The Snakehead fishing is DEFINATELY SLOW THIS YEAR

Snakehead Fishing  2015 is DOWN

4Lbs. and 7lbs. both got filleted and tasted great!
4Lbs. and 7lbs. both got filleted and tasted great!

But the good news is that the bass fishing on the Potomac River and its creeks seems to be up!  I have caught more largmouths this year than Snakeheads which for me is a bummer but I will take it as the bass have all been nice ones in the 2.5 to 4 lb. range…a bit skinny but long.  Now since I am fishing 90% top water my numbers are not huge on the bass, 3 or 4 most days and on a slow day  just 1 or 2 bass.   The snakeheads which I am targeting not bass have been hard to find, at least for me in my kayak.  I have caught a few each day but no numbers and definately not like last year.  A average day on the water for me in my kayak is 1 or 2 landed and 4 or 5 misses- but spectacular misses!  The acrobatics, jumpsand head shakes wear the spit the lure most of time is awesome!  I have to get a better video system on board and try to get some their areals on film.

This is one of the best things about fishing for snakeheads that I love.  Not to mention their shark like attack, they see or hear the lure and charge it from a distance fin up leaving a huge wake like Jaws as they SMASH the lure and dive.  As  you set the hook they dive deeper and swim hard, many times coming right up and out of the water like a minature swordfish or marlin tail-walking on the water thrashing their head side to side trying to spit the hook- which many times they do!  Their areal moves are great to watch even when you lose them.

This year though I have not seen many of those great water walks, just not catching that many fish.  In my conversations with other snakehead anglers on the waters where I have been fishing they all say the same thing.  “This year has been really slow and the lowest catches in 5 years”, Stewart told me yesterday on the Potomac Creek.

Now these fisherman have been fishing snakeheads hard for 4 or 5 years and can remember in 2011, 2012 and 2013 catching 10 to 20 fish in the boat between 8lbs. and 15 lbs. regularly!  Even last year 5 to 15 fish caught regularly was common by many snakehead fishermen.  But this year so far it’s 2 to 5 a day most of the time with a few big ones at 34″ and 12 lbs. but it a long day finding them.

I have fished Quanico Creek, Aquia Creek and Potomac Creek mostly this year and did one long day on the Maryland side at Matawoman Swamp(didn’t catch one, only missed one small one!)  So it’s been hard, I don’t hear as many breaking the surface this year either.  Last year was my first year targeting snakeheads I heard them all day long smashing the surface inside the lilly pads but this year it is sporadic and not so many “KIRSPLASH’S” in the weeds a sure sign the catch and kill regulations have greatly reduced their numbers if you aske me.

 

So I will keep hitting the water till deer season wish me luck.  Hope to see y’all on water sometime soon!

Dr D

I would love to hear your comments so please post them here and I will read and approve them.   Please post ONLY fishing stories, I appreciate the “nice blog comments…keep up the good work, etc” but most of those are just people trying get their sales weblinks which they post in the contact part of their comment posted on my blog and I willl not approve those types of posts.

5 thoughts on “The Snakehead fishing is DEFINATELY SLOW THIS YEAR”

  1. Hello, I was courious to know if you could help out a little on snakehead fishing. I have never been fishing for these fish, but have always wanted to. I’m active duty Navy in Va Beach so it’s a 3 hour trip for me. Can you tell me if there are better parts of aquia creek than others? I don’t expect you to give up any honey holes, just a general idea of where to go. Thank you for the informative reports!

    1. sure there are plenty of fish I am not protective! I like to fish Aquia up the creek by the Aquia Harbor Marina off Washington Rd off exit 143 on I-95. Just drive into the gated community, tell them you are going to the Marina and they will let you in. Drive straight to the end and you will be in the small marina. park on by the canoe/kayak launch and kayak it is my advice. If you have a boat then stop at the marina office and pay to launch. Go out into the river towards the lilly pads and start casting top waters, buzz baits, chatterbox baits along the edges or into the pads and across the weed flats. You should find some there. Fish the pads all the way down as far as they. The fishing this year has been slow so don’t get too frustrated if not much action occurs. I fish all day now for 1-4 on a good day and occassionally get skunked!

      Good luck.

  2. I fish the upper Potomac for smallmouth. I want very much to catch a snakehead on the lower Potomac. Would you lokedmto trade a trip ?

  3. Hey Dr, you’re a great fisherman. I’ve never caught a snakehead by myself. Actually I feel kinda scary to caught them, the look of the snakeheads are not cool to me.

    However, it’s good to see you’ve caught 2 4Lbs. and 7lbs. huge fishes.

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