By: Jessica Hendrie
Beneath South Florida’s waters, a silent invasion is taking place. As our native fish swim around in familiar currents, lurking among them are unexpected visitors, the snakeheads. These fish may be a delicacy in Asia but in Florida, they are highly invasive. Some would consider them a trash fish and once caught, just disposed of, but what most don’t know is that these fish can be cooked to perfection. Snakeheads can be mostly caught in canals with shiners or top water frogs. They usually are hungry fish so just about anything works, anywhere. Now when you’re out fishing in South Florida’s fresh water, some may think the peacock bass is invasive. But you’d be wrong. Peacock bass are exotic but not invasive in Florida waters. They are able to safely compete with largemouth bass and grow safely overall together. The snakehead is what you should keep an eye on. If caught, I challenge you to take it home and try it out cooked! Consider them most similar to a cobia when it comes to filleting. Once home and filleted, sauté the fillets in brown butter seasoned with salt, pepper, coriander and garlic powder. Serve over a bed of jasmine rice with a vegetable stir fry. If you want to make it even more “Florida,” grab a coconut and have refreshing coconut water as your beverage. Once served, you wouldn’t even know you’re eating a highly invasive snakehead. To give you a better idea of the taste, they are a very light and flaky white fish that have no fish taste whatsoever. So, some may even prefer it! Now that you have all this information on the snakehead, go try to catch one or two and not only will you be helping Florida waters, you’ll be able to have a wonderful dinner, too. Good luck and happy fishing!