Mudskimmer 0 Report post Posted April 19, 2014 it was great to finally get out on the water for some hickory shad action yesterday. Took me most of the day to figure out what I was doing wrong. Water was still cold and muddy but once I went with a real short leader of a few feet on my sink tip I started catching them regularly. I guess they were hunkered down on the bottom. Also, as a bonus I ran into an old college classmate out collecting snakeheads for the state. Gave me a couple to try for dinner. I saw some while fishing too. Apparently these things stack up in the headwaters this time of year and don't feed until spawning is over. Some guys have hooked up using attractor type patterns. All I got so say is these things are tough SOBs. After all day in the cooler, they still kicked my butt when the filet knife came out. Supposed to be good eating though. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Capt Bob LeMay 0 Report post Posted April 19, 2014 The flies shown are actually almost perfect for baby tarpon so don't think they're just freshwater bugs. Particularly the chartreuse in a size #4... just use medium sized bead chain eyes so they don't sink fast at all. Here's a pic of the bug we use the most for baby tarpon up to around 20lbs (when we're not using poppers for them...). Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Peterjay 0 Report post Posted April 19, 2014 Sounds like a fun day, Skimmer. Those snakeheads are nasty-looking suckers. Wonder who the moron was who turned them loose in the first place. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Panama Red 0 Report post Posted April 19, 2014 They fish for shad here in florida, something I'm going to try one of these days. How do they pull? Those snakehead look like a pair of boots I owned in the 70's, you'll have to let us know how they taste. Glad you came out of your deep freeze for a day on the water, sounds like a great time. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mudskimmer 0 Report post Posted April 19, 2014 Panama, Shad fishing is fun. They would be great sport on a 4 wt but the only rod I had with a suitable sink tip line was my 8wt. But up here striped bass are often available at the same time so its good to have a bigger rod available. We are a good 3 weeks behind weather wise. Temps were more like March. But man it felt good to get out and feel a tug. PJ, I think the guy that first released a snakehead into a Maryland pond actually confessed. How they ended up in the Potomac is anybody's guess. They are all the way into brackish salinity now and even eastern shore tribs that flow into the Chesapeake. I'm guessing in a few millennia the snakehead, zebra mussel, cockroach, and green head fly will rule the roost long after us humans have wiped each other out. Bob, I actually saw an earlier post this year from you about those schminnows and thought they would make a good shad fly. Its good to know that they work for baby tarpon. They look great in the water and are easy to tie up. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
agn54 0 Report post Posted April 20, 2014 Nice looking flies. I'm convinced that Schminnow type flies will catch anything that swims, like the clouser. Dave, I hear American shad are a hoot on the fly and they jump like baby tarpon. They have a run every year in the St Johns that I keep wanting to hit but haven't gotten around to. One of these days I'll get off my ass in February and try it out since it's not too far from where I live Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
xXMadFireXx 0 Report post Posted April 20, 2014 Nice! Looks like you had a pretty good day on the water! I'm ready for some good weather. Winds been blowing and rain set in... Ready to put some fish in the box! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mikechell 0 Report post Posted April 20, 2014 Sounds like a fun day, Skimmer. Those snakeheads are nasty-looking suckers. Wonder who the moron was who turned them loose in the first place. The original pair, according to the stories, were a wedding gift. Released into a pond for good luck. I, for one, will be waiting to hear how you like the taste of those, MudSkimmer. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Peterjay 0 Report post Posted April 20, 2014 I'm guessing in a few millennia the snakehead, zebra mussel, cockroach, and green head fly will rule the roost long after us humans have wiped each other out. Not to mention Asian carp, Burmese pythons, and lionfish. The list seems to get longer every year. What the hell is wrong with these people? Hey Skimmer - I pulled on the boots yesterday at low tide and took a walk on the flats behind our house, which I've never explored before. Veeeeery interesting. Saw the first fiddlers of the year scurrying around. Gonna check it out at high tide today and see if anything's eating them. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mudskimmer 0 Report post Posted April 20, 2014 Yeah, I saw a 5 foot iguana run across the road a couple of summers ago. Doubt he made it through the winter though. Natural selection use to weed people out like that. Now we give our children smiley faces and pats on the back whether they get their homework correct or not. Crazy society I tell ya. Good to hear the mudflats are waking up. If I lived that close to the water my wife and kids would certainly know where to find me, assuming I still had a wife... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Peterjay 0 Report post Posted April 20, 2014 Right after we moved down here from CT, there was a four or five-foot monitor lizard running amok in our old neighborhood, hunting just about anything that moved. They finally caught him while he was raiding a chicken yard. He wouldn't have made it through the winter either but he probably would have wiped out the poodle population before the frost got him. BTW - I agree completely that Man has short-circuited the evolutionary process. Five minutes spent watching professional wrestling (and its fans) should supply all the proof you need on that score. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mikechell 0 Report post Posted April 20, 2014 He wouldn't have made it through the winter either but he probably would have wiped out the poodle population before the frost got him. So there is good to be said about some invasive species !!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Peterjay 0 Report post Posted April 20, 2014 He wouldn't have made it through the winter either but he probably would have wiped out the poodle population before the frost got him. So there is good to be said about some invasive species !!! LMAO - I KNEW somebody was gonna chime in with that one. Actually, I like poodles - it's the nimrods who give them that ridiculous haircut that ought to be fed to monitors. In France, they let poodles go natural and they're great-looking dogs. Here's a Parisian pooch I found who works as a sign painter. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ditz2 0 Report post Posted April 21, 2014 Yep....them poodles are smart. Ours sure has us trained. And he is untrimmed most of the time. He hates the clippers and hair brushes. Would not have been my choice of mutts but he has worked out well. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mudskimmer 0 Report post Posted April 28, 2014 Well, we cooked up the first batch of snakehead filets. Decided to try the Asian recipe typically done for Chilean Sea Bass. Here is my assessment of snakehead. The flesh is very white and firm with no "fishy" taste or smell whatsoever. I would compare it to Striped Bass (maybe a bit better) but with the texture a little like catfish. However, for this recipe it was not as good as the Chilean Sea Bass. Not enough fat between the skin and meat. For my preferences, i like the fattier or oily fish better. But for someone that likes the opposite, snakehead would suite their needs very well. Here is a pic. I am definitely going to try frying it next time, probably Panama's recipe--got to get that grease involved somehow. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites