Snakehead Dekansho Small lure swimbait JDM Japan

Love ‘em or hate ‘em, snakeheads are in many of our waters to stay, and if we’re not careful they’ll continue to spread. During this time of COVID-19 shutdowns and extreme cautiousness, they can provide a taste of exotic species at a time when most of us are unable or unwilling to go to where. I was reminded of this when I hooked my first snakehead of the year on Friday May 8th while chasing bass. The bite should only get better as the weather warms up.

There remains no consensus among anglers whether snakeheads are a threat to the bass population, and I’ve yet to hear reports of bass eating snakeheads, but if you buy into the idea that they do – or believe that the snakeheads themselves are cannibalistic – here are some lures you might want to try.

3F custom Lures of Virginia has some incredible paint jobs across the board, but their snakehead swimbait may be the best of them all. It’s a 6.75” triple-jointed, slow-sinking beaut.

3F custom lures Virginia snakehead jointed swimbait custom lifelike

The Dekansho Lure DJ-King from Japan is an 8 inch single-joint. Unfortunately it is sold out in the prime color at Ichiban Tackle, but if you scour ebay or Japanese tackle sites, you may get lucky.

Japan’s PhatLab makes this short-lipped swimbait I found it on ebay and at KK Japan Lure.

Snakehead Phatlab swimbait lifelike realistic jointed JDM

One other JDM lure that fits the bill at a reasonable price is the Megabass Eeler, which is 9.3 inches and features four joints, available from retailers like Carolina Fishing Tackle and The Hook Up.

Around here most of the hardcore snakehead fishing is done in the thickest possible vegetation, so I don’t know if any of these treble-hooked beauties will get the job done, but if you live where it’s less vegetated you might want to take a shot. Hell, the 3F, as beautifully as it swims, might also look good on the wall.

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