However, since snakeheads are not officially on the harvest regulation list in Pennsylvania, he said he was told just to not do it again. 'Bow and arrow (including compound bows and crossbows) may be used for taking only carp, suckers and catfish on all commonwealth waters, day or night, with the following exceptions: bow fishing is strictly prohibited in stocked trout waters during the closed season and bow fishing is strictly prohibited in special regulation trout waters.'īosch said he reported the snakehead he took by bow and was told he technically could be cited for it. 'Here is the explanation of which groups of fish can be taken lawfully with a bow and arrow,' Desko said. Snakeheads are not currently on the list of species allowed to be taken by bow in Pennsylvania. He said he has been fishing for more than 20 years and bow fishing for about 10 years. The only 2022 report listed for Pennsylvania was May 12 in Chester Creek at the Delaware County Field and Stream Association.īosch, 37, said he heard numerous fellow anglers talk of catching snakeheads in Lake Ontelaunee. Here are the number of reports of snakeheads on the USGS site from the rest of the fish and boat commission's southeast region: Bucks County, 11 Chester County, 5 Delaware County, 9 Lancaster County, 2 Northampton County, 2 Philadelphia, 4. There are only three reports logged for Berks on it: two at Bernhart Dam in 20, and one at Lake Ontelaunee in 2020. 'Other agencies and groups send records here as well, and it is up-to-date for Northern Snakehead (other than records for Blue Marsh Lake, which were just recently sent in).'ĭesko is the southeast region outreach education coordinator for the fish and boat commission, which includes Berks, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Lancaster, Lehigh, Montgomery, Northampton, Philadelphia and Schuylkill counties.īosch's report to the commission was not logged on the USGS site as of June 7. Geological Survey Nonindigenous Aquatic Species database,' said the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission's Andrew Desko in a May 31 email. 'Our agency sends all confirmed records of aquatic invasive species, such as northern snakehead, to the U.S. The first confirmed harvest of the fish in Pennsylvania occurred in Philadelphia's FDR Park in 2004. Geological Survey keeps an online database of northern snakehead harvests online in its Nonindigenous Aquatic Species database. The first official record of one being harvested was in 2017 at Bernhart Dam reservoir in Muhlenberg Township. On May 21, he harvested a female with an egg sack he estimates was 18 to 24 inches long while hunting carp in the Maiden Creek along Route 662 in Richmond Township where it meets Moselem Creek and empties into Lake Ontelaunee.

Unfortunately for Oley Township resident Brad Bosch, there is no bounty for the invasive species in Pennsylvania. 'Only harvested northern snakeheads with reported tags will qualify for gift cards.' 'In order to qualify, the harvester must report the tag number to USFWS at 80, and is asked to take a picture of their harvested and tagged northern snakehead,' the MDNR website states. Fish and Wildlife Service to place blue or yellow tags on 500 snakehead in an effort to monitor their population.

On May 24, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources announced they were giving away gift cards valued at $10 to $200 for catching a tagged northern snakehead through 2024. Yet the presence of these non-native, introduced species causes far less concern than our most recent invader, first discovered two decades ago in Crofton, Md.The unwanted foreigners even have a bounty on their heads in Maryland. Many of the local fish caught today were introduced species like smallmouth bass (est. These original anglers caught eel, suckers, channel catfish and crappies. The remains of 1200 year-old stone fish traps can still be seen in this area. Native Americans fished this stretch of water for thousands of years. This large, reputedly tasty, aggressive predator is the latest in a long line of invasive fish in this stretch of the Potomac since Europeans first arrived in the region. Now snakeheads have been an unwelcome inhabitant of the Potomac since 2002, but they have not come this close to Hagerstown (or my favorite fishing spot) previously. We have a new - and unwelcome - resident in our stretch of the Potomac River: the Northern Snakehead caught at Dam #4 on June 10 near Scrabble, W.Va. A place for everything, everything in its place.

Snakehead fish