Snakehead Whisperer

I'm pretty sure it uses a 1/8" BPS fitting, but so do most airbrushes.

They are established, reproducing and thriving in at least 2 places here in the US. We've got northern snakehead here in the tidal Potomac River, and they are now spreading to drainages on the Eastern side of the Chesapeake such as the Wicomico River. I've also read of recent catches in the Delaware river near Philly. Supposedly there is also a pond in Central Park, NYC where they are also established and possibly a reproducing population in Arkansas (perhaps somebody from NY or Arkansas can shed light on those.) The other established population is Southern Florida. The snakeheads in florida are a different species, the bullseye snakehead. They were first discovered in C-14 in the Ft. Lauderdale area if I'm not mistaken, and have since spread to other waters. I know them best here in the Potomac where they are becoming pretty common. If you know the correct habitat and can figure out the patterns, these fish are pretty easy to come by out here. They put up a great fight, are very aggressive, and weigh upward of 15lbs. A pretty respectable game fish IMHO. As of right now the law still requires dispatching the fish in Maryland (this is a grey area in the District of Columbia and Virginia where it is frowned upon by most to release a snakehead, but completely legal to do so.) It is illegal to transport a live one over state lines no matter where you live, however (federal law.) As for bass fishing here on the Potomac, it keeps getting better every year. The snakeheads have had little affect on the fishing out here, and if anything they have aided in controlling an overpopulated bass fishery (e.g. average size of bass seems to be increasing with the proliferation of the snakehead.) The largemouth bass and the snakeheads both feed on each others young, and both have a varied diet. Notably snakeheads seem to avoid spiny rayed fish for the most part where as LMB to eat them pretty regularly, but snakeheads will eat just about anything they can fit in their mouth (just like LMB.) Eradicating snakeheads from the Potomac is impossible at this point and management has been the strategy employed by the authorities as of late. Bottom line is that there is a lot of hype surrounding the snakehead. While it is always a gamble to introduce non-native species into a watershed, the snakeheads seem to have found a niche and play nicely with our other beloved species (2 of the more popular being SMB and LMB, neither of which is native to the Potomac River.) Only time will tell whether they will wreak havoc on our ecosystem. As of now most of the experts are in agreement that the threat was initially blown out of proportion (perhaps rightfully so,) and that these fish pose little threat to the long term survival of native species. Blue catfish and flathead catfish probably pose a greater threat here than snakeheads do. **edit** @Quillback Just noticed that you're in Arkansas. Any new developments with the snakeheads in Big Piney Creek? Most of what I've read are articles written by people who are critical of the government for treating the river with rotenone and that the fish are still there. It seems that this was an extremely controversial measure to take. Can anybody update us as to the status of snakeheads in AR? These fish were all caught on rod and reel in one afternoon.

I also fish them like a swimbait with good results. I like to add a worm rattle to them and rig them on single hooks.

I've been checking these rods out too. Are you looking at the spinning or casting rod, and what reel do you plan to pair this with? I'm assuming you're looking at the spinning rod as I haven't seen a ML in the casting rods that I can remember.

If you use balsa to make lures you will need to do a through-wire for the hook hangers, as balsa is not dense enough for screw eyes. I use .032" wire for this. Another option is basswood or pine, which is dense enough to use screw eyes on. Balsa will also be a difficult wood to turn, as it tends to splinter off and break apart. As for weighting, it all depends on the size of the bait and the type of wood used (e.g. balsa will require more weight than basswood.) One sure fire way to copy a spook is to sacrifice one and take it apart to see where everything is located (and weigh everything on a gram scale, most of the time lead weights are not exactly the weight that they are marked as.) I like my walk the dog type lures to sit lower in the tail, so I will add slightly more weight to the rear end, and then another smaller ballast weight near the front hook hanger (you already mentioned weighting the rear, so I'm assuming you knew that.) I would just experiment until you find something that works (and make notes of the results of your experiments so you can duplicate what works.) Also I would recommend drilling your ballast holes, hook hangers, etc. in the block of wood before turning it so you can be sure that they are dead center. You sound like you have a pretty good idea on what you're trying to do, so I'm sure you'll figure it out. Check out http://tackleunderground.com if you haven't already. It's a forum for tacklemaking and there is extremely detailed information there on all of this. BTW, I'm not a balsa hater... I use it often to make jerkbaits, and cranks, etc.

Have you free spooled all the way down and removed every tangle out of your line (like all the way down in there?) It's possible that there are still knots in the line beneath what looks like a clear spool. I would try re-spooling the line if you don't figure this out using the suggestions above.

Any pics of these?

Yeah, I'm not sure I would go wading in parts of Florida either. The OP lives in Missouri though. Nice snakehead in your avatar.

If you're boatless I can't stress this enough... get a pair of shorts/waders and go into the water to fish. This will open so many new possibilities and areas to you. Make sure you tread lightly and be aware of your footing. Also probably a good idea to be stone sober for this and wear a PFD. I have a couple of boats but still love to do wade fishing, especially in rivers/creeks. It never ceases to amaze me how many shore bound anglers are afraid to get their feet wet If you're not physically up to wading, then the advice given so far should set you off in the right direction. One thing I like to do is use the 'historical imagery' feature on Google Earth to try and find older images when water levels are at extremely low levels. This can expose many things not visible at normal water levels (rocks, points, secondary points, shoals, humps, shipwrecks, etc.)

x2 Definitely check out http://tackleunderground.com. Warning: you might experience sensory overload with the amount of useful information on that site in regards to tackle making. The website is by and for true tackle geeks.

I'm sure that would work fine. It takes seasoning well, so you could probably come up with all kinds of winning combos. Snakehead makes incredible kebabs and fish tacos, btw. The meat is really dense and almost reminiscent of a chicken breast with a very light flavor (not fishy tasting.)

I have been fishing several times with people who chuckled when I pulled out the bubble gum senko, but then ask me for one later in the day after seeing me boat a few fish with it. The bubble gum Rebel Pop-R has also been a consistent producer for me.

Next time you keep one try grilling it. This is by far my favorite way to prepare snakehead. The meat is dense and doesn't flake up and fall through when grilling, much like Salmon.

x2 For best results you should turn the lures while the epoxy cures. A rotisserie motor works fine for this, or you can do it by hand if you're patient. For the airbrush, size .3 and/or .5mm needle size will cover most of your needs. The Iwata Revolution series is a reasonably priced introductory airbrush that you will not outgrow as you gain experience.

I don't know why, but I was busting up laughing for at least 5 minutes after reading this. I did the research soon after eating it for the first time, and I'm well aware what falafel is now. First time I tasted it though I liked it and didn't care much if it was bull testicles. BTW, still haven't tried Rocky Mountain Oysters... I just might if offered one day.

I can tear up some escargot. I'm surprised you didn't like it. It was hard for me the first time, but after the first bite I was hooked. Uni is another food like that. On a side note, first time I ate falafel the girl who ordered it waited until I was chewing then proceeded to tell me I was eating bull testicles. It didn't phase me too much, and I still eat falafel.

It's not for everybody. Paneer looks kind of like tofu and has a similar texture.

As a disclaimer, I am no vegetarian. But you guys are missing out if you don't eat Indian, Thai, or tofu. Pass it this way if you're not going to eat it To be fair I am a tofu, Indian and Thai food snob. There are few things worse than when these foods are prepared badly. Oh, and if it was Indian food you were eating the cubes were probably paneer (a type of cheese.)

It's only boring if you're not catching them I would think that learning a bottom contacting jig presentation would be a better place to start than swim jigs. Ever fish chatterbaits? That's basically a glorified swim jig.

Two great sponsors. Coincidentally I really love the red Seaguar flouro and the red top Optima's.

Me too, and the 60 is just too malty for my taste. Trying to take it easy on the beer in general because it's not helping with my weight management strategy

Good stuff, but very heavy. I have to be in the mood for this stuff. Another in this same category would be the Heavy Seas Loose Cannon. The Great Lakes stuff is always pretty good. The Dogfish Head 90 and 120 minute IPA's are also good if you're up for a heavy hitter. They are a bit maltier than many other IPA's, but still have a serious hop kick to them.

To each his own, but for the life of me I can't understand the folks who shy away from deep cranks and buzzbaits. In the heat of summer deep cranks are the truth. When the buzzbait bite is on (usually best in the later fall here) it is probably the best bass fishing that I know. The strikes are fierce and the action can't be beat. One of my favorite things is having a huge fish demolish a buzzbait (like literally demolish it... last year I had a 14lb. snakehead hit a Booyah Pond Magic buzzbait and ripped the thing in half. Awesome! ) Still managed to boat the fish.

You've reminded me of one of my favorite beers that I haven't had since I lived in Oregon (long time ago.) Black Butte Porter from Deschutes Brewery used to be a favorite of mine.

In a nutshell. I've casted jerkbaits in winter then answered a phone call and have a 5 minute conversation, pick up the rod and WHAM!