Opinions on Snake Heads
 

Kill or eat them or let them go and why??

Re: Opinions on Snake Heads
 

I find it funny when people insist I *must* kill any fish I catch...I don't work for the state, and if I want to release a fish that's what I'm going to do.

It's one thing if they are on the verge of eradicating snakeheads, but from what I understand they've completely given up on bodies of water where they're already established.

My personal opinion is live and let live, but ultimately it should be up to the individual angler.

Re: Opinions on Snake Heads
 

The regulation is quite clear, you must kill them. C&R is not an option in this case. To do otherwise is a total disregard for the law which would then cast a shadow of doubt on one's overall integrity as a sportsman. If you don't like the regs you're free to lobby the Div. to change them.

Re: Opinions on Snake Heads
 

Where i typically fish, i dont see a population of them (none so far) and if i found one i would most likely take it home. In this scenario, where there's no snakehead population, other than a few that got introduced, Not releasing it could prevent them from growing in #s

If i was actively targeting them,and a snake head enthusiast gave advice to where to go catch them, and i went out of my way to catch them, I would probably put them back. At this rate, the snakeheads in this body of water make their own fishery. If you get what im saying.

Re: Opinions on Snake Heads
 

Agree

Re: Opinions on Snake Heads
 

this is a terrible attitude. the law is the law. your personal opinion doesn't enter in to it. if you don't like it, make public comments, lobby the council and get the law changed.

doing whatever you want instead makes you no better than the guy keeping a bucket full of 8" bass.

Re: Opinions on Snake Heads
 

No, definitely not the same thing. This regulation is pointless and, in my opinion, needs to be changed to either release immediately or kill them to prevent transporting live fish to other water bodies. That's the regs that they have dealing with invasives in Florida.

Regardless, there is no getting rid of them. They're here to stay. They have spread throughout major river systems, and there is no chance of getting rid of them. Killing for the sake of killing is just a ridiculous waste.

And all the science to this point indicates they are not a problem. Nor will they be a problem. They are ecologically the same as a bowfin. They fill the same niche. Just two species that evolved in similar habitats on different continents. They aren't the monster the media made them out to be.

Re: Opinions on Snake Heads
 

I have no opinion. If i catch one I'd probably take a picture, throw it back and keep fishing. Pretty much what I do with everything i catch in freshwater. If i knew someone who wanted to eat it, mount it, bury it in their garden or whatever else....In the cooler it goes.
If someone else wants to to slit its throat and throw it in the bushes, I'll hand em the knife.

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if you think the law should be changed, then work to change the law. not following the law just because you don't agree with or like it is the exact same thing the poachers do.

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Exactly...it would be an entirely pointless exercise.

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Lol...let's think about this for a moment.

Assuming the snakehead survives release, me catching it and returning it to the water is simply maintaining the status quo of the environment as I found it. You really think the state has the right to compel me to kill...anything?

Has there been any cases of this law being applied to anyone? Anyone get a ticket for releasing snakeheads into the same water body it was caught?

Re: Opinions on Snake Heads
 

This^^^^^^^^


Fishing without a license, bag and size limits, closed seasons and litterbugs is what laws I would like to see enforced.
F&G takes like 3 years to change or establish a "new" law. Steeped in tradition uneffected by progress or technolgy.

Snakeheads and flatheads are here to stay regardless of the law.

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Just one question. If you disregard this law, where do you draw the line on following other laws? Just wondering...Charlie

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Right around pettiness

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you could get an entire group of guys to devote their entire fishing season to catching and killing them, still not going to stop them from existing. They make a great game fish, the state should just accept it....that being said i don't have time to deal with the state's ridiculous politics either so it is what it is i guess!

Re: Opinions on Snake Heads
 

In my America we don’t kill for fun. We kill to survive and defend ourselves. I’m not doing any hits on fish unless I’m getting paid. I’ve retired from my mercenary career. Killing something because you are told is extremism! I can’t agree with that, sorry!

The Snakehead is an awesome gamefish that isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Take a ride to south Jersey if you haven’t caught one! The bite and fight is super intense! Very strong fish!!!:D

Re: Opinions on Snake Heads
 

+1 on this. Don't remember the last time I had my fishing license, size and number of kept fish, or boat registration checked other than opening day trout fishing. I'd worry about enforcement on these areas rather than debate c&r laws on invasives.

Not to mention, seems like a tough court case to win if someone is issued a summons and decides to fight it. Without an actual photo of the release, how could they prove it? Not exactly like getting caught WITH the evidence........... :D

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Enforcement would be an issue, but the mandated killing of anything is an oddball reg in and of itself.

Say an invasive lizard snuck its way into your house, placing itself within your power. Would a law that requires you to kill it be constitutional in any way?

I don't see it. Especially when the state has pretty much given up eradication.

Re: Opinions on Snake Heads
 

100% agree!

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Here's my opinion but first let me say that I love everyone on the freshwater board. I will fish with you guys any day. But it seems like its a bunch of northern Jersey fisherman who already have smallies, walleye, muskie, pike wild trout, and salmon telling us south Jersey who only have LMB, pickerel and panfish to kill them. Come on guys. We don't have much down here. Let us have a hard fighting fish. My favorite fish to target is the bowfin and they seem pretty much the same. Just my opinion.

What should be wiped out is the carp. They eat all the weed beds and make every pond down here a mudhole.

When the state stops the bucket brigades then I will listen to what they have to say about snakeheads. Until then its just a great fish to target.

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It seems to me that the Snakehead is going damn near everywhere and sooner than we in many cases would like. The state cannot realistically suggest that we kill them if we catch them. You can’t write a regulation that way but effectively that what it amounts too. I’m not a big fan of regulation but this one was written by people who know more about this than I do not power hungry pols.
Do the Russians know about Snakeheads?

Re: Opinions on Snake Heads
 

Imagine for a moment what fishing was like during the Civil War in New Jersey.
Maybe some Pickerel, American Shad and Brook Trout, Yellow Perch, throw in a few Lamprey and Eels.
Look at the list of Native and introduced.
There are 90 species of freshwater fish found in New Jersey waters. Of these 90 species, 60 are native to the state. Five species are truly migratory and are present only seasonally in fresh waters of the state.
There are 17 introduced species, 11 of which are popular game species, a number of which have become naturalized and are commonly found in both lakes and rivers throughout the state. Several species, such as Channel Catfish, Hybrid Striped Bass, Muskellunge, Northern Pike, and Walleye, which do not reproduce as readily in New Jersey, are maintained through active stocking programs for recreational opportunities.
We could say the stocked Brown Trout are invasive to the native Brook trout and have "displaced" them, such as the recent electro-shocking on Rhinehart Brook to get rid of the Brown Trout.

https://www.njfishandwildlife.com/chkfish.htm

Re: Opinions on Snake Heads
 

How many of you have ever caught and released a green sunfish?

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The Potomac and Delaware rivers have had snakeheads and flatheads for a while now and both rivers are still great fisheries, I haven’t heard of any negative impact. Snakeheads and Flatheads would have a negative impact if they were introduced to smaller bodies of water though, so I think you should be able to catch and release in those 2 rivers but if you keep them you should have to kill them on the spot to prevent people from transporting live fish.

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Round Valley had a good balance between game fish and forage fish, then the Lake Trout were introduced. Come to find out why the fishing for Brown Trout was so good was the fact the forage base was dwindling and the fish were on a feeding frenzy eating what herring they could find. The fishing peaked big time, then the forage base crashed, the rest is history.
Trust me, I will get around to my views about Snakeheads soon, but all things need to be considered, and I think the outlook is grim.

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Good question and lots of well positioned responses on both sides.

I personally would kill them in anticipation of the possibility of helping out a native species. I would also cook em' up given I have never tried one.

On second thought I would tag one and include the name of a fisherman I strongly dislike.

Dave

Re: Opinions on Snake Heads
 

Now thats funny:D

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^^^^^^this

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depends on the water body type I caught it in.

Riverine systems are robust and the fish have the ability to move to where the food is located. In a lake or pond there is a finite forage base that I could possibly see them impacting.

Watched a pretty good series of Robert Field videos on the topic. He toured the river with a Virginia state biologist who was under the opinion that the snake head is not out competing other fish and the population has stabilized. LMB love the snakehead fry!

Here is the 3rd video in the series with the biologist https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R23-ThVeZ8o

Amazing how strong they are. They really have to crank up the electroshock to stun them.


I am not a scientist but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night!

Re: Opinions on Snake Heads
 

So what's does are alustrous and fearless leader think?
And on a side note I'm surprised Jmurr has not posted a picture of himself eating a live snakehead.:D

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this happened because the state severely overstocked the lake trout for year because they didn't think they were reproducing naturally...once they found out that they were (and very successfully at that) it was too late they had over saturated the system already. someone dropped the ball on that one, can't just take everything said to be fact. They were wrong about the lake trout reproducing and they and be wrong on a number of other things too...

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...in a pink bikini

Re: Opinions on Snake Heads
 

"Embrace The Invasives".

You are not going to stop them. They are here to stay.

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So why do they have a kill law?
I could understand a kill if transported law.
Proving thier worth?

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Not informed enough on this to have an opinion so just stirring the pot :)

Re: Opinions on Snake Heads
 

Mo money!

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There'd be much more money to be made for the state embracing them as a recreational game fish (i'd imagine more licenses sold in south jersey, with their limited species options, they're exciting to catch and could get many more people hooked on fishing imo). Have tournaments with donations to NJFW or whatever. Add them to the skillful angler list turn it into a friendly competition, etc.

They're not making any money on tickets for people releasing them...They'd have to be standing there watching them do it from start to finish, close enough to clearly identify it from a bowfin. In fact, i'd bet money that there has not been a single ticket given for releasing a snakehead caught in NJ...

And just for the record, my total opinion... more regulations are almost NEVER the answer to any fishing problem in NJ! Mostly because they are so short handed they can't enforce them enough! What would be a better option imo is education: things like, stressing releasing bigger game fish from panfish to stripers and everything in between, teaching people how to safely catch, photo, and release a fish (especially in summer) etc, you could go on and on.

bottom line, the only fact is they are not going to be eradicated by anglers killing what they catch and there is no other feasible way to get rid of them; they are here to stay. Telling people to kill them is white noise at this point no matter what your opinion is on the topic.

Re: Opinions on Snake Heads
 

I know everyone is a fisheries biologist and well-versed on the impact of invasive species to our waterways, but this comes down to a simple matter of...the law. I guess someone could make a justification of why they don't have to buy a license, or throw trash on the ground. And hell, I wouldn't even mind seeing the entire Delaware River smallmouth population wiped out if it meant the flatheads are going to grow to 60+ lbs sometime soon. And you know what, the hell with paying my taxes because I don't want a single dollar of it going to support some liberal BS agenda. Cause to me, a lot of what my money goes towards is hell of a lot more unjust than what kind of fish are swimming in NJ. Laws, no matter how justified or how dumb, are there for us to follow, not to interpret, plain and simple.

Now that being said, I caught a snakehead once, and I threw it back, but I did so knowing that I was doing something illegal and not justifying it with some BS rationale that I know better than everyone else.

Snakeheads and flatheads and a ton of other fish are certainly here to stay, but if you want to consider yourself a real sportsman you will abide by all statutes of NJDEP F&G, and all states for that matter, not just the ones you feel are legit. Plain and simple. Do what you're gonna do, but accept what you're doing and don't try and justify it.

If you really think the laws are wrong, then go to a fisheries management meeting and say so, make some noise, write letters, do whatever. But to sit here complaining about the laws, break them and do nothing to get them changed is just ignorant. Look at Andy, you're a wacky dude but probably the one person who doesn't sit on their A$$ and actually gets things accomplished through actions instead of ping pong arguing on message boards.

Re: Opinions on Snake Heads
 

I fish all all over in different states, and I hate to tell you, the Snake Heads are here and here to stay. The way I see it, in the last couple years it's just about become a game fish to a lot of people, they LOVE to eat these things. To each their own, but I thrown them back and let them live. Trust me, your not making a difference in killing them. Just IMO

Re: Opinions on Snake Heads
 

I meant for Gerry...more hits.

But your point is a valid one.