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Snakehead success @ Leesylvania, 6/16

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  • Snakehead success @ Leesylvania, 6/16

    The past few weeks have been depressing and stressful. We had to put my wife’s horse down, we had to take one of our cats to the emergency vet in the middle of the night the day after that (she’s OK), and there’s been lots of work-related and job-hunting frustration. The two fishing trips I had during that time were both unproductive before being thwarted by the weather, which only worsened my mood.

    On the upside, I got to visit with my folks this weekend, which is always good for morale. Dad and I planned to hit Leesylvania to try for big bass and snakeheads. I purposely left my net at home, Dad forgot the fish grip I got him for Father’s Day, and we forgot to get ice on the way to park. We were totally unprepared to deal with snakeheads, which was perfect.

    We hit the water at 4pm to fish around high tide, and it was breezier than we expected (of course). I didn’t really have a plan of attack, so we just started working our way upstream since the tide was coming in. I was rigged up with a chartreuse and white chatterbait, a Rage Tail toad, a baby bass fluke, and a wildcard rod. Dad had a Texas-rigged electric blue worm on one rod and left his other rod unrigged.

    We worked the edges of the spatterdock without much luck. Dad’s worm was fouling too much in all the weeds, so he switched to the fluke, which was similarly unproductive. I saw a shady patch under a tree and cast the frog close to shore. BOOM! A really nice bass slammed the lure as soon as it hit the water and started fighting like crazy. I finally got it too the boat and almost had my thumb on its lip when the hook pulled free. It looked to be in the 16-18” range. Despite being disappointed about not getting it into the boat, the trip was already a success in my mind. After seeing how the frog acted in the water, Dad tied on a black Jitterbug on his other rod (Grandpa’s evening lure of choice).



    We started working other shady areas, and Dad picked up a nice bass on the Jitterbug:



    I put a Jitterbug on my wildcard rod after that. We didn’t have any other luck in that area and kept moving upstream. I saw a break in the spatterdock that led back to a shady area with lots of woody debris and spotted a big snakehead sitting in the middle of the opening. I threw everything I had rigged at that area but only managed a chunky 14” bass that jumped out of the boat before I could get a pic. It hit the Rage Tail frog.

    We started working a bigger clearing in the spatterdock, and I caught a nice bass on the chatterbait:



    I prefer this pic because the fish looks bigger :


    Now that both Dad and I had nice fish in the boat with photographic evidence, all was right with the world. I cast my frog into a different part of the clearing and had another solid strike. I got a good hookset this time, and the fish launched straight of the water. No head-shakes, no tail-dancing, and clearly brown—it was a snakehead! I didn’t know snakeheads jumped like that. The fish hit the water, turned, and came unbuttoned. That was closest I had gotten to landing a snakehead, and I was stoked.

    I continued working that area while Dad headed upstream. A few minutes later, I hear Dad quietly calling my name, which I thought was weird (we’re usually much louder when we catch fish), and he said that I better come over there. I see him holding is rod up in a weird way and asked if he had a fish. He said (still quietly), “Yeah, and I think it’s a snakehead.” I raced over there. It had apparently missed the lure but still managed to get hooked under the chin. It hadn’t fought much at all, and he was afraid of setting it off.



    It was around 24". We didn’t have a net, and there was no way I was getting a lipper in its mouth with the way the hooks were. I had an old fish gripper that we used for catfish when I was a kid that I thought would be good for slippery snakeheads. Dad held the fish up, and I got the gripper on it. Strangely enough, I got the gripper perfectly placed between the pectoral fins and the dorsal fin and was squeezing it hard so I thought there was no way it could squirm out of there. The snakehead still hadn’t moved at this point. The hooks came out as soon as I set the snakehead down in my yak, then all h3ll broke loose. The snakehead shot out of the grippers like a rocket, flew into Dad’s boat, and ricocheted around his legs for a while before coming to rest on the front hatch of Dad’s yak. All three of us stared at each other for a second, and then the snakehead came to and slithered into the water as Dad jumped to reach for it. I would’ve loved to have had a video of all that because it was hilarious. It left a bunch of scales behind in my yak and on the grippers, but they are just slippery fish.



    I cast the frog along the edge of the spatter dock again, and had another hit. I set the hook, and another snakehead launched out of the water like a Polaris missile. This one was huge, and it jumped at least two feet out of the water. That one got off the hook when it hit the water again, too. I guess my Carrot Stix doesn’t have enough muscle to drive the hook home at those distances. After that, it occurred to me that I probably shouldn’t cast as far as I had been casting. I was operating on the saltwater principle of keeping the lure in (on) the water for as long as possible. I was disappointed at not landing the bastard because I probably would’ve been the biggest fish I’ve ever caught, which isn’t saying much, but it was really cool seeing it jump so high out of the water. Again, I wish I had that on video, too. Meanwhile, Dad missed a few blow-ups, too.

    It was getting late, so I went back to the clearing where I hooked the nice bass and the snakehead. I had two more blow-ups that didn’t connect. One was a torpedo that threw a big wake as it headed toward my lure. It scared the crap out of me because it happened right by the boat, so I jerked the frog away before it connected. The second was another torpedo that charged at the frog from a distance. I kept my cool this time, but the fish blew up right behind the lure. Must’ve been near-sighted.

    With time running out, I tied on the trusty Rebel Pop-r that I found on the Occoquan. On the second cast, I landed this guy:



    What’s even more surprising is that I’m smiling in that pic. Of course, the real battle began once I put it in my yak. It started freaking out, and its jaw eventually broke in the middle, which made the grippers much less effective. It kept breaking free and ricocheting around in my yak, but I kept managing to get my leg over it before it got into the water. After about 15 minutes, I managed to rip out a couple gill arches and get it into my cooler bag with Dad’s assistance, and we called it a night. Victory!!! By this point, everything within arm’s reach was covered with blood, gill bits, and slime. Everyone in 7-11 gave me a wide berth when I went in to buy ice.

    It was an awesome Father’s Day adventure. I don’t think Dad is as enamored about catching snakeheads as I am, but he really enjoyed catching nice fish and all the other antics. It was very reminiscent of the spastic fishing-catching/clubbing shenanigans we got into when I was a kid. The snakeheads at Leesylvania behave much differently than the ones in the Mattawoman based on my limited experience. The ones I’ve had hit at the Mattawoman exploded and thrashed on the lure like someone was shooting a machine gun in the water. The ones that hit at Leesylvania gave the lure a good pop but like a medium sized bass, then they started launching out of the water like breaching whales. Pretty cool. I can't wait to come back and try again.
    Yellow Hobie Revo Rube Goldberg
    Yellow Tarpon 120

  • #2
    NIIIICEE BILL!! Fantastic day out on the water, great report!

    And did we catch a smile in the picture?

    Nice job!

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    • #3
      LOL!!! Grreat fathers day!!!
      14.5 ft Sand colored Malibu X-Factor "the promise"
      2010 Hobie Outback "the Gift Horse II"

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      • #4
        Funny and exciting story. Congrats on the SH! Now you gotta eat it and tell us about it.
        2015 Hobie Outback (yellow)
        2011 Hobie Outback (yellow)
        2009 OK Prowler Trident 13 Angler (orange)

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        • #5
          Awesome long report! I read your entire post all the way through. I really hope I am able to atleast get some strikes from one of those SH's soon.
          Ryan
          Blue 2016 Hobie Outback
          Chesapeake Bay Kayak Anglers, Inc

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          • #6
            WTG Bill!!! I've had a jitterbug in my box forever and never caught anything on it. Gonna have to dust it off! Nice job!

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            • #7
              Awesome report and pics as usual!! Nice fish!
              Mike S.
              Hobie Outback
              Chesapeake Bay Kayak Anglers
              3D Printed Hobie Hatch Bucket

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              • #8
                Awesome report Bill!!!
                Hobie Local Fishing Team - Backyard Boats
                Locations in Annapolis, MD and Woodbridge, VA
                https://www.backyardboats.com/

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                • #9
                  awesome job ! You guys did well !
                  -Jon
                  Revo 13

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                  • #10
                    Way to go Bill. That was an enjoyable read. Congratulations on the snakeheads.
                    John Veil
                    Annapolis
                    Native Watercraft Manta Ray 11, Falcon 11

                    Author - "Fishing in the Comfort Zone" , "Fishing Road Trip - 2019", "My Fishing Life: Two Years to Remember", and "The Way I Like to Fish -- A Kayak Angler's Guide to Shallow Water, Light Tackle Fishing"

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                    • #11
                      Thanks, gents. It was a good Father's Day trip and one of the most fun and funniest trips I've had in a while. I really liked Leesylvania and want to explore it more.

                      The snakehead was awesome. I shared one fillet with my folks and one fillet with the missus (who missed out on the visit home). Ma kept things minimal and just put a super-light sprinkling of panko and added a touch of lemon so we so we could taste the fish. She kind of pan-seared it, then threw it in the oven to finish it off along with some prosciutto (the sophisticated bacon) -wrapped chicken breasts she planned to make. It was delicious: kind of sweet and very firm. I was surprised at how few bones there were, and the thickness of the fillet was pretty uniform even to the tail. You could cook it however you want. It would be awesome on the grill wrapped in prosciutto. My wife baked it with just a bit of olive oil and Old Bay, which was also very good. The bit of lemon brought out the sweetness a bit more, I think.

                      Justin--I actually did manage a smile for the pic because we were still laughing from all the chaos trying to keep a grip on the thing.

                      John--I'm not as practiced with the Jitterbug as Dad is, but it is a fun lure to use. Just gotta keep it out of the spatterdock.
                      Yellow Hobie Revo Rube Goldberg
                      Yellow Tarpon 120

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                      • #12
                        Love to read about others day.

                        Great pics and I love to hear about others outings both good and bad. Keeps me motivated and honest.
                        2010 Hobie ProAngler

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                        • #13
                          Nice Bill. I am soon to go after the snakes my self. Glad you got one.

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