Northern Snakehead: Now A Legitimate Virginia Sportfish

[Micro]

It must be.  There is a new snakehead mount over the cash register in the fishing section at GreenTop.  I was told a lot of people are asking about where to go to catch them. 

[Dan:]

I wish! From my understanding it's not likely to happen very soon. I'm not sure who they think they're kidding. It's here, it's established, it's fun to catch...put it on the sport fish list.

[BassShephard]

They sorta are, they already have Tournaments for them.  Wouldn't labeling it a sport fish have bad results?  People may be more incline to release or stock their ponds with them....never know!

[Dan:]

They are not technically a "sportfish." If I were the VDGIF I would allow people to harvest and sell snakehead meat. I would think that might increase the amount of people fishing for them.

[BassShephard]

Maybe but I've heard there are contaminants in some parts of the river and you shouldn't eat large quantities of fish.  Could use them for fish food, though the contaminants could still be a problem...

[Dan:]

That's a good point but for what it's worth the VDGIF biologists haven't studied levels of contaminants in snakeheads yet. 

[Bigs]

from what I know they grow so fast that toxins/contaminants don't have a chance to build up in them. So in fact they are the cleanest fish in the river to eat. Not to mention the grass in the potomac filters out alot of crap and chemicals

[SimonSays]

from what I know they grow so fast that toxins/contaminants don't have a chance to build up in them. So in fact they are the cleanest fish in the river to eat. Not to mention the grass in the potomac filters out alot of crap and chemicals

Biomagnification. They don't grow fast by sitting around doing nothing, they're a pretty voracious predator.

[.dsaavedra.]

i still need to catch one...

[Matt in NOVA]

Here's the Virginia Dept. of Health advisory for the Potomac: http://www.vdh.state.va.us/epidemiology/dee/publichealthtoxicology/advisories/PotomacRiver.htm  PCB city. 

Little snakeheads lots of PCB-containing fish on the road to becoming big snakeheads.

[steveb1]

I caught my second Snakehead yesterday in Powell's Creek. I've had three other Snakeheads bite off my line. The Snakehead I caught yesterday was ~5lbs. If you want to catch Snakeheads just target very shallow weedy areas well back into the creeks. Throw anything that a large mouth would be interested in. They will hit topwaters, buzzfrogs, lizards, jigs, etc.. The first one I caught was in Quantico Creek, and the ones that bit me off were in Mattawoman.

They will definitely (eventually) become a very popular sport fish. They're big, they fight extremely hard, and they are very good to eat (PCB levels aside).

[Dan:]

Here's the Virginia Dept. of Health advisory for the Potomac: http://www.vdh.state.va.us/epidemiology/dee/publichealthtoxicology/advisories/PotomacRiver.htm PCB city.

Little snakeheads lots of PCB-containing fish on the road to becoming big snakeheads.

From what I have heard, none of those fish are primary components of snakeheads' primary diets except for sunfish. I've always heard that they eat mostly little baitfish and sometimes sunfish.

I'm sure it's safe to assume that they have elevated PCB levels but I'd still like to see a report on contaminant levels in snakeheads specifically.

[soccplayer07]

i still need to catch one...

Contact Thai. he is the snakehead master!!!

[A.Do?]

from what I know they grow so fast that toxins/contaminants don't have a chance to build up in them. So in fact they are the cleanest fish in the river to eat. Not to mention the grass in the potomac filters out alot of crap and chemicals

from what i know, this is all wrong.

[Matt in NOVA]

From what I have heard, none of those fish are primary components of snakeheads' primary diets except for sunfish. I've always heard that they eat mostly little baitfish and sometimes sunfish.

I'm sure it's safe to assume that they have elevated PCB levels but I'd still like to see a report on contaminant levels in snakeheads specifically.

Best I can do.  I'm not sure it's actually useful.  http://www.sklog.labs.gov.cn/atticle/A08/A08055.pdf

[Bigs]

from what I know they grow so fast that toxins/contaminants don't have a chance to build up in them. So in fact they are the cleanest fish in the river to eat. Not to mention the grass in the potomac filters out alot of crap and chemicals

from what i know, this is all wrong.

How do you figure this is all wrong ? You cant just say that and not back it up. I read that in woods and water magazine. I rarely if ever get bad info from that publication. And yes the grass filters alot of stuff out, it is a known fact. Please do your research.

[VolFan]

They grow about the same rate of most fish, so I would stick to the advisories for other fish on the Potomac.  The do like the backwater areas where sediments collect so they may get increased levels that way as well.  I would stick to eating the smaller ones or limit the amount of the larger ones I eat.  I think catching the larger ones is the limiting factor for me.

[T-Bone2u]

For those curious on Snakeheads, this event might be of interest:

From: Dan Davala - Founder

Subject: Tidal Potomac Fly Rodders (TPFR) MEETING/SNAKEHEAD COOKOUT/SPEY DAY - SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 11 at FLETCHER'S!!!!!

Call it a meeting, call it a SPEY DAY, call it a "Frankenfish" Fry! What ever you want to call it, rest assured it will be awesome! We

are putting together a full day event at Fletcher's on Saturday, September 11, 2010 starting at 8AM. This event will kick off with

another SPEY DAY during which we will offer more single hand and double hand Spey Casting instruction. On the water, we will have

available Skagit, Scandi, and Traditional Spey outfits set up for members to try out.

At 12:00 noon, John Odenkirk from the Virginia Game and Fish Department will join us with fresh, electro-fished SNAKEHEADS!!! John

is a fisheries biologist with the VDGIF and has been on the Snakehead scene since they first turned up in our River. He will be joining us

to discuss the current status of this species as well as the current management strategies and long-term outlook. Additionally, he will

share with us his extensive knowledge about where to find these fish and how to target them on hook and line. After the presentation, John

will show us the best way to clean these fish, and share a few of his favorite ways to prepare them. We will then fire up the grill and

serve fresh Channa Argus to all in attendance. Of course, we will be grilling hot dogs and hamburgers too!

After lunch, we will hold a club meeting and discuss the current TPFR status and upcoming events. We will also take this opportunity to

hold a "round table" discussion during which members can share any ideas they have for the club. I will post additional details as they

become available, but this event is officially on so lock in the date! I have wanted to put this type of thing together for a long

time now, and I am super excited to finally have it in motion. I can't wait to see you all there!

Dan

[SimonSays]

How do you figure this is all wrong ? You cant just say that and not back it up. I read that in woods and water magazine. I rarely if ever get bad info from that publication. And yes the grass filters alot of stuff out, it is a known fact. Please do your research.

Anglers should be warned that there are consumption advisories for most Potomac River species (e.g. no more than two meals per month, no consumption by pregnant women) because of contaminant levels, though to my knowledge tests have not been done for contaminant levels in snakehead muscle tissue. It may be possible to refer to consumption advisories for largemouth bass, though snakeheads are on average a larger fish, and larger individuals have the highest contaminant levels. It is common to find large curled red parasite worms in the flesh of northern snakeheads from the Potomac River, and though unappetizing they are not harmful to humans if they are cooked or cut out of the flesh prior to cooking.

Source:http://www.fishwild.vt.edu/snakeheads/Facts.html#05

northern snakehead are voracious predatory species and have higher trophic positions than other species sampled, resulting in elevated PBDE and PCB levels in their bodies.

Source:http://www.sklog.labs.gov.cn/atticle/A08/A08055.pdf

Caveat: Not the potomac.

"As of this point, there are no formal advisories on NSH that I am aware of. I have no issues eating them from time to time (maybe several times a month). I think that as long as they are not your primary source of protein, you should be okay, but that is just my opinion. For those who feel sketchy, then yes; avoiding large fish would help as mercury and PCBs (the likely culprits if there are issues) bioaccumulate."

Source: John Odenkirk, fisheries biologist with the VDGIF

Take from it what you will, I'll probably eat one to try it out ... as soon as I frikkin' catch one >