Individuals who don’t fish for snakeheads love to speak about them like they’re evil beasts conjured by the satan himself and unleashed in our waters from the seventh stage of Dante’s Inferno. Are they crafty predators? Completely. Evil? Hardly.
A lot media consideration has been positioned on their “vicious” enamel and don’t get me flawed, I wouldn’t need one to clamp down on my fingers. However getting bitten by one in all these fish after you catch it will solely occur if you happen to have been extremely careless or did, in truth, stick your digits in its mouth. What snakeheads are, although, is way stronger and extra tenacious out of the water than most gamefish we catch. So, if you happen to’re contemplating focusing on snakeheads on a kayak — arguably among the finest methods of getting after them — there are some security considerations to contemplate.
Associated: The right way to Catch Snakeheads
I’ve caught every thing from child 12-inch snakeheads to 10-pound goliaths in my kayak, and coping with these fish whereas floating round on a slender plastic boat generally is a problem. There’s little room to work and no dry land the place you’ll be able to set the fish down and get leverage. Plus, you’re attempting to maintain your stability. Snakeheads are indignant after they’re caught and since they will breathe air, they don’t shortly settle and tire out of water.
So right here’s a breakdown of my snakehead touchdown program. For those who’re able to get after these “evil” invasives, these tips will assist make the method smoother whether or not you’re letting your catch swim free or bringing it dwelling for the deep fryer.
Within the Bag
Snakeheads are tricksters. They go nuts once you set the hook, thrashing violently and leaping, however they relax fairly shortly. Like muskies, the preliminary hit is the magic second, however the combat is normally over quick. You wish to muscle the fish in with out introducing any slack to your line so the hooks keep firmly planted of their exhausting jaws. The shortage on drag-screaming runs offers the phantasm that these fish are out of gasoline after that first brief spherical of headshaking and pulling, however they’ve gallons left within the tank. Due to this, a web is important.
Ideally, you’ll be armed with a web that has a deep bag, as a result of a snakehead can and can simply leap proper out of a shallow bag. The fish might wind up in your web with little fanfare, nevertheless it’s virtually a assure it’s going to go ballistic once more as soon as it’s there. A web with a deep bag means that you can maintain the fish securely along side your kayak the place it could possibly thrash and roll with out getting away. All the time give the fish a minute or two to expend some power within the web. Now’s the time to get your rod in a safe spot and get any free hooks or gear put away earlier than the fish is in your lap.
Lip Service
A lip-gripping instrument is a should for snakeheading. You may, after all, use a high-end Boga Grip, however I favor an cheap plastic gripper that locks shut. These additionally float, which is at all times a plus when fishing from a kayak. Whatever the mannequin you select, a lip gripper is important for controlling a snakehead safely.
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Snakeheads have unimaginable jaw energy and it’s not unusual for them to be clamped down in your lure so exhausting that you would be able to’t open their mouths. They are often clenched up so tightly that I usually want a pair of long-nose pliers to get their mouths open huge sufficient to even insert the lip gripper. As soon as that gripper is firmly in place, nevertheless, the fish can thrash and wriggle all it desires and, when you’ve got a agency maintain, it gained’t get away. The instrument may even maintain the mouth open to make eradicating the hook simpler. I normally safe the gripper in a fish’s mouth whereas it’s nonetheless within the web along side the kayak. The target is to have full management over the snakehead so that you don’t should fumble or make any sudden actions that would get you off stability. That is particularly vital when coping with massive specimens.
Fast Pop
There are all types of hook elimination instruments in the marketplace, however the one I discover most helpful for snakeheads is a straightforward, low-cost, old-school hook disgorger. If a fish utterly inhaled your lure, I discover it may be simpler to shortly pop the hooks out with a disgorger than dig round with pliers. Hole-body frog lures particularly are typically planted within the roof of the fish’s mouth, and although a disgorger is designed to take away a single hook, it normally pops each frog hooks out simply. Merely slide the instrument all the way down to the hook and provides it a robust faucet downward. Snakeheads have huge mouths, so, assuming your lip gripper is retaining the mouth open, lures will be simply pulled out after that pop.