Mattawoman creek 7/4 First snakehead for me!!!

[therevolution]

Launched from slavins. On the water at 5:30am. Tide was coming in pretty good by then so I just paddled left beyond the first bend and started fishing the drift. Caught a decent 3 lber first cast with a plastic frog. Managed 2 or 3 more bass the same way in about 15 minutes. Then I hooked and landed my first snakehead ever with the frog! Got it netted and cut the line and let it chill in the net, because I didn't really have a good way to kill it that I could think of. Caught one more bass that was probably a 4lber on the frog and then the sun was up pretty good and the topwater bite died down. I did get one more really huge blowup on the frog on the backside of the barge that I think was a snakedhead much bigger than the one I landed.

Managed about 10 more bass around 2-3 lbs with one that probably was a good 5lber on a crankbait. Lost the crankbait to a tree and managed a couple more on a grub. I was really liking that crankbait though, it seemed to be the ticket after the sun came up.



I swear this thing looked bigger at the dock!! I think it shriveled up some from the 45 minuted drive home in the back of my pickup!

[donkey fish]

sounds like a good day . on Saturday night when i was bowfishing i did see the biggest SH ive ever seen in front of the wrecks it made the 31 inch one i shot a few mins later look small. that strip behind the wrecks is where i see the most SH at but unfortunately you can only get back there now at high tide.

[Capt C-Hawk]

I see 2 hooks in the pic, are you double hooking your frogs?

[ictalurus]

Congrats on your first snakehead and thanks for the report. What kind of crankbait were you using, if you don't mind my asking. I can't wait to get out there and try for some nice snakes and bass.

[therevolution]

Capt C- No double hooks. I get a good hookup rate with single hooked trigged zoom horny toads. i just burn them like buzzbaits. The only thing I dont like about them is they are only good for 1 or 2 fish and they only come 6 to a pack...

Itcalurus- I believe it was a kvd 1.5. whichever kvd square is rated for 3-5' depth. Bluegill pattern, but i dont think the color would have mattered much

[chimo]

Nice job! I also managed my first couple snake heads yesterday. I was the guy with the grey yak that pulled up just as you were launching.

Chimo

[DanMarino]

Ugly, nasty, yummy, snakehead!

[ronaultmtd]

Bright green and yellow frogs are really getting hard hits- so are the yellow and brown frogs- medium size frogs work best for me- I toss them in the thick stuff- let it sit until all the ripples are gone and the water is completely calm- then I quickly jig, jig, jig while I reel- let it sit until all the ripples go away and repeat- usually I get a hit the second I stop the jig, jig, jig or when it first hits the water- don't have a lot of slack in your line and set the hook really hard to get those big frog hooks into the fish- I have had more luck on big bass than snakeheads- I have hooked up some real monster bass this way-

[ILV2F5H]

Congrats on the snakeheads guys. Sounds like this summer heat is bringing out their aggression.

[PudgyPrawn]

Great to hear about your outing.

I have a few questions, for everyone.
I have never been to Mattawoman. When I google the area I do not find a place to put in my Yak. Where do you park? Where do you drop in? Snakeheads; we are supose to kill and forward a photo to the DNR, yes? Will a 8" filet knife do the trick?
I looked at Chapel Point out of LaPlatta too. Anyone have feedback about that spot?

Thanks,
PudgyPrawn

[DanMarino]

PudgyP, PM Sent.

[WST120]

Great to hear about your outing.

I have a few questions, for everyone.
I have never been to Mattawoman. When I google the area I do not find a place to put in my Yak. Where do you park? Where do you drop in? Snakeheads; we are supose to kill and forward a photo to the DNR, yes? Will a 8" filet knife do the trick?
I looked at Chapel Point out of LaPlatta too. Anyone have feedback about that spot?

Thanks,
PudgyPrawn

PudgyPrawn,

Chapel Point State Park is one of those hidden gems we have in Charles County. The park has room for a lot of parking, the last 100 yards to the water can be rough on a car with low ground clearance, so I usually park and use my cart to get my kayak to the water. The launch area is sandy beach and at high tide the beach is not very wide. But other than that, I love this part of the Port Tobacco River. I use to catch Rock, Blues, perch, and catfish there, but the last couple of years catfish have taken over the river. This is a great place to kayak and relax. The river is only about 7 feet deep so it is not deep at all.

Let me know if you would like to know more about the park and the river.

[ronaultmtd]

PudgyPrawn- Mattawoman Creek has at least two really good launches and one not so good (Rt. 225 Bridge). The one I use the most is Slavins right at the entrance to Naval Ordinance Center, Indian Head, MD. I stay away from the lower launch at the state park- boat wakes lots of boat traffic, crowds, etc. Slavins launch is a no wake zone and is in the upper creek- it gets a lot of fishing pressure but produces a lot of quality fish- every new lure to hit the market gets tried there dozens of times a day- fish see a lot of lures thrown at them- that is why I use a couple of tried and true lures that mimic natural baits- Real Target frogs are my number one go to bait in the spatterdock weeds- I have several in different sizes and colors- they are expensive but...

[therevolution]

Ronault, have you ever tried the plastic zoom frogs onjust a single worm hook? I get really good hookup ratios with them. I t-rig them and if they ar getting hung up on weeds you can tuck the hook into th plastic a little bit. Only bad thing about them is the plastic only holds up for a fish or two. But, it doesnt hurt as bad if you lose one unlike the live targets...

[ronaultmtd]

Yep- Ribbits, Zooms, Money- I have used them all- the Real Target gets monster blow ups with big, big Bass...I am talking MONSTER Bass...not little ones