Common Snakeheads - Part 2 - Baits & Techniques

What Baits to Use.

Traditionally, Haruan anglers had always relied on baby frogs. Small little frog no larger than 3 inches is the ideal bait. Personally, I am not in favor of frog baits as it is troublesome & yucky to hold frogs. It's also damaging to the environment to kill off large sum of frogs from the wild as they serve a purpose to cull insect & mosquito populations. When Haruan fishing, my favorite baits are Spinners & plastic frogs.

NOTE: For Haruan fishing, always use weedless lures. Haruans love to hang out in weedy waters & if you are fishing with exposed hooks, you are just asking for trouble.

Spinners

One of my favorite lure for Haruan fishing. It has proven effective in shallow waters such as swamps & stagnant pools. I assemble my own Spinners & rig it with soft plastic bait for that extra attraction. The principle technique in using Spinners is to cast it out, let it sink to the bottom then retrieve it as fast as possible without the lure coming to the surface. Spinners with their revolving blade creates plenty of flash & vibration to excite or anger fish to take a bite at it. This coupled with the flipping tail from the SP grub is irresistible to the Haruan.

Plastic Frogs

Another of my favorite lure. This design has helped me land some nice specimens ranging from 1 to 1.5kg. The way to retrieve a plastic frog is to imitate a live frog's movement on the water. The technique is to cast the frog out to the opposite bank or near some bushes & then let it 'drop' onto water as like real frogs hopping. Retrieve in a slow, jerking manner with frequent pause.

Texas Rig

When fishes are not biting, they could have been spooked & the use of more finesse form of lure is required. The texas rig had helped me land some specimens over the years when both the spinner & frog lures fail. Just cast the lure out, let it sink to the bottom & slowly retrieve it back. Make sure the lure makes contact with the bottom. This is a great lure to use when the Haruans are not moving about, hiding mostly at the bottom.