iStockphoto / Greggory DiSalvo
The state of Maryland keeps a distinct category of state fishing records for three invasive species in the state that include the blue catfish, flathead catfish, and the Northern snakehead fish. One bow fisherman in Maryland sniffed a new state record for the invasive snakehead category when he shot a fish measuring barely a pound off the existing state record.
Jake Steppe of Sudlersville, Maryland caught his 19.8-pound snakehead with a bow on the Upper Eastern Shore and his fish came up just 1.2 pounds short of the state record. It measured a whopping 39 inches long and the Maryland Fishing & Boating Services shared a photo of this impressive catch on social media a few days ago:
Jake Steppe of Sudlersville, MD caught this 19.8 lb snakehead by bow, 8/28/2024, on the Upper Eastern Shore. It was 19.8 lbs, only 1.2 lbs short of the state record, and 39 inches long!
📸by Brett Coakley pic.twitter.com/8neg55MiHp— MD Fishing & Boating (@MDDNRFISH) August 31, 2024
It truly looks like an alien species compared to other freshwater fish in North America and the explanation is it’s invasive everywhere in North America.
Northern Snakehead are found throughout the Potomac River in Maryland and Virginia in the greater D.C. area as well as other parts of the East Coast and oddly enough, in California. But this invasive species has also been found in the Mississippi River and Lake Michigan so they will fight to survive wherever they wind up. But these fish aren’t home to North America at all, they are native to North Korea, China, and parts of Siberia.
As an extremely pesky and robust invasive species with a voracious appetite capable of decimating entire ecosystems, it is highly recommended that anglers kill them whenever they are caught. Thus, it is actually a great this this snakehead fish was humanely dispatched by this angler in Maryland. Some recommend putting them on ice and letting them freeze as another humane way of killing them. Either way, ecologists encourage fishermen to never release them back into the water.
This Snakehead Was Just Shy Of A Fishing World Record!
The 21 pound, 0 ounce snakehead fish that is the state record in Maryland is also the world record for Northern snakehead. That fish was landed just last year by angler Damien Cook in Dorchester County, Maryland.
If this was just *a little bit* bigger then he would have had a world record on his hands.
Here are some tips on how to catch them and get them out of the water: