Snakeheads Hiding in the Grass

Moving up to Virginia there are so many species of fish I have not caught.that I want to add to my list. I have already added Striped Bass, Bluefish, and would like to add another a Snakehead before the month of June is over . So far I have taken four trips into Snakehead territory with varying success.












The first trip was actually at the end of May my brother and I headed to Pohick Bay on memorial day. The amount of people on the water made it tough to locate the skittish. After a couple hours with nothing to show we ended up down sizing our lures. The change allowed us to make the most of a tough fishing day catching a variety of species including my first yellow perch.

Collin stalking the small creek.

My second Snakehead hunt was a solo trip to a spot a further upstream at Jones point. As i was launching I stopped to examine a dead one to get a better idea of what I was looking for. I started throwing a Ribbit Frog and quickly had a strike from a bass at the first patch of spatterdock I reached. I continued fishing this patch and saw my first Snakehead cruising the edge and heading straight for me.  I cast perfectly  intersecting with the fish, but as the lure crossed the large fishes path instead of inhaling my frog it spooked deep into the spatterdock. That was the last Snakehead I saw that day but I did manage to catch this bass.

Dead Snakehead at the boat launch.

third trip more bass

After seeing my first Snakehead at Jones point I decided that I would master that area. So my third trip I zeroed in and did some map study to find the prime Snakehead locations. I launched and headed directly to my first spot I identified I had a few bass hits on the frog but couldn't land it so I continued on to the next zone. During my travel to the next spot I cast a Wakebait along the shore line. About halfway to my next spot I had a hit and the fish was fighting way harder than a bass. I took my time fighting it as I knew it was the fish I came to catch on the end of the line.Carefully I maneuvered the fish into the net as I lifted the net to when it exploded and vanished back into the river. I took a while to gather my self and dry my tears and continued fishing. I was able to draw a half dozen strikes on the frog and land a couple of bass one on a spinner bait and another on the frog. These weren't the only fish I saw I was spooking Snakehead everywhere I went. Unfortunately I wasn't able to entice one to strike but here is a shot of two that refused my offering.

The fourth trip yielded three really nice bass that I didn't take any pictures of no trace of a Snakehead. I did catch another Asian invasive species but you already saw that picture at the top of the page. I still have ten days to complete the challenge of landing my first Snakehead before the end of June.