In the infant sport of snakehead fishing, everybody has a theory about what makes the toothy creature bite.
There are debates about bait: green or orange plastic worms? What about spinners? There are disagreements about the best spots on the Potomac River, though Dogue Creek and Little Hunting Creek on the Virginia side seem to be the most popular.
Tom Woo, who caught three snakeheads this month, tries again with help from his wife, Myong, and three daughters.
(James A. Parcell -- The Washington Post)
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_____Snakeheads_____
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Fish's Fans Ask: What's Not to Love? (The Washington Post, Jul 8, 2004)
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A Consuming Fear for Fishermen (The Washington Post, Jul 4, 2004)
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Snakeheads May Be Making Home in Potomac (The Washington Post, Jun 30, 2004)
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In Search for Snakehead, Other Fish Get a Jolt (The Washington Post, May 30, 2004)
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Snakehead Hoopla Just a Memory (The Washington Post, May 23, 2004)
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Full Snakehead Coverage
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And finally, there is the it-doesn't-matter school.
"It's like barracuda," said angler Richard Remele, 70, of Severna Park. "It has big teeth, and it eats just about anything."
All camps were represented yesterday at the 2004 Snakehead Roundup, which organizers billed as the country's first tournament for pursuit of the northern snakehead.
The event was held at Columbia Island Marina on the Potomac, which has emerged as a major haven for snakeheads. Sixteen have been caught this year in the Potomac or its tributaries.
The northern snakehead, a native of China and Korea, feeds voraciously on other fish and can wiggle short distances over land. It first appeared in this area in a Crofton pond in 2002, then began showing up in the river this year. Authorities are not certain whether the snakeheads are breeding in the Potomac or have been dumped there separately.
This month, six northern snakeheads were caught in a pond in Philadelphia. Pennsylvania authorities have submitted DNA to the Smithsonian Institution to see whether their snakeheads are related to the Potomac fish.
Organizers said yesterday they wanted to increase awareness of the hazards of nonnative species in general, warning people not to release pets, live bait or food fish into the wild.
"The snakehead is becoming the ugly poster child for the national campaign" to eradicate invasive species, said Benjamin Grumbles, who heads the Environmental Protection Agency's national water program.
Whatever its high-minded purpose, yesterday's event was at heart a fishing tournament. Accordingly, there were guys in mesh-backed gimme caps, a boat was raffled off, and beer was consumed before 10 a.m.
The major players in the snakehead fishing world were there, such as Clifford Magnus of Waldorf, who in June caught the biggest snakehead yet, two feet long and weighing nearly six pounds.
Tom Woo of Fort Belvoir, who caught three snakeheads in 10 days earlier this month, brought his wife, Myong, and three daughters.
"When he's trying to catch bass," explained daughter Emily, 6, "he catches snakeheads."
