Snakehead Whisperer

People who fish for muskie use them quite often, but they call them bucktails. Muskie bucktails are a respected technique in those circles. I still use inline spinners once in a great while but I prefer the Blue Fox Vibrax inline spinners, or I just make my own.

It has to do with forage, afaik. Check out the teeth on this little smallie.

Is that a 17' canoe? How does that handle in wind with just 1 person? Awesome setup, btw.

Did you measure the girth of the fish? Without that it's difficult to estimate the weight. If you want an honest opinion from the photos the fish looks like 6lbs. at the most, and really looks more like 5lbs. to me. To be fair though, there's not much for size comparison other than your hand (and I have no idea how large your hands are.) So in other words, I can't really make an accurate guess. Nice fish, regardless of the weight. Just noticed that this is your first post. Welcome to the site. You should start a thread in the introductions section.

The one and only thing I can recommend that hasn't already been mentioned is to try to think outside of the box. Don't allow yourself to be caught up in a routine. The fish may be in an area that you aren't casting to, but you'll never know if you don't try casting to it. Don't be afraid to experiment, and definitely don't shy away from areas just because they don't look like they would hold fish (there's really only one way to find out if they do or not.)

Caught a LMB in 67 FOW on a dropshot yesterday fishing for walleye/crappie. That is the deepest I've caught one so far.

Excellent. This made my day man, thanks. Those jigs look great too. That's a chunky bass, nice fish.

It's just a float. It slips over your fishing line and uses a knot (bobber stop) to set the depth, as opposed to the clip on type. This allows you to set the depth deeper than your fishing rod is long, and the bobber will not get in the way of your casting. They also don't look quite as dorky as red/white plastic bobbers One of the great things about slip bobbers is that you can easily adjust the depth at which your lure/bait will rest by sliding the knot up and down your line. This is extremely helpful when fish are suspended more than 8' deep. I've successfully targeted suspended fish at more than 50' with a slip bobber, it's a serious tool. As with any presentation, there is a time and place for bobber fishing. It's not usually the presentation I go for in rocky river fishing, but it does work. If you're getting snagged constantly while fishing a rocky bottom there are probably some other things you can do to minimize it though. Snags are inevitable, but they happen a lot less now for me than when I first started. Sorry in advance if these tips are obvious, just trying to help. Are you fishing with the current or against it? Typically the technique when fishing soft plastics for river smallies is to let the lure drift with the current. The fish will most likely be facing upstream watching for forage to wash down to them, like Scott F said. I know you said that even your weightless rig got stuck, but I can't overemphasize using the lightest possible weight that will get the lure down to the fish. Using line with little to no stretch will also help you to avoid snags by feeling/moving the lure when it hits a rock, etc. Typically I'll throw light jigs on 8-15lb. braid with a 4-10lb. fluoro leader which gives incredible sensitivity and very little line stretch. Probably the most important thing I've learned about fishing rocky river bottoms is to use a light touch. Gently guiding your lure out of rocks will usually end better than yanking them out. I'm not trying to sell you any tackle, but a sensitive rod is a good tool to have for this type of fishing. The difference in feel from one rod to the next is night and day many times. A sensitive ML or M rod in Fast or X-Fast will serve you well, and possibly save you money in the long run.

x2 Or a jig and grub under a slip bobber. This is sound advice.

x2. I also like the unweighted Zoom Horny Toad hooks in 5/O. If you aren't getting strikes slow down and fish them like a swimbait. Quiet single bladed buzzbaits are killer as well. They're difficult to hook though if they hit it sideways, regardless of what bait you're throwing. Depending on vegetation, the following lures are what I'll usually throw... -chatterbait in sexy shad or frog colors -t-rigged 7" curly tail worm (usually red,motor oil, or blue) -wake bait like a 1-minus or preferably a BPS "The Egg" in XL size -inline spinner if it's early and the weeds aren't grown in -5" soft plastic swimbaits I've hands down caught more Potomac northern snakeheads on humpin' toads, buzzbaits and wakebaits than any other lures; but they'll strike just about anything that's in their vicinity if they're active.

I agree with both SirSnookalot and KyakR... time on the water and a good mentor will help more than any amount of tackle or reading. But reading does help; the problem is that there are so many misleading articles about the subject of fishing, and so few that actually talk about relevant topics. I pretty much stop reading an article as soon as I see "throw the ___ on a __ foot __ weight ____rod with ____ reel." There are some exceptions to this, of course.

I've heard nothing but good reviews about the WalMart batteries, but I have no experience with them. Despite the batteries being manufactured by the same company, different brands spec them differently.

Costco sells Kirkland batteries, which are made by Johnson Controls. Johnson Controls manufactures batteries for Interstate, DieHard, etc. They're good batteries and the warranty is legit too. I'll buy another when mine dies (if it ever does )

x2 on the Costco marine batteries. They're a great value. If you're going to spend any more than that on a battery, get an Optima.

Yeah, that was over 2 years ago now that I've re-read the article. Not one since... hmm. They are being caught pretty regularly on the eastern shore this year though. The Wicomico river has had several confirmed catches, and the area near the Salisbury zoo has been a hot spot. Folks have been catching them in ponds over there too. They're also being caught in the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers for the last few years. A friend of mine in Philly has caught numerous northern snakeheads up there, but none were as large as they get down here.

That was disproven, if you're talking about the guy who supposedly caught one near Whites Ferry a year or two ago. So far there are no credible reports of snakeheads being caught above Great Falls, and none that I know of above Little Falls in DC either. PM sent.

That thing's a monster. Nice frog. New PB?

I agree with almost everything you've said here, but there are some exceptions. It's been proven that bass can see fishing line (article.pdf.) Whether they are line shy, who knows but them? I know for certain that bass feed in areas where people have broken off and there is a lure wedged in the rock they're hiding behind with 6' of line dangling around in the water right next to them, so maybe they disregard it for the most part. I use light weight fluoro for the most part, but mainly because I prefer light tackle fishing. I agree that you can probably catch fish effectively with 4 colors of lures. White, black, chartreuse and natural probably cover almost any situation. I also agree that there's no such thing as seasonal baits, but I'm not usually burning a buzzbait in Jan-Feb. when water temps are below 40. Yes, I have done this before; and yes, it has worked at times... but generally it hasn't proven too productive.

I never give this section of Bassmaster magazine much thought, but after reading these posts I got curious. Grabbed my copy to see what was on the list. Sep-Oct. issue says don't throw the following... -Jerkbait -Shaky Head -Football Jig -Dropshot

I've used them before, but I've never really understood the whole idea of them being easier for inexperienced anglers. My father taught me on a spinning reel and I don't think it gets much easier than that. All of my experiences with spincasters have left me completely frustrated. Even when I was 4 years old I would grab the spinning reel because I could cast further, and the retrieve felt more solid to me. To each their own though. I don't get it, but then again there's lots of things that I don't understand. I've never looked down on spincasters; just one of those things that I've never understood. If they work for you then you should keep using them. I've tried them enough to the point where my mind is made up.

Get a drift sock and use it if you're fishing lakes. Those are about the only conditions where I'll throw a clacking buzzbait. Otherwise I'll throw something a bit more subdued.

There is actually quite a bit of research that mostly concludes that bass (and most other fish) cannot hear the sound frequencies of metal bb's used in fish lures. They can feel the vibration of them rolling around and clacking the inside of the bait, however. Here's a mention of it in the NY Times. Don't have any web links for the rest, it's all in printed material from university studies/DNR stuff (old.) I make crankbaits and lures a lot, and typically I make silent lures nowadays. I've found that most baits perform as well or better without making any extra sound. A crankbait naturally pushes water and creates a thumping vibration as it's retrieved, which is more similar to the sound of natural forage swimming. There are times when loud lures seem to draw strikes, but I still doubt it's the rattle. For example, most wakebaits have loud rattles but they also push a lot of water. Fish that are in an aggressive feeding mood will hit most anything that moves and will fit in their mouths. Bait fish don't rattle and they don't turn black at night/in turbid water. Bass seem to find them just fine, regardless. Confidence is a major factor, and whatever an angler has confidence in will outproduce other baits simply because you will be more at ease with presentation if you're confident in a bait. Obviously baits with rattles work, and so does throwing dark baits at night... the question is whether it's necessary to throw them, or if it's just an accepted protocol. I've found that very few are willing to experiment with these types of things. There is so much hype in fishing that I couldn't even begin to tell you all of my opinions. But so is life. Inquisitive people will find the truth on their own, and many won't.

Spinnerbaits with red blades have proven themselves in muddy/red colored water for me.

I catch seagulls quite a bit in the fall on poppers. They're rarely hooked, however. They usually will hold onto the lure until I reel them in though, then give me a dirty look as if I'm stealing their fish. They don't fight very well. Once I caught a peregrine falcon on a popper. It was hooked on it's foot. Unhooking and releasing that bird was one of the scariest things I've done while fishing, but I got it done without getting attacked.

This topic has been discussed at great length before. Really wish I could give credit to whomever posted this originally, but I don't recall who it is. Saved this image from the gallery when I stumbled upon it because I liked it so much.