Tony Tank Snakehead

Type: Tidal
Region: Eastern
Location: Tony Tank

This snakehead was caught in Tony Tank between Camden Ave and Riverside Drive. This is the second snakehead I have seen in Tony Tank in the last month. They were about the same size and both were killed. I hate to see such a great fishing place destroyed by these nasty predators. Any suggestions?

DNR Response:Thanks for killing those fish and sending in the information to MD DNR! A handful of individuals have reported from the Salisbury each year for the past couple of years. I think they got there from the Nanticoke watershed because that’s where they were first seen in eastern shore rivers. Killing the fish when they’re encountered is probably the best defense we have. It is a good fish to eat too – so try it out! While snakehead isn’t going to wipe out species from the Tony Tank, it definitely doesn’t belong there and it definitely does change the ecosystem. The cast of characters for that area is now changed and we don’t know what that will inevitably mean to the area. We don’t want it to negatively affect fishing for other species either. I’m hopeful that your actions will help keep the biomass of the species so low that its impact in the ecosystem is negligible.

From May until September is the best time to kill them. They form mating pairs during that time and reproduce. If you can kill the adults, then the offspring are likely to get eaten as well. In practice, I’ve learned that anglers are the best defense we have right now against them becoming super abundant and spreading out. If you get one, make sure it’s killed. If you talk with other folks, make sure they know how to kill them. Those are some of the best suggestions we have.

Keep sending in the Angler’s reports! They help encourage other anglers to target the fish too.