Snakeheads are coming
- Thread starter Fredrick
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sarce
Well-known member
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The thing about the bass populations so many are worried about in VA and MD in the tidal creeks where the snakeheads are booming is those bass aren't native either. They have to be stocked frequently in most of those tidal creeks to keep their numbers up. A lot of the Ches Bay tidal tribs have pretty bad water quality and bass don't reproduce well in many of them. I think keeping snakeheads is a good idea, and I will if I ever catch one. But I'm not going to cry about the decline of an artificial bass fishery, if it ever occurs.
My last trip to a MD tidal creek, I witnessed a guy catch and release an 11-lb snakehead. A short time later a guy paddled past with a 7 and 9 lbs on a stringer. Then my fishing partner and I proceeded to catch 3 bass and 3 pickerel in about an hour. For now, I haven't seen negative impacts from the snakes.
My last trip to a MD tidal creek, I witnessed a guy catch and release an 11-lb snakehead. A short time later a guy paddled past with a 7 and 9 lbs on a stringer. Then my fishing partner and I proceeded to catch 3 bass and 3 pickerel in about an hour. For now, I haven't seen negative impacts from the snakes.
What about this quote from my post above?
"The one thing I'd like to remind everyone is the snakehead is just starting to inhabit both the Chesapeake Bay and Delaware Bay including the Susquehanna and Delaware rivers upstream.
Those two bays and the rivers above are the major spawning and nursery waters for stripped bass as well american shad. No one knows how the introduction of snakeheads will impact the populations of these native anadromous fishes."
No one hopes more than me that the snakehead intro has no ill-effects on any ecosystem. Most members of this board are all for conservation, so I really don't understand the "oh well....no big deal" attitude about snakeheads I hear so often.
Granted, there's not a lot that can be done to stop their spread, but we should at least be aware and maybe care a little bit about it. Many of the fisheries biologists seem to care and are very concerned. That tells me something......
"The one thing I'd like to remind everyone is the snakehead is just starting to inhabit both the Chesapeake Bay and Delaware Bay including the Susquehanna and Delaware rivers upstream.
Those two bays and the rivers above are the major spawning and nursery waters for stripped bass as well american shad. No one knows how the introduction of snakeheads will impact the populations of these native anadromous fishes."
No one hopes more than me that the snakehead intro has no ill-effects on any ecosystem. Most members of this board are all for conservation, so I really don't understand the "oh well....no big deal" attitude about snakeheads I hear so often.
Granted, there's not a lot that can be done to stop their spread, but we should at least be aware and maybe care a little bit about it. Many of the fisheries biologists seem to care and are very concerned. That tells me something......
Baron
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- Apr 13, 2020
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I don’t want a new species even if they turn out to be harmless. I haven’t caught the more native species yet and don’t want some new fish slowing me down in my quest.
As for being a biologist, Im not. But in the same token I had been an arborist and I wish I could put all the pesticide back in the bag that America used to attempt control multi-flora rose, Jap Beetle, Gypsy Moth, dogwood decline, Dutch elm disease, Emerald Ash Borer, Asian longhorn beetle and spotted lantern fly ( did I miss any). I see how these things blend in after a bit. So will Snakeheads. Save your money. There will be trade-offs but we’ll all eat. And the changes will be slow enough that it won’t hurt too bad.
Everybody, hugs!
As for being a biologist, Im not. But in the same token I had been an arborist and I wish I could put all the pesticide back in the bag that America used to attempt control multi-flora rose, Jap Beetle, Gypsy Moth, dogwood decline, Dutch elm disease, Emerald Ash Borer, Asian longhorn beetle and spotted lantern fly ( did I miss any). I see how these things blend in after a bit. So will Snakeheads. Save your money. There will be trade-offs but we’ll all eat. And the changes will be slow enough that it won’t hurt too bad.
Everybody, hugs!
Too early to tell according to the fisheries biologists, but hopefully the snakeheads have no or little impact on the stripers or shad populations in the north Atlantic, or with any other species for that matter.
John Odenkirk, a biologist with the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, co-authored a paper about it that was published last week in the journal Transactions of the American Fisheries Society.
The study looked at snakehead population changes over as long as 12 years in four Virginia tidal creeks: Aquia, Dogue, Little Hunting and Pohick.
During that time, the department has been using electrofishing to capture snakeheads and estimate their populations in those creeks.
In every creek except Aquia, the study found population growth followed by stabilization.
In Little Hunting Creek, population estimates dropped every year from 2013 to 2015.
“What we think is happening is intense exploitation, because everybody now likes to eat them, they like to catch them. The bow fishery has taken off. People are hunting them at night with bows and arrows and lights,” Odenkirk told WTOP.
He said the snakeheads appear to be doing what many invasive species do in a new environment; their populations go up, and eventually level off.
“Hopefully we don’t have a whole lot to worry about,” he said.
Link to source: https://wtop.com/virginia/2016/06/biologist-snakehead-population-dropping-in-potomac-river/
^ That's what Odenkirk says, and I'm just saying the same thing..........
We are all just hoping at this point.
GeneBeam
Active member
They just had the 2nd Annual Monster Snakehead Hunt Tournament in Maryland, sponsored by Anglers Fishing Hunting, and the good thing about this tournament is you must kill the snakehead as it must be weighed at their store during regular business hours and it is illegal to transport live snakehead.
https://www.anglerssportcenter.com/
Maybe someone will start one in Pennsylvania.
https://www.anglerssportcenter.com/
Maybe someone will start one in Pennsylvania.
On a side note, I'm delighted to see Anglers Sports Center is still in business. I was just thinking about them recently and meant to look them up.
This was, and I'm sure still is, a great store. I shopped there a lot back in the day when I fished that area more than I do now. This was well back before the big box outdoor stores and the internet. They had a pretty good FF section and I think I bought my first 8WT fly rod there(?).
Hope they're doing well.
Oh... and I hope they whack some snakeheads. 🙂
It is what it is. I am not a huge fan of them spreading and it can't and won't be stopped, so we might as well enjoy. I hope they don't disrupt things a whole lot either, but I am not going to overly worry about things out of my control. I've said it before, but I don't see them being all that at home up here in my part of the Juniata. I'm sure they'll exist, but I don't think there is enough slack/dead water for them. If they make it up here I'll catch em, keep em, cook em, release em, do whatever.
I've said it before and I'll say it again, I think flatheads will change the river more than snakeheads.
I've said it before and I'll say it again, I think flatheads will change the river more than snakeheads.
GeneBeam
Active member
See the statement below just above my name.
Maybe I could start a Facebook group like the one at the bottom of your post but instead of trying to justify that snakeheads are the best thing since the invention of the hook.
I will state Hey ladies and gentlemen please post any & all events or tournaments that promote the killing of snakeheads on this group. If that’s not your thing by all means be yourself.
Nice fish Fred. Have you eaten any of your catches yet?
Recent article about snakeheads >
https://www.pennlive.com/life/2020/05/if-you-catch-a-frankenfish-kill-it-pennsylvania-fish-and-boat-commission.html?fbclid=IwAR37ffWKvKe_THYBCiGE7WAb5j1_OoxUYJbrulXlnh5JSA4dUWN4qfpaehk
https://www.pennlive.com/life/2020/05/if-you-catch-a-frankenfish-kill-it-pennsylvania-fish-and-boat-commission.html?fbclid=IwAR37ffWKvKe_THYBCiGE7WAb5j1_OoxUYJbrulXlnh5JSA4dUWN4qfpaehk
