Giant Snakehead

[Marlo]

Hello all you anglers out there,

My fishing experience is very limited so I hope all you fishermen and women will bear with me. When I was a little girl, my dad took me out in a row boat to fish in a small pond in Massachusetts. While on a cross-country camping trip in the 1970s, I caught some cat fish in Oregon. That's it.

I'm writing because I thought with the way the world is going these days, you might get a chuckle out of my story. After having to resign from my teaching position due to illness, I could no longer afford my mortgage. I'm not sure what experiences you folks have had, but Obama's mortgage modification, in my opinion, is a huge farce. Chase bank has strung me along since October, 2009, first saying I wasn't far enough behind in my house payments; now I am too far behind. The bottom line is I am losing my home of 15 years and have decided to move to Miami Beach to help my son and his wife with their baby daughter. My son was looking for a studio apartment for me and found one located on a canal. In fact, the ad said, "fish right in your own yard!" I had just cried my eyes out about losing my house; and had also gotten a bee sting (to which I am allergic); and food poisoning. Needless to say, I was at rock bottom. I turned on the TV for distraction, and what did I find? A Discovery Channel show on the "Giant Snake Head" fish. In fact, the game warden was interviewing the owner of a Chinese market located right in Miami Beach! The snakeheads were on ice, selling for at least $20 each. The Chinese storekeeper said his people believe that eating the snakehead can help you heal after surgery, and the game warden added that these fish are "good eating." (YUCK!) As I mentioned, I was sick and fragile so I called my son to say I could not live on a canal because that is where the snakeheads were first discovered! My son assured me that these fish don't slither out of the water and attack people. They have lungs and can supposedly live out of water for three days.

Shipments of snakeheads have been confiscated in New York. People buy them for exotic pets. Did you know the female lays up to 100,000 eggs a year and guards them so carefully, no other fish dares eat them? Yet, the snakeheads will eat their young. In fact, their reflexes are so fast, they snap at anything that comes near them, even when they are not hungry. Scientists have found large snakes, rabbits, and all kinds of fish in the stomach of the snakehead. The government is spending millions to try to deal with this predator. Of course, when a lake is poisoned to kill the snakeheads, all the other fish die, too. (Wish the governments had used just a fews hundred dollars to help me a little with keeping my house. Maybe I'm paying for the removal of snakeheads!) Some people believe the fish was introduced into our waters intentionally so it could be caught and sold for such a high price. I am not one of those "sabotage theory" nuts, but there's a parasitic disease in our country called "Morgellon's." At first, I thought it was some kind of sci-fi hoax, but my son and his wife have contracted it. They lived in Hawaii, where my son tattooed soldiers returning from Iraq. Could it have been some kind of war tool gone awry? The only research about this horrible disease is coming out of the Department of Defense.

I know we are supposed to keep our posts positive, but some of you may have an interest in my thoughts. Maybe we can come up with an idea of what to do about the snakeheads. If the Chinese think their medicinal, well...maybe they are.

Thanks for letting me post here. You seem like a great bunch of people. I only wish I were an outdoor adventurer like so many of you. Best Wishes,

Marlo

[mrklean]

snakehead are the worse thing for any of our waters period, they kill any fish that come near them and can also attack ppl.

[Marlo]

Thanks for replying to my post. Do they really attack people? Would you have to be swimming in the water for them to get you? In the Discovery Channel "River Monsters" show about them, it said that Hollywood made a movie about them slithering into someone's yard getting ready to attack a baby. Is that possible? I know the giant ones can reach up to 40 feet!

[abcnerdd]

Don't believe everything Hollywood make. Look at the newest movie that just came out, Piranha 3d; and all the rest: Jaws, Frankenfish, etc. Frankenfish was actually based on Snakehead.

You'll only be attack by a snakehead IF you're approaching it's nest or their youngs.

[MN BassFisher]

I know the giant ones can reach up to 40 feet!

The Giant Snakehead can't reach 40 feet, it can MAYBE reach 4 feet, more commonly reaching 3 feet in length.

[abcnerdd]

Quote:

The Giant Snakehead can't reach 40 feet, it can MAYBE reach 4 feet, more commonly reaching 3 feet in length.

Good catch, I didn't even notice Marlo type 40 feet , I thought she type 4 feet, LOL

If snakeheads can reach 40 feet, I think the government would be very very worried.

[Rick G]

Them things are bad bad bad. I had a buddie who had two of them as pets and it didnt matter what other kind of fish he put in the tank with them the snake heads would kill them. There was this one time he was gone for a few days and one of them managed to jump out of the tank well we figure it was out of water for at least a day or two and the fish looked dry and dead but he put it back in the tank anyway. Within a couple hours the fish was swiming like nothing ever happend mean and ugly as ever. The things finaly died when he was on vacation during winter when the blower on the furnace siezed up and the fish died. They cant take the cold real well I guess

[MN BassFisher]

They'd be crazy pets. You type in Snakehead on the Tube of You and there are a ton of videos. People throwing in golfish and bass and stuff.

[mrklean]

well lets hope they cant take the cold would be the only saving grace if they made it up here

[SideAngler]

People can get so fearful of the unknown. If you hate the fish, at least hate it for the right reason (invasive specie). Here are some facts.

Are they aggressive? Yes. They like to hide under lily pads or other plants near the shore and ambush their prey. So it is entirely possible that they have eaten small land animals like mouse or snake.

Are they dangerous to human being? Absolutely not. Snakehead is just another fish. They are generally afraid of bigger animals. One of the reason snakehead fetches higher price than other fish is that they're very difficult to catch due to their quick reaction to any movement in the water.

They would not attack human in the wild. The only case of human attach I know of is when they're put into a fish tank and not properly fed. Their bite may leave a teeth mark but is in no way dangerous.

Snakehead is versatile and can live in river and small pond. A snakehead looks somewhat like bowfin (dogfish) in Minnesota. Will they wipe out other fish in the lake? They are no more dangerous to other fish than pike or bass. In fact, they will likely lose out to pike in any Minnesota water. A two-foot snakehead (with exception of Toman) is considered monstrous even in the native waters in Asia.

Unlike common carp, snakehead does not swamp a lake or pond. They're highly territorial. They produce eggs year after year, but only a few big fish end up living in a pond. Snakeheads are found in many fish farms in Asia but they barely pose any dangerous to the fishing industry. There are fish farms that raise snakeheads for the markets.

Do snakeheads walk on land? It is a total myth. Snakehead is a fish. Adult snakehead may wiggle forward a few feet on land if you take it out of water but they would never willingly jump on land. If people think these fish can migrate from one lake to another on land, they give them way too much credit. Again, they're fish, not turtles.

They don't live on land for three days. It is true that they outlast many other fish out of the water. Snakehead may survive a few hours if you keep them moist and cool, like pouring water on them constantly. But like other fish, they die quickly (a few minutes) under the sun.

How to catch them? Unlike most fish, snakeheads are very dedicating parents. They look after their youth up to a few inches long. They're most aggressive when attending their youth and most vulnerable. Picture this: hundreds or even thousands of small fish are boiling the surface of the water and their parents are just one or two feed under the water watching. They're ready to attack anything come near the school. Now you know where to drop your line?

[MN BassFisher]

They don't live on land for three days. It is true that they outlast many other fish out of the water. Snakehead may survive a few hours if you keep them moist and cool, like pouring water on them constantly. But like other fish, they die quickly (a few minutes) under the sun.

As you stated in your only post, they are similar to the bowfin. Now I don't know how genetically similar they are but to my eye, they're bodies look quite similar. They have much different markings obviously but general body makeup, they look similar. I've never actually seen a snakehead, just pictures and videos. But your post is incorrect about all fish dieing while being out of water. I've seen some VERY hearty carp live many hours out of the water in extreme sun and then swim away when it reaches the water. And bowfin, when oxygen levels in their habitats get low, they can be seen gulping air on the waters surface. They have a swim bladder and can breathe air for a substantial amount of time. When I was younger my uncle used to remove them from our lake, he threw one in the woods. No joke, a day and a half later I was playing in those woods, and heard something rustling. I was able to find where the noise was coming from and it was the bowfin still squirming every so often. Now, I'm not sure but I'd assume that the snakehead has a swim bladder and can live out of water for a while too. Sorry for the long post, just showing you that some fish can live out of water for a while. Not common but some of the hearty fish can survive for a day or two.

[SideAngler]

I've never caught a bowfin before and I don't fish much anymore. I have no idea a bowfin can survive for so long without water. Sounds like snakehead would lose the out-of-water survival battle to bowfin.

[abcnerdd]

People can get so fearful of the unknown. If you hate the fish, at least hate it for the right reason (invasive specie). Here are some facts.

Are they aggressive? Yes. They like to hide under lily pads or other plants near the shore and ambush their prey. So it is entirely possible that they have eaten small land animals like mouse or snake.

Are they dangerous to human being? Absolutely not. Snakehead is just another fish. They are generally afraid of bigger animals. One of the reason snakehead fetches higher price than other fish is that they're very difficult to catch due to their quick reaction to any movement in the water.

They would not attack human in the wild. The only case of human attach I know of is when they're put into a fish tank and not properly fed. Their bite may leave a teeth mark but is in no way dangerous.

Snakehead is versatile and can live in river and small pond. A snakehead looks somewhat like bowfin (dogfish) in Minnesota. Will they wipe out other fish in the lake? They are no more dangerous to other fish than pike or bass. In fact, they will likely lose out to pike in any Minnesota water. A two-foot snakehead (with exception of Toman) is considered monstrous even in the native waters in Asia.

Unlike common carp, snakehead does not swamp a lake or pond. They're highly territorial. They produce eggs year after year, but only a few big fish end up living in a pond. Snakeheads are found in many fish farms in Asia but they barely pose any dangerous to the fishing industry. There are fish farms that raise snakeheads for the markets.

Do snakeheads walk on land? It is a total myth. Snakehead is a fish. Adult snakehead may wiggle forward a few feet on land if you take it out of water but they would never willingly jump on land. If people think these fish can migrate from one lake to another on land, they give them way too much credit. Again, they're fish, not turtles.

They don't live on land for three days. It is true that they outlast many other fish out of the water. Snakehead may survive a few hours if you keep them moist and cool, like pouring water on them constantly. But like other fish, they die quickly (a few minutes) under the sun.

How to catch them? Unlike most fish, snakeheads are very dedicating parents. They look after their youth up to a few inches long. They're most aggressive when attending their youth and most vulnerable. Picture this: hundreds or even thousands of small fish are boiling the surface of the water and their parents are just one or two feed under the water watching. They're ready to attack anything come near the school. Now you know where to drop your line?

+1

[TonyKay]

they are not related to bowfin in anyway...

[Stick500]

Hey Marlo, it's never too late become an "outdoor adventurer".

That little grandaughter of yours is going to need her grandma to show her how to catch some sunnies in a Massachusetts pond pretty soon!

There's a reason we all love fishing so much- it's fun!!!