Snakehead Population Continues to Grow in Potomac

Potomac River guide Steve Chaconas with a northern snakehead.

News is not good regarding snakeheads in the Potomac River, according to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (MDNR).

Research indicates that since 2006 “distribution in Maryland has rapidly increased.”  Also, “relative abundance has doubled most years.”

On the plus side, “anglers are handling, killing, cooking, and eating the fish.”

To learn more, go here.

More DNA Evidence Raises Odds That Carp Have Invaded Great Lakes

More damning evidence has just been revealed that Asian carp might already have invaded Lake Michigan via a manmade connection to the Mississippi River basin and it’s only a matter of time until numbers reach critical mass, spawning occurs, and we start seeing huge numbers of the prolific exotics.

That’s exactly what happened with snakeheads in the Potomac River. For several years, anglers caught just enough of them to remind us that they were there. Then someone found a mass of them spawning in a creek, and the population seemed to explode almost overnight.

In the case of Asian carp and Lake Michigan, researchers report that 17 of 171 samples taken from the North Shore Channel tested positive for silver carp DNA. Additionally, 17 of 57 from the Chicago River also proved positive for the genetic material.

Meanwhile, the Corps still is studying the situation.

"Asian carp are knocking at the front door of the Great Lakes, and we cannot afford to wait on a federal government that fails to act,” said Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette.

Read more here.

Snakeheads Increasingly Popular Among Potomac Anglers

Guide Steve Chaconas helps anglers catch snakeheads in the Potomac River.

In the wake of Juan Duran’s recent catch of a potential world record northern snakehead, here’s an interesting article about the exotic species’ increasing popularity among anglers and how it is co-existing with other species in the Potomac River.

An excerpt:

Steve Chaconas, a bass guide on the Potomac, says he’s seeing more and more people like Duran, who appreciate the snakehead as a game fish worthy of pursuit. Of the 100 to 150 guide trips he makes in a year, 20 or so are now booked by anglers who want to target snakeheads exclusively. 

“They are usually bass fishermen who want a bigger jolt,” Chaconas says. “Bass are no longer exciting for them. Snakeheads are a very powerful fish, and when you hook them they try to back away from you. Catching one is like pulling a dog off a fire hydrant.” 

Warning: Lots of photos illustrate this piece, which is nice, but you have to click 15 times to read the entire story. Too much unnecessary complication for my tastes.

Speak Out Now to Keep NPS From Shutting Off Access on Potomac River

 

The National Park Service (NPS) is once again revealing its anti-fishing and anti-boating bias. This time it’s doing so by proposing elimination of a public marina --- Belle Haven --- on the Potomac River as one of its “alternatives” for restoration of the surrounding Dyke Marsh.

Unless enough public outcry is heard, you can bet that the preservationist wing of the NPS will push hard for implementation of this strategy, which is designated as “Alternative Concept D: Full Restoration.” It would include restoration “out to the 1937 historic limits.”

“This alternative must be removed from consideration and can only be done so if enough citizens voice their opinion,” says Steve Chaconas, owner of National Bass Guide Service.

“In addition, this far-fetched ‘restoration’ project has no price tag!”

You have until June 20 to speak out against the NPS shutting off public access to public waters, as it already has done at Cape Hatteras National Seashore and is attempting to do at Florida’s Biscayne Bay. (Search these topics through the window below “Get Updates! and Search” at upper right of this page for more information.)

Go here to read what NPS is proposing and to comment.

Additionally a public meeting is set for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 12, at Indigo Landing at the Washington Sailing Marina, 1 Marina Drive at Daingerfield Island, George Washington Memorial Parkway, Alexandria, Va.

New Video Helps Anglers Identify, Kill Snakeheads

Snakeheads are spreading out from the Potomac River. That’s bad news for bass and other native species.

Check out this new video from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources to learn how to identify, kill, and report the exotic predator.