Caleb Newton with his record snakehead.

Last month I took a trip up to Stafford County to go bowfishing for snakeheads on Aquia Creek where it enters the tidal Potomac. The guys who and took me out, Mike Brookover and Matt Wroe, have been hunting snakeheads in that are since the invasive species showed up there about 3-4 years ago.  They showed me and my photographer friend Lance Rosenfield a great time, although we didn’t arrow any snakeheads that night. They also told us about a recent hook-and-line snakehead catch that was a pending world record. Well, now that pending record has become an official one. From the Outdoor News Hub:

Virginia angler Caleb Newton’s June catch has now been confirmed by the International Game Fish Association (IGFA) as a hook-and-line world record. Newton, 27, caught a massive 17-pound, six-ounce snakehead over two months ago in Aquia Creek, a tributary of the Potomac River. The angler used a crank bait with a 15-pound line and light rod to bring the beast in. It only took Newton about a minute.

What’s amazing about the snakeheads in Aquia Creek, Brookover told us, is that the very same day Newton made his catch, a bowfisherman arrowed an even bigger snakehead. But the IGFA only recognizes records for fish caught on traditional tackle.

Credit: Lance Rosenfield