How long do you think I can go between the catch and the fridge; and how do you properly freeze the fish?

I've kept them for up to 3-4 hours dead on the floor of my canoe in 90° heat and they were fine to eat. Didn't taste much of a difference between those and the ones that went straight into the cooler. Unlike most other freshwater fish, I find that the larger ones taste better, nor is there much difference in fish caught in cool/warm water. After I started catching them with regularity I dedicated an old cooler specifically for snakeheads, as they're huge and bleed a lot. I clean it with bleach, but it's still pretty disgusting in there

 

To freeze them I usually filet and wash them really well, then freeze in tupperware with no water. I wouldn't recommend freezing them longer than 3 months however (I have about 20lbs. of snakehead meat in my freezer from last fall, and the flavor declined significantly after 4 months.) Like I said earlier the jaw and shoulder areas should be carefully removed and eaten too. These are some of the best cuts in my opinion.

 

IMHO grilling is by far the tastiest (and healthiest) way to cook snakeheads. They make incredible fish tacos.

I've kept them for up to 3-4 hours dead on the floor of my canoe in 90° heat and they were fine to eat. Didn't taste much of a difference between those and the ones that went straight into the cooler. Unlike most other freshwater fish, I find that the larger ones taste better, nor is there much difference in fish caught in cool/warm water. After I started catching them with regularity I dedicated an old cooler specifically for snakeheads, as they're huge and bleed a lot. I clean it with bleach, but it's still pretty disgusting in there

 

To freeze them I usually filet and wash them really well, then freeze in tupperware with no water. I wouldn't recommend freezing them longer than 3 months however (I have about 20lbs. of snakehead meat in my freezer from last fall, and the flavor declined significantly after 4 months.) Like I said earlier the jaw and shoulder areas should be carefully removed and eaten too. These are some of the best cuts in my opinion.

 

IMHO grilling is by far the tastiest (and healthiest) way to cook snakeheads. They make incredible fish tacos.

X2 on the tacos

They are also very very good on some fresh rolls ( fish subs) w a little tarter sauce! This topic has my mouth watering!

Jay

The only way I get fish at home is from the supermarket, I stopped eating anything out of the Potomac a long time ago after getting many Bass, Perch, Rock with parasites in their flesh; then I learned of the fish consumption advisory and the problem with PC B's in the older, larger, fatty fish and that cinched it for me and I became a die-hard C&R angler.  I haven't seen anything yet listing the SH on the consumption advisory, but did see a statement that they were similar to other fish of the same size.  Are they a fatty fish, i.e. have areas of fat that need to be trimmed away?

 

QUOTE: "After I started catching them with regularity I dedicated an old cooler specifically for Snakeheads, as they're huge and bleed a lot. I clean it with bleach, but it's still pretty disgusting in there"  

 

I agree their a bloody mess, they do a job on my carpet, so it's the first thing I work on when I get home.

 

I was spot checked by the DNR one day after I had caught three in and near Little Hunting Creek; the DNR officer looked at my deck and said "Snakeheads?" after taking care of business he tells me I had a "nasty crime scene there" as he looked at my deck. 

 

So, if I find someone that wants them, OK;  otherwise their going back into the food chain.

Goes to show that as far invasive species go around the world bass are far more dangerous. When it comes to being a "fit" organism they rank pretty far up there.

I believe the snakeheads on the river grow so fast that they are safer to eat than most of the other fish on the river. I know that bottom feeders have high levels of toxins, and know the snakehead is not a bottom feeder.

Jay

I believe the snakeheads on the river grow so fast that they are safer to eat than most of the other fish on the river. I know that bottom feeders have high levels of toxins, and know the snakehead is not a bottom feeder.

Jay

They do eat a lot of carp and catfish, though they are smaller. And what you say is true. I caught a 35" tagged fish in Washington DC and VDGIF told me the fish was 3 years old and that it was released in the Occoquan river.

The only way I get fish at home is from the supermarket, I stopped eating anything out of the Potomac a long time ago after getting many Bass, Perch, Rock with parasites in their flesh; then I learned of the fish consumption advisory and the problem with PC B's in the older, larger, fatty fish and that cinched it for me and I became a die-hard C&R angler.  I haven't seen anything yet listing the SH on the consumption advisory, but did see a statement that they were similar to other fish of the same size.  Are they a fatty fish, i.e. have areas of fat that need to be trimmed away?

 

QUOTE: "After I started catching them with regularity I dedicated an old cooler specifically for Snakeheads, as they're huge and bleed a lot. I clean it with bleach, but it's still pretty disgusting in there"  

 

I agree their a bloody mess, they do a job on my carpet, so it's the first thing I work on when I get home.

 

I was spot checked by the DNR one day after I had caught three in and near Little Hunting Creek; the DNR officer looked at my deck and said "Snakeheads?" after taking care of business he tells me I had a "nasty crime scene there" as he looked at my deck. 

 

So, if I find someone that wants them, OK;  otherwise their going back into the food chain.

This is why I usually stock up on snakehead and then throw a bbq. Everyone gets to have some, but nobody eats more than 2oz. or so. I do this maybe 3-4 times a year and rarely eat it otherwise.

 

Once I saw MD DNR citing a guy who had 2 live snakehead fry in a minnow bucket and was using them as bait. The fine was several hundred dollars.

QUOTE: "After I started catching them with regularity I dedicated an old cooler specifically for Snakeheads,

 

I've started carrying heavy duty plastic kitchen trash bags that I put the fish in as soon as possible before dispatching it; this helps contain most of the mess now. I then place the bag in an unused boat locker which usually (if I close the bag properly) stays clean. Maybe a bag used as a cooler liner would help keep the cooler clean also.

QUOTE: "After I started catching them with regularity I dedicated an old cooler specifically for Snakeheads,

 

I've started carrying heavy duty plastic kitchen trash bags that I put the fish in as soon as possible before dispatching it; this helps contain most of the mess now. I then place the bag in an unused boat locker which usually (if I close the bag properly) stays clean. Maybe a bag used as a cooler liner would help keep the cooler clean also.

Maybe you should install a guillotine in the boat locker... problem solved

 

Seriously though, I don't have any carpet so I can just hose off my floor when I get home. I can only imagine how messy it must be if you have a bass boat.

They aren't a problem in S.FL. that people once thought they would become. Oh and wait till you catch one! They are FUN!!!!!!

Maybe you should install a guillotine in the boat locker... problem solved

 

Seriously though, I don't have any carpet so I can just hose off my floor when I get home. I can only imagine how messy it must be if you have a bass boat.

 

OMG, I'd probably cut my thumb off    But I am thinking about a cutting board like you have on the yak; although I'm on the fence about using a machete, I'd probably loose an arm.

 

The mess on the carpet was a headache, but what really freaked me out was washing the blood into the bilge, so I would flush a 5 gal bucket of soapy water in there and after it drained, I'd run the hose for a while.  But the trash bag is helping to control most of the mess.  It's really nuts, instead of diving for the net, when I get a SH I go diving for the box of trash bags