Snakehead Whisperer

Impressive video. But to be fair the plug was 21 grams, which is more like 3/4oz.

@Christian M No prob. I had to learn all of this the hard way. If I had been able to read both of our posts when I got started, it would have saved me a lot of grief. @MichiganFishing1997 I hope you go for it and start painting hard baits. The feeling of catching fish on your own creation is unreal. You're right though about the money factor. I started out by carving a piece of scrap wood into a popper and that led to an obsession. I now have a substantial investment in my lure building shop, but it's a labor of love... so I don't regret it. These baits in the photos are made from scratch.

Life does find a way, but snakeheads don't slither (well the fry can, but not adult snakeheads.)

Been planning to pull the transaxle out of my VW and get it back on the road. I was going to do this when the weather got nice, but you know how that goes. One thing that I've noticed is that it's kind of hard to have a good day on the water if I don't handle my responsibilities first. It's like the bass won't bite if they know I had something more important to do that day.

Agreed. Littering is just ghetto. I see guys in boats do that stuff too (like throwing cigarette butts or used plastics in the water.) Bow fisherman in these parts shoot gar and just throw them on the bank to rot. What a waste.

While I was out on the water today I got to thinking of this thread. As mentioned before, bucket fishermen don't bother me at all if they are within the law. One thing that does really bug me though is bass boats that speed through no-wake zones at 40+ MPH. And bass boaters who have no regard for the safety of others on the water give all of us a bad name. I can't tell you how often I see this, and it's really lame. Another thought that came to mind was that many heavily invested bass fisherman are as ignorant to fishing knowledge as their bucket sitting counterparts. I can't tell you how many times I've been out on the water in my canoe and witnessed guys in $50,000 boats get skunked when the bite was good and the fishing was easy, throwing the same baits (probably a spinnerbait) all day and never getting so much as a bite (meanwhile I can't keep the fish off of my t-rig or ds.) The point being that ignorance doesn't discriminate at all (race, economic class, region or otherwise.) Perhaps the bucket fisherman is smarter than the guy in the Nitro, as buckets only cost a few bucks. My 2¢.

Couldn't have put it any better myself

I always check the stomach contents when cleaning them. I've found a few large sunfish, some crayfish, a duckling, a mouse, a small muskrat, and a few frogs. Most often though I find large numbers of small baitfish (like killifish or dace,) even in the larger ones. Once while fishing at Mallow's Bay in MD I hooked a snakehead on a horny toad and it broke free. One of the horny toads legs was missing when I got it back to the boat. About 3 weeks later I caught a snakehead in the same area, brought it home and found the leg in it's stomach

Great topic, this really made my day.

For numbers I'd go with a Manns 1-Minus or something similar. I throw muskie sized baits too with decent success (5+ inch, 1+oz. shallow diving cranks.) In the pic on the right the fish has the crankbait hanging out of it's mouth. Ironically the larger fish on the left was caught on a mini egg (similar to a baby 1-minus, about a 2.5" bait.)

Catch and release is gaining in popularity all over the world. Catch and release toman (giant snakehead) fishing is the norm in Thailand, for instance. Whatever the attitudes of bass fisherman are, it's hard to argue with the fact that we hook them in the face and manhandle them. Imagine if you went to take a bite out of a sandwich and then a t-rigged hook pops out of the bread and pulls you by your lips up to a space ship. Bass fishing is not in the best interest of the bass (though bass fisherman do a fine job of being stewards to the environment in many ways.) With that said I have to agree with the other posters that make the point that if people are fishing within the law, then it's their business what they do with the fish. The bottom line is that when a sustenance fisherman kills a fish it gets eaten, but when a 'sportsman' inadvertently kills a fish nobody knows where it ends up.

I'll second all of what Delfi said. Typically I will catch them in less than 12" of water. This is not to say that snakeheads are shore huggers. The tidal Potomac has numerous shallow flats that are hundreds of yards from the shore. These areas have also proved productive. Unlike bass, the fish will not orient to the drop offs but rather the density of the vegetation (e.g. the more dense the vegetation the greater the likelihood of finding snakeheads.)

2 words... Wake Bait

Get a black/blue one and a chart/white/blue one. $10 and you're good to go.

As far as the lower end Abu's go I would personally choose a BCX over the others ($59. Never tried the ___max.) But that would be hard to justify when the Swedish made C3/C4 are both around $100. 2 of the best freshwater reels ever made imho.

That's why I spend money there and recommend them to people. Glad they took care of you too.

That's a great point. BPS has always taken good care of me as a customer. If you return something within 30 days it's usually no questions asked.

Good work man. That'll catch fish for sure.

Another vote for the Pro Qualifier here. I've never tried any other BPS reels, but the PQ is the best low profile reel for under $150 that I've ever used. And it's available in a lefty. If this is your first baitcaster, don't cheap out on it. It will cost you more in the long run when the cheap one breaks or you realize that it sucks (both will probably happen within the first 3-6 months if not the first time out.) The PQ at $80 is a steal, and they hold up to serious fishing. Not to mention it will be much easier to learn to cast with a decent reel. BTW, I've found the reviews on the BassPro site to be pretty reliable for most things. I'd start there if you're serious about that reel in particular.

Funny how live bait is frowned upon by bass fisherman yet used pretty regularly in the walleye world. I don't throw live bait fishing for bass, but I will use a crawler harness for walleye. I also use night crawlers when teaching kids to fish. There's nothing wrong with it in my opinion. As for serious sport fishing, I don't think live bait is appropriate. But for sustenance fishing or just having fun on the water, it's not a bad option for some folks.

Please report back with the results.

You bring up a good point, but this is a bit of a stretch. A bow and arrow or a cast net would work really well too, but that doesn't mean they belong in tournament fishing. I don't really have any opinion on the a-rig, as I've never thrown one (and probably never will.) I just can't get over how ridiculous it seems to cast an umbrella rig, but to each their own. On a side note, this reminds me of the castnet-rig.

x2, Good advice. If you have extremely sensitive eyes it is probably best to get your glasses from an optician, as they can provide a service/consultation that online sellers don't. With that said I have never had any problems with specs that I ordered online, and I have been wearing glasses since I was a child. The pupillary distance measurement is simply the distance between your pupils in mm (and the distance from each pupil to the bridge of your nose.) The adjustment is mostly to ensure a comfortable fit. It's not rocket science, as some opticians (who stand to lose business to online sellers) would like us to believe. As far as I know most prescription polarized lenses have the polarized film mounted in the lense (between 2 layers) so that they can be ground to meet any prescription. Over the counter sunglasses often have the film on the outside layer stabilized on a sheet of cellulose acetate butyrate.

Pretty simple really. Get the following... -Air compressor w/moisture trap. (get the best you can afford. usually cheaper=louder. Do not omit the moisture trap, as water from the tank will shoot through the airbrush at the worst possible times. You'll need to be able to regulate the air too, usually between 10-30psi for this type of painting.) -An airbrush with .3 or .5mm needle. I highly recommend a gravity fed type (you will be sorry if you don't heed this.) Seriously, get an Iwata. You can thank me later The revolution series is a great value, and can handle both needle sizes if you get the parts. -Something to mount the lures on while painting. I prefer to use 1/8" metal rod with gator clips attached. A vise is handy to put them in when doing detail work/scale masking. -If you know how to make your own colors, get a set of opaque primary colors plus black, white and metallic/pearl colors of your liking. If you don't know how to make colors, get a color wheel and learn how to mix your own colors (or get pre-mixed colors if you want to be lazy... not recommended.) I also like to have a few transparent/translucent colors to do subtle fades, etc. -Devcon 2 Ton epoxy for top coat (do not get the 5 minute kind, or any "quick drying" epoxy.) Pro tip.... get a rotisserie motor for even drying. -Cheap throw away brushes for applying the epoxy. (You'll only be able to use them once, so get cheap ones.) -Blue painters tape (for masking bills, etc.) -A good primer that is made for whatever material you'll be painting. -Scale masking can be bought from a number of sources. If you want to get a good quality finish then use bridal veil (available at any fabric store in various sizes) or buy the stuff made especially for lure making. I recommend the bridal veil. You can get a years supply for around $5. -To make stencils use a good quality razor knife. I use "Olfa" brand with the black break away blades. They are the sharpest blades you can get. Usually I make custom stencils for each bait, so I cut the stencils from card stock or whatever I have laying around. Use overhead projector transparency sheets if you want something that will last longer. That should get you on the right track. Hook us up with some photos once you start painting. There are numerous other things you will soon acquire if you really get into this, but the list I gave you will get you started.

Check out warbyparker.com. They carry prescription polarized sunglasses for $150tyd. A great deal, and very good lenses.