Pacemaker Fishing Forum

On July 7th  I fished with Ernie and Capt Mike Starrett. Capt Mike has a unique way of rigging a frog that lets it slide through lily pads without snagging. His instructions were to throw it as far as you can, point the tip at the frog and wind it slowly back. The only catch was it takes 1000 casts to catch a snakehead. I served my apprenticeship that evening without so much as a sniff. Ernie had some hits, but in Capt Mike's words, all we landed were pesky largemouths.

      I launched at Mattingly Park Friday morning at 7:00 and started up the creek. First stop was at the first set of pads on the left and at 7:15 I hooked my first ever nsh on just my 4th cast. Magnificent strike and fight. I've heard (from Capt Mike) that they see your lure coming, but never would have believed this. My cast went about 2' into the pads. When I started the retrieve through the pads I saw it coming. When the frog hit the water it exploded into the air and went 5' horizontal before splashdown. It dove under the grass and back into the pads pulling me and the Hobie behind it. My heavy braid was able to slice through the grass and my locked down drag let me pull the fish back out of the dense pads. Luckily my cheapo net didn't collapse, and I had my first in the yak.

     My first measured a little over 27"


     Just 15 minutes later I was on my way toward the barges and saw a commotion again to the left out away from the pads. When I pedaled over toward it I saw a stream of bubbles on the surface. I had also heard (Capt Mike again) that you can find them by their bubble trails. Tossed 2 casts to the area and another explosion. This one was much smaller and in the open, but still a terrific fight.

     My second measured 19"


I had met my goal, and now I'm hooked on these critters. I was determined to fish all day for them so I only carried frogs to fight the temptation to fish for other fish. I did have 2 hits and misses from bass and 2 other encounters with snakeheads where they came out on top. It was a long enjoyable day on the Mattawoman. Oh... and a big thanks to Capt Mke for the snakehead lessons.

Last edited by Osprey (Jul-27-13 5:50PM)