Snakehead Opportunities
By Capt. Keith Barker

So you want to catch a snakehead? Finding one may be easier said than done. However, their numbers are expanding on the Potomac River, and with some effort, you can find and catch them. Via radio transponder tracking, the northern snakeheads have been documented literally from Little Falls above Washington, DC to well past Colonial Beach on the lower Potomac River.

With these fish ranging more than 80 miles of both tidal and non-tidal Potomac waters, where does one begin looking for the Frankenfish? To give you the best chance at tracking down and catching a snakehead, arm yourself with as much information about the fish as possible.

First, forget the media hype. They won’t crawl out of the water, walk on land, kill and eat your dog and kids, attack your wife, burn down your home, or drink your beer. The northern snakehead is a soft-rayed fish. Lacking rigid spines in their pectoral fins there is no way they can walk on dry land. Throw one on the ground, and it helplessly flops around like most any other fish. In addition to gills, they do have a primitive lung and can breathe air. This allows them to tolerate poor water quality that other fish would abandon.

Snakeheads, first found in the Potomac in 2004, have found a niche environment in the river. They prefer shallow weedy flats that lack current. In their native Asian habitat, they have been documented to spawn five times per year. How many times they can spawn in the Potomac hasn’t been documented yet but is closely tied to water temperature and how fast the newly hatched fry grow. Analysis of the growth rate of fish in the Potomac has determined that our snakeheads grow at a slower rate than they do in their native waters. In its home waters, the northern snakehead has been documented to a length of just under 5 feet. I’d estimate the weight of a 5-foot snakehead to be over 30 pounds. The largest snakehead documented so far in the Potomac weighed 12 pounds and measured 31 inches long. I’ve heard of one caught in 2010 that was 17 pounds.

My first snakehead weighed 7 pounds and measured 28 inches. When I stuck a ruler in its mouth, 9 inches of it disappeared before stopping against the gullet. Obviously, they can eat a big meal, limited only by how wide they can open their mouth. My 28-inch snakehead could open his mouth about equal to a 3-pound largemouth bass.

After examining the stomach contents of 300 snakeheads, John Odenkirk, a biologist with the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (DGIF), determined that 85 percent of their diet is killifish, a type of forage fish that is abundant in the Potomac. The other 15 percent of their diet consists of nearly everything else that swims in the river, which also shows them to be opportunistic feeders.

Snakeheads reach sexual maturity at three years. A 2007 study on the Potomac documented peak spawning activity occurred when water temperatures reach the mid to upper 70s. Snakehead eggs will hatch in about 12 hours at water temperatures of 73 to 77 degrees and after 120 hours at temperatures of 64 to 65. Adult snakeheads are known to fiercely defend their newly hatched fry. Both parents guard the young fish until they grow to a length of about 7 to 8 inches. Once they reach that length, the parents abandon them and will begin to raise another brood.

Given their temperature preferences and the time it takes for fry to grow to 8 inches, I doubt that snakeheads will spawn more than two to three times a year in the Potomac. Though it is too soon to know for sure, it looks like the 8- to 10-inch juvenile snakeheads will fatten the largemouth bass, three species of catfish, and numerous other top-tier predators already residing in the Potomac.

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) recently released a report of their electrofishing surveys conducted on the Potomac in 2010. The bottom line: after 6 years of snakehead infestation, there are more and bigger bass in the tidal Potomac River than anytime in the past. So the snakehead is not having a negative effect on largemouth bass so far. I say “so far” because it can take many years for numbers of an invasive species to reach critical levels that affect other residents of the habitat. The jury is still out on the long-term effect of snakeheads on largemouth bass and other fishes in the Potomac River.

The easiest strategy for finding snakeheads is by looking for their spawning nests. Once water temperatures are well into the upper 60s, start looking for cylindrical holes in weed beds on shallow flats with little current. The symmetrical hole will be about 3 feet in diameter. Then look for surface activity in the area where the parents herd their fry to the surface to breath air. Cast topwater baits like frogs or buzzbaits well past the fry. Retrieve the baits directly over and through the fry and hold on tight. The strike will be vicious. The fight will be fierce. Pound for pound, snakeheads fight harder than anything I’ve caught on the Potomac River. Other baits such as spinnerbaits or tube baits will also work, especially if you work them in or near their fry.

Use a medium-heavy rod with a spinning or bait-casting outfit, whichever you’re most comfortable with. Longer rods will give you more leverage to haul your snakehead out of the grass. I’d recommend using 12-pound or heaver monofilament line for the shock-absorbing qualities mono affords. I would use 20-pound mono in heavily matted vegetation.

Be aware that snakeheads have a mouthful of sharp teeth and know how to use them. Handling these fish barehanded is risky, so use either a BogaGrip or a gaff to land them. With a BogaGrip, grab the lower jaw. Using a gaff, reach under the fish's chin and drive the point of the gaff upward hard through its tongue into the roof of the mouth. This paralyzes it, making a snakehead much easier to handle for pictures.

You no longer are required to report catching a snakehead to Maryland DNR or Virginia DGIF. However, the law in both states requires any snakehead caught to be killed and not to be released alive. Good luck, and send me pictures of any that you catch.

Captain Keith Barker, Guide
Ken Penrod’s Life Outdoors Unlimited
kwbarkerinc@comcast.net
301-509-2102