Snakehead Expedition 5/31/23

[Ham]

My son and I went Snakehead hunting/fishing yesterday. Pretty uncharted territory in East Central Arkansas. They can be literally anywhere that connects with Little Red, White, Cache, Black, or St Francis rivers. 
I’m still learning/figuring the fish and the locations out. 
AGFC has a map showing all the locations that they have been documented in. It’s impressive. Hard to get a hold of and I don’t have a good way of displaying it here. 
Bad news for me is none of it is close. 2-4 plus hours each way. 
They can be Super Spooky or dopey as heck and easy to fool.

Super Aggressive or totally shut down. I have no understanding of why. 
Hollow Body Frogs is still my starting point, but I am also throwing flukes, Chatterbaits, and Spinnerbaits at them. 
we rallied and got 5 nice ones yesterday after our first three stops were not right. Biggest is 25. Smallest is 19.5 inches. It is ABSOLUTELY illegal to transport them alive. I cut the throat/gills out to bleed them out. I got 5 lbs of filets off these 5 fish. Meat had a firm texture and a mild taste. it can be very difficult to get your bait back. I’m Sorry that I can’t get better pictures. They are slimey and keep struggling until their throat is cut. I’m focused on not rolling canoe, not get hooked also, and not losing the fish over the side. 

[bfishn]

[FishnDave]

Nice ones, @Ham !

[bfishn]

Snakehead trivia from an AGFC article;

"Biologists first documented northern snakeheads, an invasive species from Asia, in Arkansas in April 2008 when a farmer near Brinkley reported one wriggling along a gravel farm road near a shallow ditch. The species is similar to bowfin, and has a primitive lung that allows it to gulp air for oxygen and survive for a short time out of the water." 

That 25" is impressive. There's a record snaker out there with your name on it.

[Ham]

I want a 30 incher. 

[Ham]

I Cooked up the snakehead tonight. It was Very Good. Most of it I deep fried in a beer batter. 
i want to grill one next time. 

[MOPanfisher]

Awesome.

[FishnDave]

I think these will really catch on as a food fish if we change the name.  I would imagine many folks might be averse to to eating something with the word "snake" in it?

How about:

Great-Wall Walleye?

Shanghai Salmon?

Ghengis Grouper?

Halibut of the Huns?

Fifth Dynasty Dorado?

Peking Perch?

Taiwan Trout?