Got an email from a friend who was at Lake Orange the day DWR biologists had electroshocked a cooler full of snakehead fish, including an 11 pounder. If they can shock up an entire cooler full, that means Lake Orange is full of the prehistoric-looking fish. Darryl Kennedy at Angler’s Landing, the lake’s on-site marina, said that several snakeheads were caught this week on top water frog lures.
The snakeheads were obbiously stocked by one of their fans, including the 11-pounder, but they are prospering and will likely never be eradicated, which, in a way, is a calling card for Lake Orange.
You can now catch trophy largemouth (10+ pounders), walleye, saugeye, citation crappie, bull bream, reddear sunfish, channel cats and yellow perch. Who knows, maybe stripers will show up next.
You do not have to kill a snakehead if you catch one, but you may not transport them (meaning don’t put them in a livewell). They are a genuine delicacy on the dinner table – highly prized by many Asians.
So, if you want to try for a snakehead, you no longer must go to the Potomac or other rivers. They are here and likely here to stay at Lake Orange.