Most of the 130 anglers who registered for the roundup are bass fishermen. Some said yesterday that they feared the snakehead would eventually encroach on the Potomac's famous bass grounds.
Jim Howard, a tournament bass fisherman from Waldorf, called the Asian fish "a terrible thing."
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)
|
_____Snakeheads_____
•
Fish's Fans Ask: What's Not to Love? (The Washington Post, Jul 8, 2004)
•
A Consuming Fear for Fishermen (The Washington Post, Jul 4, 2004)
•
Snakeheads May Be Making Home in Potomac (The Washington Post, Jun 30, 2004)
•
In Search for Snakehead, Other Fish Get a Jolt (The Washington Post, May 30, 2004)
•
Snakehead Hoopla Just a Memory (The Washington Post, May 23, 2004)
•
Full Snakehead Coverage
|
| |
|
"It's going to eat up my pets," he said, meaning the bass.
When the roundup officially started yesterday morning at the marina near the Pentagon, Howard and many other anglers roared off to the south, past Old Town Alexandria and under the Woodrow Wilson Bridge.
Howard then turned his boat into Little Hunting Creek, an inlet near Mount Vernon where three snakeheads have been caught this year.
For about 45 minutes, Howard repeatedly cast his lure to the edge of an underwater grass bed. All around him, boats full of anglers did the same, hoping that a snakehead would strike out from the shallows.
Finally, Howard's line bent and a fish flashed in the murky water.
He reeled it in: a two-pound largemouth bass. Normally, Howard would be happy to get it, but not today.
"Dammit," he yelled to another boat. "It's a bass."
When the roundup ended at 11:30 a.m., it was the same story for everybody: The anglers had caught bass, bluegill and perch, plus a bag of Doritos and a can of Old Milwaukee.
No snakeheads.
Magnus said later that he had seen a couple of snakeheads in the water, and the fly on one angler's line was bitten right off. Perhaps a snakehead was responsible, she said.
But that was all. None of the theories on snakehead angling had worked.
Afterward, some of the fishermen said they would keep trying. Woo said he would be out on Dogue Creek again that very afternoon.
James L. Frye, whose Marina Operators Association of America helped stage the event, said he believed the roundup had been a success even without any snakeheads. But he said he hoped there would be no need for another one next year.
"I would hope the species would be eradicated by then," Frye said. "If not, then yeah, we'll certainly call attention to it again next year."
Get paid for your H I P I M P L A N T troubles.>>