Mattawoman 4/28/12

[camelbird]

I know this sounds kind of archaic, and might not work for a snakehead, not sure, but I know there are fisherman out west that use a "knocker" (I think that's what they called it) to subdue a frantic steelhead in the boat.

Looked like a mini metal bat, one quick blow to the head and they were done.

Due to the skull structure and the freakishly resilient nature of the snakeheads, I'm not sure this would work.

Might be safer then a knife though.

Just an idea...

[jsquare]

Everything I've seen indicates that the fish bat is a very effective way to subdue a snakehead. They call it a "priest" in some places. I love that name. If you give them a solid whack in the right spot, they stop wiggling, making it easier to knife them or whatever other way you want to finish them off.

Saw a video on youtube where a guy was using a golf club to thump the snake heads. It gave him some extra reach from the deck of his bass boat.


PS: I've yet to catch one, but when using a priest on a snakehead I think you want to aim for the base of the skull. That way you do damage to both the brain and the spinal cord. Correct me if I'm wrong.

[chimo]

Don't see any reason a priest won't work on a snakehead, for the bigger ones you will just have to put a little more umphh behind it Just like jsquare said, right at the base of the skull. Fish usually go stiff with a slight quiver when you hit 'em just right. Flop like he$* if you missed or didn't put enough behind it I need to see if my dad will let me have one of his old priest's, its a folding fillet knife with a pretty impressive stainless steel knob on the end, should work like a charm!

Chimo

[tufnik]

At my reluctance, my wife insisted we buy this at a recent fishing flea market. I said, "What for?" I'm glad we did, cuz now I'm ready for head bashing snakeheads

[Memory Maker]

At my reluctance, my wife insisted we buy this at a recent fishing flea market. I said, "What for?" I'm glad we did, cuz now I'm ready for head bashing snakeheads

Or really pissin them off while being close to the jewels .............

[tufnik]

Or really pissin them off while being close to the jewels .............

lol....don't say that....I can feel the pain just thinking about it....

[Redfish12]

I used a knife to cut the gills on my little one. I have heard that the priest works but requires serious umph. It makes a creepy hollow thud though.

[DanMarino]

A Net Helps a Ton

From last Saturday's outing the group realized pretty quick that a landing net helps a ton when handling the snakeheads. I was fortunate that a nearby kayaker in the group stopped fishing and paddled over to net the snakehead I had on the end of my line. It works much better as a two man operation.

I can see how clubbing them would be helpful. It's impossible to get a good photo of the fish if you've had to cut it's head off to subdue it. Even just getting them to open their jaws back up to remove the lure is more difficult than it should be.

It's got to be similar to the feeling of having a shark on the end of your line.

Fun times on Mattawoman Creek!!!!!

[DanMarino]

Snakehead Skeleton

[ronaultmtd]

Wow- what choppers!

[camelbird]

That is freakin awesome!

[jsquare]

DanMarino that is fantastic!

Might I ask how you stripped it down so nice and clean?

[ictalurus]

Nice skeletal prep. I was thinking it might be possible to pith a snakehead to kill it, but the top of its skull looks pretty thick. There are a lot of sutures in the center near the back of the top of the skull, so that might be a possibility. That would probably be a good spot to hit with the priest.

On an unrelated note, everything I've read says that northern snakeheads are obligate air breathers, which I think is surprising. Has anyone tried drowning one? I wonder how long it would take.

[DanMarino]

My Son Did It All

My son boiled the head in a pot on the grill yesterday. Lots of the flesh fell off and what was still on it, he picked off using toothpicks. He then dried it outside in the sun.

The back of the skull at the beginning of the spine seems like a good spot to hit it with a baseball bat or cut down with a sharp knife.

The most intersting thing is that the snakehead has two sets of jaws with teeth. There is an inner set of normal jaws with teeth that remind me of a walleye. Then for lack of a getter word, the outer lips of the snakehead have a jaw structure with much smaller teeth. Pretty wild.

13

[DanMarino]

More Photos

19 Inch Largemouth



Same Snakehead Right After I Caught It