Angler nabs an 18-pound snakehead fish in the Potomac
Jun 2, 2016 20:15:58 GMT -5
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Post by formula180 on Jun 2, 2016 20:15:58 GMT -5
By Dana Hedgpeth May 27
Two longtime buddies were out on a Friday night, trolling the Potomac River’s shallow waters to bowhunt for fish.
In a four-hour stint before midnight, the pair hauled in a decent night’s load — 222 pounds of snakehead fish, an invasive species from Asia that entered local waters 14 years ago. The pair then thought they would try to catch a few blue catfish from their 20-foot boat, named “Marsh Rat,” before calling it a night.
“I was running off at the mouth about something and Franklin’s like, ‘Look, there’s one!’ ” Emory “Dutch” Baldwin III said of fishing buddy Franklin Shotwell. “And there was that monster.”
Sure enough, there it was — a Maryland-record-setting 18.42-pound northern snakehead, state wildlife officials later confirmed.
Recalling the May 20 catch in the waters off Charles County, Baldwin, 41, said he was armed with a bow and a fiberglass arrow. Then he aimed.
Michael Meade of Upper Marlboro shown with a 17.49-pound snakehead fish he caught in Maryland waters in October 2015. At the time it set a record. (Maryland Department of Natural Resources )
“I drew back the bow and let the arrow fly,” he said.
Within about three minutes, he had wrestled the fish onto the boat and realized it was big — really big. They weighed it on the boat’s digital scale, where it topped 18 pounds.
“At first it was shocking,” said Baldwin, who is from Indian Head, Md., and works by day as a crane operator in the District. “We were like, ‘Is this scale right?’ ”
They then did what every proud angler does — snapped a picture, showing a smiling, full-bearded Baldwin holding the big fish. They iced it, took it to a local market’s certified scale and called state wildlife officials. On Monday, authorities declared it set a state record for the largest snakehead caught in Maryland waters, beating at least two records set last year.
Michael Meade of Upper Marlboro shown with a 17.49-pound snakehead fish he caught in Maryland waters in October 2015.
In October, an angler from Upper Marlboro caught a 17.49-pound snakehead. Two months earlier, another had caught a 17.47-pound snakehead in Mattawoman Creek, a tributary to the Potomac in Charles County.
“This is indeed a new record for the state for its weight,” said Stephen E. Schatz, a spokesman for the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.
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Two longtime buddies were out on a Friday night, trolling the Potomac River’s shallow waters to bowhunt for fish.
In a four-hour stint before midnight, the pair hauled in a decent night’s load — 222 pounds of snakehead fish, an invasive species from Asia that entered local waters 14 years ago. The pair then thought they would try to catch a few blue catfish from their 20-foot boat, named “Marsh Rat,” before calling it a night.
“I was running off at the mouth about something and Franklin’s like, ‘Look, there’s one!’ ” Emory “Dutch” Baldwin III said of fishing buddy Franklin Shotwell. “And there was that monster.”
Sure enough, there it was — a Maryland-record-setting 18.42-pound northern snakehead, state wildlife officials later confirmed.
Recalling the May 20 catch in the waters off Charles County, Baldwin, 41, said he was armed with a bow and a fiberglass arrow. Then he aimed.
Michael Meade of Upper Marlboro shown with a 17.49-pound snakehead fish he caught in Maryland waters in October 2015. At the time it set a record. (Maryland Department of Natural Resources )
“I drew back the bow and let the arrow fly,” he said.
Within about three minutes, he had wrestled the fish onto the boat and realized it was big — really big. They weighed it on the boat’s digital scale, where it topped 18 pounds.
“At first it was shocking,” said Baldwin, who is from Indian Head, Md., and works by day as a crane operator in the District. “We were like, ‘Is this scale right?’ ”
They then did what every proud angler does — snapped a picture, showing a smiling, full-bearded Baldwin holding the big fish. They iced it, took it to a local market’s certified scale and called state wildlife officials. On Monday, authorities declared it set a state record for the largest snakehead caught in Maryland waters, beating at least two records set last year.
Michael Meade of Upper Marlboro shown with a 17.49-pound snakehead fish he caught in Maryland waters in October 2015.
In October, an angler from Upper Marlboro caught a 17.49-pound snakehead. Two months earlier, another had caught a 17.47-pound snakehead in Mattawoman Creek, a tributary to the Potomac in Charles County.
“This is indeed a new record for the state for its weight,” said Stephen E. Schatz, a spokesman for the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.
link
