Hi Harps!
There is something about that body, and looks can certainly be deceiving. 'Toga have a similar appearance and fight like bastards! But Snakehead are in another league again. In their weight class the hardest fighting freshwater fish I've hooked by far. They don't make big runs but fight dirty for snags and if they get any momentum going there is absolutely nothing you can do about it.
I'm fishing a 10-weight rod. My leader is 80lbs, 40lbs, wire tippet. Twice last trip I had fish eat through the wire. And I have to change wire tippet after every fish.
Even better, perhaps, is they eat gurglers and positively explode on them. And they're spooky, communicate amongst themselves somehow and are incredibly difficult to catch! And they have beautiful colours!
But the fight... it's unbelievable!!
Cheers, Paul
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Snakehead - for Harps!!!
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Snakehead - for Harps!!!
"besides catching a cool and unusual fish?"
What else do you need?
What else do you need?
http://www.first-cast.de
The first cast is always the best cast.
The first cast is always the best cast.
Snakehead - for Harps!!!
If it was just about unusual fish- there would be no trashfish!!Bernd Ziesche wrote:"besides catching a cool and unusual fish?"
What else do you need?
So they fight good, they smash flies on top, and they can be selective??
No runs or jumps, just bulldogging it down to the bottom?
Snakehead - for Harps!!!
In snakehead country, Paul is invasive. Probably fight like a pussy too. :-)
Snakehead - for Harps!!!
I just spotted this thread on another board about snakehead in Florida.
http://www.flyforums.co.uk/fly-fishing- ... onths.html
http://www.flyforums.co.uk/fly-fishing- ... onths.html
IANACI
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Paul Arden
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Snakehead - for Harps!!!
They look pretty small and ugly in those photos, Pete! I haven't had them jump apart when they nail the fly (if you can call that a form of jumping, I don't know!). People do eat snakehead here, but they are not a main food source - thankfully. They are top predator, grow to 10Kg and have immense power. I was getting broken on 30lb leader last year, trying to keep them out of snags. Not such a problem with 40, but you still have to give them line and I can't believe I haven't exploded a rod yet... I'm sure I will!
Cheers, Paul
Cheers, Paul
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Bernd Ziesche
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Snakehead - for Harps!!!
Hopefully one of those will get to see you!Paul Arden wrote: grow to 10Kg
http://www.first-cast.de
The first cast is always the best cast.
The first cast is always the best cast.
Snakehead - for Harps!!!
Interesting link, Peter!
I know it's too cold in Alberta, but snakeheads have been seen in British Columbia.
I'm going to have to try the taste.
I know it's too cold in Alberta, but snakeheads have been seen in British Columbia.
I'm going to have to try the taste.
Snakehead - for Harps!!!
Perhaps the best way to control snakehead is to send some Chinamen like me to catch them. We have probably a hundred different recipes to cook them. BTW, not all snakeheads taste the same. Same species taste better than others. Based on the photos on the Internet, I think snakehead in the Americas came from all over Asia and made up of a few different species from different part of Asia. They behave different too.
In Malaysia we have at least 5 different species of snakehead. They are not invasive or exotic here. So we look at these fishes as worthy game fish like any other species. And the smaller snakeheads species are very popular food fish and can be expensive too.
The species that Paul is catching is the largest of them all, Channa Micropeltes or the Giant Snakehead or Toman in local Malay language. While Giant Snakehead is not the most sought after food or game fish here it is definitely not a thrashfish. Not here in its natural habitat at least. It fights hard and dirty. It is a fast learning fish and perhaps because it is Asian its has communal habits. If you find one snakehead there is very likely another nearby and I believe they communicate. In their own language.
Wild snakehead fishing (big lake especially) is like deer or wild boar hunting in heavy forest, to me. You can actually zero in on a big fish and tail it for hours. But the window for taking your shot is so small, so few and the fish learn too fast. Still because snakehead by nature is temperamental so you can either decide to nuke it with a popper to agitate the fish to a bite and move on to hunt another fish or play persuasive and tail a fish, for hours at times, just to find the right moment to stir it to bite. Snakehead tailing itself is a very interesting learning process. At times spotting one is difficult enough.
The hunt itself is can be very addictive. The fight is a bonus. And a stirred up snakehead can bite another snakehead into half. Clean. The fight is hard enough for you to doubt your leader breaking strength. No it doesn't have the flair and acrobatic moves like a trout, peacock bass (invasive here), saratoga (its relative called arowana here) or barramundi. It is a 'fish from hell' even in its natural habitat. In the wild, other 'fish from hell' will keep its population in check. But with a hundred cooking recipes, any fish from hell will look angelic here. 
Cheers
In Malaysia we have at least 5 different species of snakehead. They are not invasive or exotic here. So we look at these fishes as worthy game fish like any other species. And the smaller snakeheads species are very popular food fish and can be expensive too.
The species that Paul is catching is the largest of them all, Channa Micropeltes or the Giant Snakehead or Toman in local Malay language. While Giant Snakehead is not the most sought after food or game fish here it is definitely not a thrashfish. Not here in its natural habitat at least. It fights hard and dirty. It is a fast learning fish and perhaps because it is Asian its has communal habits.
If you find one snakehead there is very likely another nearby and I believe they communicate. In their own language. Wild snakehead fishing (big lake especially) is like deer or wild boar hunting in heavy forest, to me. You can actually zero in on a big fish and tail it for hours. But the window for taking your shot is so small, so few and the fish learn too fast. Still because snakehead by nature is temperamental so you can either decide to nuke it with a popper to agitate the fish to a bite and move on to hunt another fish or play persuasive and tail a fish, for hours at times, just to find the right moment to stir it to bite. Snakehead tailing itself is a very interesting learning process. At times spotting one is difficult enough.
The hunt itself is can be very addictive. The fight is a bonus. And a stirred up snakehead can bite another snakehead into half. Clean.
The fight is hard enough for you to doubt your leader breaking strength. No it doesn't have the flair and acrobatic moves like a trout, peacock bass (invasive here), saratoga (its relative called arowana here) or barramundi. It is a 'fish from hell' even in its natural habitat. In the wild, other 'fish from hell' will keep its population in check. But with a hundred cooking recipes, any fish from hell will look angelic here. Cheers