Yes snakeheads, they are amazing table fare. I would put it head to head with any freshwater out there.
Yes we are eating them. The states have kinda walked back wanting to kill them. They either need to be released immediately or killed if you want to keep them. There are big fines if they catch you with a live one. They are tough suckers to kill.
Because it’s a fruitless battle. They’ve spread to just about every freshwater drainage in the Chesapeake and they aren’t as destructive as originally thought. They kinda fit their own niche and I believe that bass and other game fish are eating snakehead fry.
They fight like crazy. All but one of these fish was caught using a top water frog deep in Lilly pads. It requires braided line I use 65 pound test and a heavy or extra heavy pole. Sometimes that ain’t enough (see pic below). It’s awesome action, most of the time they are in shallow water and you see a V heading towards the frog and they slurp it down and the fight is on. They are known to tail walk across the water. The biggest one today I had to reel though about 30-40 yards of Lilly pads to get him to the boat. It was a workout. I got bruises along my ribcage from setting the hook and fighting them.
I saw on the VA DWR website that a few have been found that far north.
Yes it’s a snake head and yes we eat them. At this point I’m ready to start giving them way.
