Pacemaker Fishing Forum

Curly · Jul-16-10 11:01AM

Picked up Thai a little after 4:30 am and off to the back waters of the Potomac we went. Launched in the dark and we both tossed top water for about an hour before we had the first fish in the boat. I was using a mouse and Thai was using either a swim bait or a frog. First fish was a bass.

Then Thai hooks up.

Then it is my turn with this almost 3 pounder.

We ended up with 7 bass for the morning.

Then we hit the NSH honey hole..............As Thai said, "This spot is looking very snakey". I cast the mouse up past some grass and wobble it back. As it is about 1/2 way back to the boat, there is a big swirl right behind the mouse. I stop the retrieve. Just as I start it again, the water literally explodes like someone dropped a M-80 in the water. As I set the hook, Thai exclaims, "Oh Yeah...........Big Snakehead!". It's big and makes a B-line for the heavy grass. I've got 14-lb braid on with the drag tightened all the way down to the breaking point. He's ripping drag in the heavy grass while I fight it for about 2 minutes. I horse it out and up beside the boat..............it's looks to be 3 feet long. We decide the net is needed, but the snakehead sees it and makes another run to get away. We finally net the fish. It's all muscle and beating up everything in the bottom of the boat until Thai gets a hold of it. We kill it and put it in the cooler of ice. It measured 30" and Thai estimated the weight to be 9 lbs. Weighed it at home and leveled out at 10 lbs 2 oz. Here is the pic..............

Filleted two nice chunks of very firm white meat out of it. Snakeheads are the slimiest fish I've ever held. Catfish have sandpaper on their skin compared to a snakehead.

Last edited by Curly (Jul-16-10 11:15AM)

Dominion Dan · Jul-16-10 11:06AM

Congratulations Curly! Would I be correct in assuming this was your first snakehead?

I know what you mean about the slime. I've started to fillet them outside to minimize clean up. Other than that, they are very easy to fillet and provide big ol' chunks of meat.

bart2puck · Jul-16-10 11:09AM

what part of the potomac were u on?

Thai · Jul-16-10 11:09AM

You posted my swimmy bass twice wheres the frog one!? And you forgot to mention the baby snakehead that got the better of you!

Curly · Jul-16-10 11:10AM

Yeap, the first. Caught a second one (that was a punk) a little later, but he slipped out of my hand and back into the water...........

Curly · Jul-16-10 11:14AM

Thai wrote:
You posted my swimmy bass twice wheres the frog one!? And you forgot to mention the baby snakehead that got the better of you!

I geezed.......... My bad............here.............

the little snakehead (about 1-foot) almost put the mouse hook into me as he slipped away and back into the water.

Last edited by Curly (Jul-16-10 11:18AM)

Thai · Jul-16-10 11:16AM

No worries, despite the sweltering heat we had midday it was a fun outting

Osprey · Jul-16-10 11:40AM

That thing looks like it could eat a kayak

Curly · Jul-16-10 11:44AM

Osprey wrote:
That thing looks like it could eat a kayak

I promise you that it will tow a kayak around for a while.

Ernie · Jul-16-10 2:02PM

Curly wrote:
Just as I start it again, the water literally explodes like someone dropped a M-80 in the water.

That's a word picture I will never forget! Congrats on your 1st NSH!

Nice fishing gents!

Ernie · Jul-16-10 2:04PM

Curly wrote:
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb11 … C02105.jpg
the little snakehead (about 1-foot) almost put the mouse hook into me as he slipped away and back into the water.

Kinda almost looks like a Peacock Bass....I had to look twice!

T. · Jul-16-10 3:13PM

I gotta get me one of those.

captmikestarrett · Jul-16-10 5:23PM

Nice snakehead and LGMouth guys..

Capt Mike

Bass Hunter · Jul-16-10 5:29PM

That's a MONSTER Curly!!

How would you rank the fight of a snakehead to a comparable sized bass?

Did you like the snakehead meat? Now I wanna catch me a NSH!!

AnF · Jul-16-10 5:58PM

Wow! That thing is huge. Way to go Curly!

It will be interesting catching a NSH in a yak, but it will be fun.

Ernie · Jul-16-10 6:39PM

Bass Hunter wrote:
How would you rank the fight of a snakehead to a comparable sized bass?

I don't think he's ever caught a 10 lb bass......

Thai · Jul-16-10 7:25PM

I've caught a 24" NSH in a Hobie Outback fully rigged and it still managed to pull the yak! Fight wise, they pull really hard and dont wear as easily as a bass, alot of the time they will get a secondwind and start running once near the boat. Their acrobatic abilities rivals that of a tarpon!

Bass Hunter · Jul-16-10 8:21PM

Pacemaker wrote:
Bass Hunter wrote:
How would you rank the fight of a snakehead to a comparable sized bass?
I don't think he's ever caught a 10 lb bass......

Curly mentioned in this thread he caught bass up to 10 lbs as a boy at the NC lake he went to......

http://pacemakerfishing.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=3015

Last edited by Bass Hunter (Jul-16-10 8:22PM)

Ernie · Jul-17-10 3:31AM

Bass Hunter wrote:
Pacemaker wrote:
Bass Hunter wrote:
How would you rank the fight of a snakehead to a comparable sized bass?
I don't think he's ever caught a 10 lb bass......
Curly mentioned in this thread he caught bass up to 10 lbs as a boy at the NC lake he went to......

http://pacemakerfishing.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=3015

I guess we are calling him on this one then......

bigjeffie · Jul-17-10 4:09AM

i think mr john has most definitely caught bass that large before.

he may have had an offyear or two, but him busting that snakehead is just a small example of how lethal this man can be...

Curly · Jul-17-10 5:28AM

Bass Hunter wrote:
That's a MONSTER Curly!!

How would you rank the fight of a snakehead to a comparable sized bass?

Did you like the snakehead meat? Now I wanna catch me a NSH!!

Snakehead definitely gives a stronger fight, but this one gave up a little earlier than I expected.

Curly · Jul-17-10 5:46AM

bigjeffie wrote:
i think mr john has most definitely caught bass that large before.

he may have had an offyear or two, but him busting that snakehead is just a small example of how lethal this man can be...

Wow, we've gone from "nice NSH" - to - "don't believe Curly has caught a 10 lb bass", in the same thread .

Actually, I've caught a number of 10+ pounders......all in NC before I moved up here 18 years ago. I used to practice my fish taxidermy on big bass that I caught and my dad caught. In the beginning, I did horrible work and made a beautiful 10 pounder look like this .........

Eventually I got better after stuffing and painting about 50 bass over 5 pounds. Most were either given away (if they looked decent) or thrown in the trash (if they turned out bad).

Here is the first 10 pounder that I caught as a 12-year old (mounted by someone else). Still have the fish in the basement.

You can also see the first striper and first bluegill I mounted in the pics. Have never had the heart to throw out those old first attempts/species. I acutally got very good at it and made some stunning fish mounts......to include a 27 pound Kerr Lake Striper and a 14 pound LMB (someone else caught both).

Last edited by Curly (Jul-17-10 5:58PM)

bigjeffie · Jul-17-10 7:23AM

the dude scores a ten #'r at 12 yrs old...
no wonder he considers a 5 a 'keeper'

Bass Hunter · Jul-17-10 7:40AM

Curly wrote:
bigjeffie wrote:
i think mr john has most definitely caught bass that large before.

he may have had an offyear or two, but him busting that snakehead is just a small example of how lethal this man can be...
Wow, we've gone for "nice NSH" - to - "don't believe Curly has caught a 10 lb bass", in the same thread .

Actually, I've caught a number of 10+ pounders......all in NC before I moved up here 18 years ago. I used to practice my fish taxidermy on big bass that I caught and my dad caught. In the beginning, I did horrible work and made a beautiful 10 pounder look like this .........
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb11 … C02107.jpg
Eventually I got better after stuffing and painting about 50 bass over 5 pounds. Most were either given away (if they looked decent) or thrown in the trash (if they turned out bad).

Here is the first 10 pounder that I caught as a 12-year old (mounted by someone else). Still have the fish in the basement.
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb11 … C02106.jpg
You can also see the first striper and first bluegill I mounted in the pics. Have never had the heart to throw out those old first attempts/species. I acutally got very good at it and made some stunning fish mounts......to include a 27 pound Kerr Lake Striper and a 14 pound LMB (someone else caught both).

That's pretty cool Curly. Didn't know you did taxidermy. Are you think about adding a NSH to your collection?

Bass&Reds26 · Jul-17-10 8:17AM

WOW. That sure is something. I'm surprised you guys got away with using 13 pound braid, but as i've seen in other posts Thai seems to be the NSH expert. Nice Job.

Pacemaker Fishing Forum

#1 Jul-16-10 11:01AM

7-16 The Hunt for a Mega-Snakehead + PICS

#2 Jul-16-10 11:06AM

Re: 7-16 The Hunt for a Mega-Snakehead + PICS

#3 Jul-16-10 11:09AM

Re: 7-16 The Hunt for a Mega-Snakehead + PICS

#4 Jul-16-10 11:09AM

Re: 7-16 The Hunt for a Mega-Snakehead + PICS

#5 Jul-16-10 11:10AM

Re: 7-16 The Hunt for a Mega-Snakehead + PICS

#6 Jul-16-10 11:14AM

Re: 7-16 The Hunt for a Mega-Snakehead + PICS

Thai wrote:

#7 Jul-16-10 11:16AM

Re: 7-16 The Hunt for a Mega-Snakehead + PICS

#8 Jul-16-10 11:40AM

Re: 7-16 The Hunt for a Mega-Snakehead + PICS

#9 Jul-16-10 11:44AM

Re: 7-16 The Hunt for a Mega-Snakehead + PICS

Osprey wrote:

#10 Jul-16-10 2:02PM

Re: 7-16 The Hunt for a Mega-Snakehead + PICS

Curly wrote:

#11 Jul-16-10 2:04PM

Re: 7-16 The Hunt for a Mega-Snakehead + PICS

Curly wrote:

#12 Jul-16-10 3:13PM

Re: 7-16 The Hunt for a Mega-Snakehead + PICS

#13 Jul-16-10 5:23PM

Re: 7-16 The Hunt for a Mega-Snakehead + PICS

#14 Jul-16-10 5:29PM

Re: 7-16 The Hunt for a Mega-Snakehead + PICS

#15 Jul-16-10 5:58PM

Re: 7-16 The Hunt for a Mega-Snakehead + PICS

#16 Jul-16-10 6:39PM

Re: 7-16 The Hunt for a Mega-Snakehead + PICS

Bass Hunter wrote:

#17 Jul-16-10 7:25PM

Re: 7-16 The Hunt for a Mega-Snakehead + PICS

#18 Jul-16-10 8:21PM

Re: 7-16 The Hunt for a Mega-Snakehead + PICS

Pacemaker wrote:

Bass Hunter wrote:

#19 Jul-17-10 3:31AM

Re: 7-16 The Hunt for a Mega-Snakehead + PICS

Bass Hunter wrote:

Pacemaker wrote:

Bass Hunter wrote:

#20 Jul-17-10 4:09AM

Re: 7-16 The Hunt for a Mega-Snakehead + PICS

#21 Jul-17-10 5:28AM

Re: 7-16 The Hunt for a Mega-Snakehead + PICS

Bass Hunter wrote:

#22 Jul-17-10 5:46AM

Re: 7-16 The Hunt for a Mega-Snakehead + PICS

bigjeffie wrote:

#23 Jul-17-10 7:23AM

Re: 7-16 The Hunt for a Mega-Snakehead + PICS

#24 Jul-17-10 7:40AM

Re: 7-16 The Hunt for a Mega-Snakehead + PICS

Curly wrote:

bigjeffie wrote:

#25 Jul-17-10 8:17AM

Re: 7-16 The Hunt for a Mega-Snakehead + PICS

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