Seasonal conditions dictate movement, water temperature, reproduction, and available food sources just like any other predatory fish, so you’ll need to adjust your strategies based on the time of year. However, I’m sure that some of the tactics will cross over to these waters. (Jay Nichols photo) Seasonal TacticsĪll of my experience with snakeheads has been on tidal creeks, and not in freshwater ponds and lakes or big rivers-all of which also have snakeheads. At other times, you get surprised by fish concealed in the foliage. ![]() Sometimes you can spot the fish lying in shallow water, using the weeds as camouflage. The Editor In the summer, snakeheads sit right in, on top of, or alongside dense mats of Hydrilla verticillata. Everywhere I catch snakeheads, these other species seem to be doing just fine as well.īased on the evidence, are snakeheads an invasive species? Or are they merely a nonnative species, just as rainbow trout, largemouth bass, brown trout, and brook trout are in many areas? That’s up to you to decide, but before you make up your mind, catch one of these amazing fish and you may no longer consider them a threat.įor a detailed discussion of snakeheads, watch the 6-part video series “John Odenkirk Q&A” on. Snakeheads exist is a very specialized niche that doesn’t seem to overlap other gamefish like largemouth bass, sunfish, bowfins, and gars. And after many years of fishing for snakeheads in the tidal creeks surrounding Chesapeake Bay, my observation is that there’s been no degradation of the habitat, or loss of other fish species. In these remote, wild areas, it’s easy to imagine I’m fishing for these exotic fish in Malaysia. There’s apparently no feasible way to get rid of these fish, and since they aggressively smash topwater flies in shallow, clear water, I’m more than happy to catch them. But snakeheads are already here, and thriving. I am in no way condoning the transfer or planting of nonnative species into our waters. There were labeled by the federal government as an invasive species before any scientific research showed they were harming the environment or the economy. The bad press has left this fish species with a reputation they will never live down. They could walk on land, live for long periods out of the water, travel long distances, and devour native species. Snakeheads sparked many articles, videos, TV interviews, and news shows calling them Fishzilla, Frankenfish, demons that were impossible to eradicate. The discovery caused a national media tidal wave of anxiety, terror, and misinformation that can only be rivaled by the likes of a Hollywood sci-fi movie. The fish-native to Asia-at that time had not previously been documented in any other body of water in the Mid-Atlantic. ![]() In 2004, a fish called a northern snakehead was caught in the tidal Potomac River tributary on the Virginia/Maryland border. Invasive species are capable of causing extinction of native plants and animals, reducing biodiversity, competing with native organisms for limited resources, and altering habitats. An invasive species by definition is an organism that causes ecological or economic harm in a new environment where it is not native.
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