Great Potomac River Snakehead Hunt III

[Sonny Disposition]

OK. Our the Great Potomac River Snakehead Hunt III is officially scheduled for Saturday, August 9 at noon. We'll meet in the parking lot of Riverside park, which is just north of the George Washington Home in Mount Vernon.

If you have seines, bring 'em.

I recommend you get a Virginia fishing lisence. (They offer long term and temporary.) You can even get one on line:

http://www.dgif.state.va.us/licenses/

Plan to get wet. Old sneakers and old shorts are fine. Waders will work, too.

Disclaimer: (Sorry folks, but it’s necessary). If you attend the collecting trip, you are responsible for your own safety and the safety of those in your party. If you exercise common sense and good judgement, drowning or injury is unlikely but cannot be ruled out entirely. However, neither myself nor the members or leadership of the Greater Washington Aquatic Plants Association will assume any liability for your safety. (Again, sorry to have to say that.)

Anyone under the legal age of 18 must be accompanied by an adult.

Here are some links to pages describing precautions to take while wading:
http://www.agfc.com/pdfs/free/wadingsafetips_bro.pdf

http://www.flyfishingoutfitters.com/p/p.aspx?mlid=1084

http://www.articlealley.com/article_161851_32.html

Along with the Northern Snakehead, Channa argus argus, the Potomac River and its tidal creeks and bays are home to bluegill, pumpkinseed, redbreast, and redear sunfish, and the eastern banded killifish, fundulus diaphanus, http://www.jonahsaquarium.com/JonahSite ... anus01.htm.

If you plan to bring any fish home under the terms of your lisence, remember to bring a bucket or a cooler.

We’ll start at the parking lot on Little Hunting Creek, on the George Washington Parkway, and seine in the Potomac River and in Little Hunting Creek. Although they aren’t numerous, I’ve collected bluespotted sunfish in Little Hunting Creek (http://www.cnr.vt.edu/efish/families/bluespotsun.html). We’d work our way south along the GW Parkway, to Route 1, to Pohick Bay Regional Park.

If we get a snakehead, we'll have to euthanize it on the spot, as this species is illegal to transport alive.

Hope to see you there!
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[krisw]

This sounds great Bob! Can anyone who's planning on attending please post here so that we know who to look for in the parking lot.

In addition to what Bob mentioned above, I'd recommend that everyone bring their own snacks, water, and sunscreen. GWAPA will not be providing any of these things.

[pmk00001]

I should be there, I'll probably bring my girlfriend, a seine, and a couple of dipnets.

Here's a small snakehead I caught last Fall, not too far from Mt. Vernon.

[JMLenke]

careful! If you believe the media, that will eat your entire arm, kill your family and wander clear down 95 crushing cars and tossing 18 wheelers out of its way..

[Sonny Disposition]

Thanks, all.

Food, water, and sunscreen are definitely good ideas. I usually forget all three and am sorry for it. I don't burn easily, but I've gone home from a lot of trips hungry and thirsty.

And if you're among the follicularly challenged, like some of us, a hat isn't a bad idea either.

[maria]

Justin and I will be there, really looking forward to it too. I would add bug repellent and toilet paper to Bob's list of things to bring.

I had to look up snakeheads, I thought Jeff's line about throwing trucks down 95 was pretty funny.

How do you euthanize a snakehead? Kind of contrary to our GWAPA principles (or I should say my principles) of killing only plants.

Who is the "lead" on this, can you PM me your cell number. Our kids are way too young to bring and we will be dependent on a babysitter to show up... on time...

We wouldn't want to keep anyone waiting on us if we were late.

[maria]

Here is a pdf of a map with the location of Riverside Park. It is at the bottom of the map.

Ciao!

[ingg]

Well, they won't throw cars, but their resilience and ability to destroy native ecosystems is pretty amazing.

Saw something on Discovery on a guy doing experiments with them one time - the things these things survived, their appetites, and just how much of a plain ole nasty fish they are were unbelievable.

[SCMurphy]

I did a whole series of experiments on a Channa micropeltes for my Ichthyology class. I got to have lunch, then beers, with the lead fish guys from Harvard and Scripps, to talk about the genus because my prof thought I was having so much fun with the beasty.

[JMLenke]

The crappy part is that there are a few of the channa species that dont get above 8" and are extremely colorful. I was going to try an order a pair of them when the whole "OMG THEY WILL EAT US ALL!!!" media frenzy happened. I gave up when I saw that they were going to be banned.