Fishzilla: Snakehead Invasion

i have heard of these fish, my brother in law said he saw something on TV about them. i told him to give me a call the next time it was on so i could have a chance to watch it. i don't know much about them but from what he was telling me i don't want to either!

 

It was on this last weekend. One of the discovery, TLC or animal planet channels.

 

Hey Walter, I'm sure your familiar with the warnings in WV, since you lived & fished here before. DNR is on a quest to get these things out of here before they become a problem. Despite all those warnings I never seen one and don't know anyone that has. My question is, what about you, have you seen one after spending all that time on the Ohio, or do you know anyone that has?

 

I saw that show the other day. I believe it was on the National Geographic channel. They were originally found in a Maryland pond but have now spread to the Potomac. They are voracious eaters and have even been known to attack humans.

 

Ive not heard of them in the water out here. My brother in Ohio has kept them in his aqaurium and I have to say that they are probably the most agressive fish Ive seen in captivity:crazy:. We used to keep piranha and they dont quite measure up either! Piranha get aggressive when they are in numbers (from my experiences) while snake heads will go at it alone. They are also excellent jumpers. My brother has found a few on his floor a couple times.

 

I have seen pictures of them. The reason they spread is because they can walk on land (like a walking catfish) for 2 months aslong as there skin is moist. Im glad there not in Tennessee. If i see one, im shooting it.

 

i have no idea. ive never seen or caught one here in illinois.

 

In some countries there rated as a valuable foodfish. im guessing thats why they probally got here (like carp)

 

Cool fish, but definatley voracious! There are many different species, and most are tropical and won't make it. But the problem comes in with the northern snakehead from China which is very tolerant of cold waters, and lower oxygen levels, also with their capability of transversing between bodies of water over land. I'd love to fish for them in their native enviroment, but around waters in the U.S. they can decimate anything that'll fit in there mouths, or that they can catch and beat to death!

 

we have something like them called the BOWFIN...almost identical

 

Never seen one or heard of one in Texas, not yet anyway.
Looks pretty wicked though.
oooh:

 

One word Ouch!!! I'd hate to be bit by one of those suckers!
:crazy:

 

i saw the show and it said they are illegal to own in the united states. they have been added to the list of invasion animals they eat all the other fish and breed like crazy i know they were in the DC area . the show said if you ever catch one kill it and then call the dnr they made it very clear that they want this fish out of the us

 

havent seen any in indiana

 

All the pictures I've seen of them are about the size of your hand. How big can they get?

 

Bowfin are indigenous to NC waters, therefore already a part of the ecosystem. Snakeheads are not. They, indeed, are a threat. There have been a few reports of snakeheads caught in Lake Wiley and in the Catawba river.
A bowfin has a short anal fin, where a snakehead has a long anal fin.

The first bowfin I caught, I had no idea what it was. I described it as looking "prehistoric" and found out later that it is indeed a prehistoric species.
Talk about a mouth full of teeth!
They can reach sizes much bigger than your hand. This one was probably 25-30".

 

Here is a link showing some Snakeheads.
http://images.search.yahoo.com/sear...Search&tab=Images&ei=UTF-8&fr=my-vert-img-top