Snakeheads in C&O Canal - Possibly Upper Potomac

[Fishidiot]

Snakeheads have been in the tidal Potomac below Great Falls VA for over a decade, but their upstream movement was blocked by the falls.

Recently, they have turned up in the C&O Canal, which runs parallel to the river, and this may have allowed the fish to get above the falls. To be sure, none have been documented yet in the river, but recent high rains and future flooding can, and often does, mix river water and the canal. In the meantime, the MD DNR and the National Park Service are looking at options to deal with the situation. While I don't personally think snakeheads are an ecological disaster. . . they are, to be sure, undesirable and one wouldn't want to see them get a foothold in the upper Potomac. If this happens, they will eventually find their way into some of the PA watersheds that connect to the Potomac watershed. Here's a link for more info:

Snakeheads in MD

 

[jifigz]

I agree that snakeheads are in no way the ecological disaster that they were made out to be early on. I am not sure snakeheads in upper river systems where there tends to be more gradient and a little current would even be able to take hold very well. They inhabit the same types of habitat that largemouths prefer, basically, and in my native Juniata River I have caught several largemouths over the years, but they are always few and far between. Why have they not colonized better and lived alongside the smallies more successfully? The river is not anywhere near prime largemouth habitat and I doubt it would prove to be good snakehead habitat either. Sure, I think snakeheads would be scattered and exist in areas like this, but they most likely wouldn't displace smallmouths or develop a strong population.

 

[Fishidiot]

jifigz wrote:
The river is not anywhere near prime largemouth habitat and I doubt it would prove to be good snakehead habitat either. Sure, I think snakeheads would be scattered and exist in areas like this, but they most likely wouldn't displace smallmouths or develop a strong population.

This is a good point and worth considering.
The upper Potomac however, unlike the Juniata, is dammed with some larger, slower pool areas with grassy habitat. Some of the dams are partial and others are bank to bank obstacles however, I'm not sure they would block fish passage during high water events. Dam 4 for example, would be tough for snakeheads to jump, but once a couple get over it, they're essentially established.

One source of optimism is the situation on the lower Delaware: snakeheads are in there too, but they don't seem to be moving upriver much (at least not that I have heard about) and this suggests that you're correct that they don't thrive in shallow, rocky rivers with current. So perhaps they won't find most of the upper Potomac to be to their liking(?).
Time will tell.

 

[sarce]

I agree, I can't see them getting very well established. I was fishing below Little Falls during the shad run this spring and witnessed several snakeheads get snagged or speared in the eddies. They were everywhere. But so were all of the other fish that you'd expect to be there. They don't seem to have had any impact on other fish in the river.

Heard a rumor that one was caught near White's Ferry sometime in the past year or two.

 

[jifigz]

Good point that dams and other structures may create some habitat that snakeheads can thrive in, but it certainly won't be the majority of the river system. Snakeheads have been vilified pretty badly. Can we not remember that LMB, SMB, Muskie, Walleye, etc are all foreigners in many drainages, including the Potomac. I see snakeheads as an opportunity. I am certainly not going to help them spread and I am going to kill and eat them (they are supposedly delicious) but they are big predatory fish and are here to stay. Why not make the most of it? I am planning on taking a trip down to the lower Potomac next spring and trying to coax some big boys on my fly rod.