NARROWSBURG, NY — “It’s confirmed; snakeheads invade the Upper Delaware River in force,” Louie Gocek of Peckville, PA, told the River Reporter. He and his friend Randy Konitsky “landed two, and saw several other snakeheads while spearfishing” in Narrowsburg’s Big Eddy on September 4. “These fish are the pitbulls of the freshwater fish, and putting your fingers in their mouths to remove hooks wouldn’t be a good idea.”

Gocek shared pictures of his sharp-toothed catches—freshly caught, then freshly cooked. “They are excellent eating,” he said. “I poach them and brown them in a little butter.”

Evan Padua, the Town of Tusten’s representative to the Upper Delaware Council (UDC) and a river guide with Sweetwater Guide Service, reported that his client caught a 28-inch snakehead in the river on August 31. “First Snakehead in Sweetwater history,” he posted on Facebook. “This fish jumped twice and fought hard.” Its jaws were so tightly shut, “I could barely even pry it open with a flathead screwdriver and pliers.”

The non-native, invasive northern snakehead (Channa argus) was first recorded in the Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River near Callicoon in August 2020. These predators threaten important native species, and the National Park Service urges anglers to kill them immediately.

For more about this growing threat to the river, see related story, "Invasive fish pose growing threat," in this week's edition and online.