Snakehead Fishing from Shore and from a Kayak

A few days before Christmas, fishing in my favorite hole was terrible. During that time, it was unusually cold and windy. The drop in temperature may have pushed the snakeheads (haruans) into hiding. I have been fishing since the 23rd up to the late afternoon of the 25th and had no luck. Not a single strike or even a trailing fish. It was frustrating.

Then on the 26th of December, the sun shone bright and the wind has died. I decided not to fish in the morning and waited for the water to heat up for a bit.

After lunch, I loaded my kayak on the bed of my pickup truck. I figured that with the kayak, I can fish the entire marsh area. If there still no snakeheads, I can transfer to the estuary in the late afternoon when the tide comes in.

When I got to the launch point, I unloaded the kayak and rigged to start fishing. A lot of passers by gave me a puzzled look. The locals probably took me for a fool --- a strange man with a strange outfit and gear, riding a strange boat, and fishing on the heat of the midday sun.

For the first two hours, still no fish. I can see some fishes timidly trailing the lure but none are actually committing to strike. I switched to different sizes and colors of lures but to no avail. I checked the water and it seemed still too cold that I remember it.

I decided to paddle to the shallow areas thinking the water over there may have heated earlier than where I was located. The problem is, the shallows have thick vegetation so paddling may be a problem. I struggled to paddle the kayak over lilies, kangkongs, and lotus leaves. When I arrived in a spot where the water seemed to be warmer, I started casting away. For the first few casts, I got some strikes but they easily threw my hooks. An hour later, I caught and released a couple of fishes. Not too big but fun nonetheless.

When the heat was too much to bear, I decided to go to shore and rest under a shade for a while. After a quick re-hydration and rest, I left my kayak and waded near the bank and fished some more. I was lucky enough to catch and release a couple more.

Here is a short video of the trip. The video cam in my kayak is too close to my back so I will be making a few modifications on the camera mount. Next video is on my favorite estuary. Hopefully a Mangrove Jack will show some interest. Enjoy.