Snakehead line

[DJ]

What do experienced snakehead anglers recommend as far as line wt?  Is a shorter 8wt strong enough or would you recommend a 9 or 10 for pulling them out of vegetation and throwing bigger flies? Is most of the action on topwater or would running an intermediate line for streamers be recommended?  Do you recommend wireleaders or is thick mono tough enough?  Thanks, I really appreciate any help, it's hard to find anything online.

[Josh Cohn]

6-8WT float, they're just cooler lookin largemouth

[Gregg DiSalvo]

Agreed.  I throw a 9 wt bc I have it.  Floating line.  I also have a 7 wt with sink tip for streamers, although I rarely throw it.  I think my hookup rate would be higher if I focused on water adjacent to pads and weeds with the streamers, but the blowup is worth it for the floating line.  No wire leader.  I use 15-20 lb mono with weedless poppers/sliders.  Biggest tip I can give (although limited in knowledge), but wait 3-4 seconds after the take on the surface to give a hard set.  You will miss some, but my hookup rate increased when I started doing this.  Subsurface, set immediately.  They are a mighty fun fish, but as Josh said, they are like largies.   A bit heavier, and they roll like a catfish. Overall, they thrash more than run on the fish, but for me, it is all about the blowup.  

On Friday, December 6, 2019 at 10:55:46 AM UTC-5, DJ wrote:

[arthur noglak]

Any Floating WF Bass Bug tapers are perfect for snakeheadish flies. They are also great all round warm water lines.

Art

[Sean Beck]

I use a 6wt with either a floating or intermediate line based on what I want to throw at them. Generally a 15lb maxima chameleon leader, though sometimes if I run into them while targeting smallmouth I'll be using 12lb ultragreen. A 6wt is definitely the lowest you should go. An 8wt is probably better all around in case you run into a big one. I downsize my flies for them compared to bass because their mouths are smaller and I find they prefer smaller prey.