Tag Archives: snakeheads

Slow Snakehead Fishing Season

Snakehead Fishing is Definitely Slower This Year Than Last Year

9.5 lb snakehead, 32"
9.52 lbs. 32″ bit a yellow top water paddle foot frog mid July 2017.

I’ve been out on the Potomac River backwaters for two months now and the bites are there but not near as many as last year and you have to go deeper into the pads to find them.   Landing them seems tougher too, I’ve pulled back to set the hook on my top-water frogs, I feel the “bite”, the line goes tight, I count to “2” and then the next yank and he’s gone!  No snakehead.    Then the classic snakehead move, dive, dive, dives into the weeds and wraps your line on plant roots and he shakes free.  I have seen then as I kayak or cruise in my Grizzly flat bottom.  “Damm that was a nice one wish I thrown my lure before I came this way in the boat!”  But many days so far seeing them is all I got to do.  Some days missing a few nice ones was all I got to do.  But finally on a Tuesday mid July I got two into the boat.   But my question is, “Have they gotten smarter as time has gone by?” I see big ones 3 footers cruising when I’m on the water but no biters….who knows.

Bow Fishing is Hurting the Rod and Reel Fisherman

I have friends that live on the water in Potomac Creek and see fishing boats almost every night since May!  At least 5 nights a week the “UFO’s”, the over lighted bow fishing boats are scanning the banks till midnight or later some nights.  They are definitely taking out a lot of fish and it is finally taking it’s toll, you just don’t see them basking as often when you kayak and finding fish to bite is much tougher this year.  I have noticed a steady decline in their numbers for 4 years now.  The Wildlife studies also showed no increase in snakehead population on the Potomac last year for the first time in 10 years.  Good for those that don’t like snakeheads but bad for those of us that chase them with rod and reel.  The days of landing 10 or more fish in a day and missing another 20 are gone for now as far as I can see.  I have spoken with a few other snakehead addicts
like me and they all say the same thing.  Lower bites, and landed fish on the Rhappahanock, Potomac and Maryland waterways too.  Is it all the bow fishing pressure or a natural thing- who knows?  But  Bass fishing is the same catching nice largemouth in the mornings usually and now in the hot summer they have slowed up .  But of course they are not a legal bow fishing species so bow and arrow guys are not impacting them.

Overall a slow Snakehead season for me….

snakehead fishing on the Potomac River in July 2017
9.5, 32″ and a 22″ 2.5 lb snakehead Potomac Creek, VA.

They’re Back! Snakehead Fishing Has Exploded!

Snakeheads in the Potomac Creek and Aquia Creeks Are Out and Biting!

10 lb Female Snakehead on a 5" bubblegum swimbait
10 lb Female Snakehead on a 5″ bubblegum swimbait
2  nice ones, about 10 and 8 lbs almost 30"
2 nice ones, about 10 and 8 lbs almost 30″

Now they have come out of hiding,  the grass beds at low tide on the creek last week is where they were, stacked!  I ran over a bunch as I kayaked up the grass edge.  A change from the week before when they were in the lillies and large expanses of water plants that grow above the water while they swam in between the stems.  Now there were some in those big lilly expanses but most were out in grass at low tide.  I found the incoming tide better than the outgoing and things slowed down dramatically at high tide, even in the lilly fields.  But after 9 hours on the water I landed 9 nice ones 5 of which were 6-10lbs and 4 smaller ones.    And the largemouths, bigs ones were hitting at the end of the day, 4-7 lbs!

 

Here is one I caught two days later on the bass boat.  Only had 4 snakeheads that day.  But over all they have really picked up, saw 3 pods of babies being guarded by mom and dad but they weren’t biting anything just hanging by the “kids”.

 a nice 6lb largemouth on a floatin Toad top water
a nice 6lb largemouth on a floatin Toad top water

Other anglers on the water that day were having success too.  Jason here had a nice 10+ pounder that did a lot of jumping as he fought to get him to his kayak.  Way to go Jason!

Jason with a 10+ Pounder
Jason with a 10+ Pounder

Snakehead Season is Finally Here!

Wow  what a long and COLD winter it has been here in Virginia but now it is finally warming up!  Can’t wait to get out on the water next week and find some snakeheads!   They should be out of the mud and moving around a bit now that the water is above 40 degrees.   I would recommend noisy deep water divers for now.  Rattle Traps, large ones and bright colors over dark.   Orange deep diving rattle bugs are my favorite for now.   But cannot wait for the water to warm up more and hit the top water frogs!