to try it that way next time. What is the dipping sauce?

[Grilled]

awesome video....whats the fastest way to kill those things from the yak if you have no stringer....cut the gils?

[Redfish12]

He's not kidding about them having lock jaw, makes it really hard to get a lip gripper in there. I've only killed one snakehead, but this works for any fish.

I grabbed it from behind, slid my fingers into the gill plates and pried the mouth open with my knife. I inserted lip grip for a handle and then cut the bridge of flesh that goes up into the gills all the way. I carry a very sharp knife on my pfd, comes in handy for that. Then so you don't have a bloody kayak just hang the grips over the side and let it bleed out for awhile.

For whatever reason smashing the head with a blunt object just seems more savage to me.

[DOGFISH]

I was watching a guy on TV fishing for snakeheads. He was using a rage tail shad and a rage tail frog with great sucess. They are all over south Florida. It is a different warmer water snakehead than the northern snakehead. There is a larger snakehead, which has not shown up in the U.S., as of yet. It is a huge thing. It dwarfs the northern snakehead.

Has anyone on the forum eaten a snakehead yet? Just curious. What was it like?

[Redfish12]

I ate the small one I caught and let other people tried it, it was great. Firm white meat, no smell, and no real fishy taste. I think I will grill the next one but I don't think I'd want to leave the skin on. Maybe pan sear then bake. Yeah that's probably what I do if I don't fry it.

[Shady]

When is the next time you guys are going after them?

[jet]

love the video, thanks

[bassman27]

Mattawoman July 22

What time is the best time to go fishing at this spot i would definently like to try my hand at some of those snake heads.

[ComeOnFish]

What time is the best time to go fishing at this spot i would definently like to try my hand at some of those snake heads.

I think the best time is when none fishes. If you fish on Sat or Sun, be there as early as possibly. I would cast threetimes at most in the same area and move forward by 50'-60'. Also for fluke lure, I will use a hook without weight on it.

I kept forgetting to mention this. Both snakehead hit the lure twice - bang (splash), bang(splash). I thought the snakehead missed target. But the snakehead turned around immediately and bit the lure. I couldn't react to the first hit because the secon hit happend immediately in 0.6 seconds. I don't know if snakehead hitting twice is common or not, but it happened twice.
Joe

[ronaultmtd]

I think the best time is when none fishes. If you fish on Sat or Sun, be there as early as possibly. I would cast threetimes at most in the same area and move forward by 50'-60'. Also for fluke lure, I will use a hook without weight on it.

I kept forgetting to mention this. Both snakehead hit the lure twice - bang (splash), bang(splash). I thought the snakehead missed target. But the snakehead turned around immediately and bit the lure. I couldn't react to the first hit because the secon hit happend immediately in 0.6 seconds. I don't know if snakehead hitting twice is common or not, but it happened twice.
Joe

The second hit issue seems to be a very common issue on top water lures- if you have good reflexes you will miss every strike- it seems the first strike is to stun the prey and the second is to eat it- you have to wait until you feel weight on the line before striking with top water lures- at least you do with Koppers Real Target frogs-

[jffoley]

The second hit issue seems to be a very common issue on top water lures- if you have good reflexes you will miss every strike- it seems the first strike is to stun the prey and the second is to eat it- you have to wait until you feel weight on the line before striking with top water lures- at least you do with Koppers Real Target frogs-

+1

Gotta pause on the blowup. I still miss plenty 'cause instinct/reflexes says hit 'em! As much as it might run counter to instinct gotta be patient.

[hooked again]

Great video - helped me understand how to grab them and handle them. If I ever actually hook one. I must have missed the same fish 4 different times at Mattowoman a few weeks ago. I'll be trying again in a few weeks.

Thanks for posting it!

[mmanolis2001]

Great report Joe. Thanks for sharing it here. Keeping a towel on the boat is a good idea and would help with bigger blues as well. If the bigger blues show up this year.