The
Snakehead
Allthough
the Striped Snakehead:Channa striata ( blah Chon ) can grow to big
sizes it is very uncommon to catch such a fine specimen in the wild.
This is mainly due to the fact that it is prized for its tasty almost
boneless meat. A 7kg fish would have a fair amount of meat and would
provide a few good meals or be sold live in a wet market.
The Snakehead is a truly fascinating fish species, with its prehistoric
features and atmospheric air breathing capabilitys it is almost one
of a kind.
Blah Chon is a species of Snakehead in the Asian Channa Genus which
is part of the widely spread Chanidae Family. The Striped Snakehead
:Channa striatais one of three main snakehead species in Thailand.
The dorsal surface and sides of the fish are dark and mottled with
a combination of black and ochre. Its belly is white. Its large head
is where it gets its name as it is very reminiscent of a snakes head
and has very large scales (The Great Snakehead: Channa Marulius is
Known in Thai language as Chon Ghnu How, Translatent to english this
roughly means Cobra Snake Head). All Snakeheads have deep and wide
gaping mouths full of sharp teeth used for disabling and holding prey
items.
Striped
Snakeheads can be found in ponds, streams and rivers allthough it
prefers the stagnant and muddy waters of Swamps, flooded fields and
plains.
In a river habitat it is commonly found in fairly deep water close
to thick weed beds and lilys where it waits in ambush for its pery
to move past. When prey is targeted the Striped snakehead will make
a ferocious dart, grab onto its prey and hold on until the animal
or fish is disabled, then it is consumed. In the Rainy season in Thailand
lots of rivers burst their banks and lakes will flood. The outgoing
water fills up flood plains and rice paddys where it helps fertilize
the land with natural nutrients while at the same time making a nice
new habitat for Snakeheads to explore and hunt.
The flooded plains and fields are the prefered habitat of the Striped
Snakehead but unfortunatley this makes it relativley easy for local
people to catch them with nets and using electric prods to stun them
so they are easy to grab.
If
you are to venture out with Thais when they are fishing in this way
you will see that there is no sport involved it is basic collecting
of food. On a good day three or four people may collect over 30Kg
of fish between them. Blah Chon are not the only species that are
collected in this way other species include Swamp Eels:Monopterus
albus, Climbing Perch:Anabas testudineus, Snake Skin Gourami: Trichogaster
pectoralis, NIle Tilapia:Tilapia nilotica, African Walking Catfish:
Clarias gariepinus. These are but a few fish species but basically
anything that can be eaten is caught and collected including, Frogs,Snails,
Turtles even birds and spiders.
The spawning season of the Striped Snakehead in Thailand is from May
to July during the wet season, when both males a females with help
to construct a nest site from water vegetation. The Eggs aswell as
the hatched fingerlings will usually be fiercly guarded by the Males
from other fish and water life. The Fingerlings will usually congregate
in a ball of fry that can be seen on the surface water in a bubbling
mass.
Some
sport fishermen will target these balls of fry with surface lures
to antagonise the parents into attacking their lures and spinners.
Other anglers dont see any sport in this at all as they are actually
catching somthing that is protecting its offspring, so they try and
hunt out the Snakeheads on the hunt in their natural hiding places.
When the water levels in the flood plains and paddy fields start to
drop in the dry season the Snakeheads will retreat back to deeper
water in the surrounding rivers, lakes or ponds or othrewise bury
themselves deep in the mud where they can survive until the rains
come again as long as their skin and air breathing aparatus are moist.
Striped Snakeheads are considered pisciverous but they will also eat
frogs, snakes, insects, earthworms, tadpoles and crustaceans. Infact
a 7kg specimen was caught in Thailand on a large earthworm.
Many Thais fishing for food put out Bamboo sticks that are jammed
into the ground and left overnight with a whole range of baits attached
to the hooks some common ones are Snails, Crabs, Small Frogs, Insects
and old meats.
There are various ways for an angler to catch striped Snakheads, one
of the favourites probablly because it is the most visually stimulating
is with surface lures which are retrieved over weed beds or near snags
where the snakeheads like to sit in wait. If ones lure crosses a snakeheads
attack path it can often be seen fully emerging from the water producing
a loud clap from its jaws as it clamps down on the artificial bait
(If you lucky enough to get a take).
Using diving lures or fish immitation spinners, allthough not as common
with anglers, is just as productive as surface fishing as the Snakeheads
diet consists of a large amount of fish.
Live and dead baits such as Frogs, Crabs, Snails and Fish can also
be used on a very light ledger style setup and an open spool with
a bite alarm or baitrunner. As mentioned previously worms can be a
great snakehead bait for all sizes, they are also easy to dig rfom
the ground and of course free.
There have been many reports of Snakeheads invading the USA and being
labelled a dangerous invasive species and called names such as "Frankenfish".
The real truth is that most of this is Media hype and scare stories
from Tabloid press stating that Snakeheads attck humans and can walk
on land for days.
Whether you believe these crazy tales and unfounded reports, I hope
that this article has given a little more insight into what is a truly
amazing species of fish.
Good Luck, (Choc Dee)
and as always Tight Lines.
Nathan Wardle nathan@megafishingthailand.com
If you'd like to see more information - please click to http://www.megafishingthailand.com