Snakes 2024

guitarkid reply :

Just Warning you guys-

WATCH FOR SNAKES

Just a little reminder to the bank beaters out there, just please watch out.

-gk

BlakeMolone reply :

But be nice to snakes there important and wont harm you if you dont harm them!

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj174/Blakemolone/IMG_5637.jpg

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj174/Blakemolone/Coachwhip335.jpg

Culln5 reply :

Quote
Just Warning you guys-
WATCH FOR SNAKES

Just a little reminder to the bank beaters out there, just please watch out.

-gk

Not only the bank beaters. This little fellow wanted a ride in the boat.

Mottfia reply :

Walk softly and carry a big stick! Good advice GK. Everyone stay safe this spring.

Mottfia

Okieracer reply :

I practice catch and release with snakes too. ;D ;D ;D I remember the cutest thing I've ever seen was at my uncles lake house. My cousin and sister were trying to kill a snake that was swimming by. I don't really like to kill things for no reason so I told them to stop so I could catch it. I got a stick over his head and grabbed him behind the head and on his body. I walked up to the house to show everyone and my 3yo niece came walking out with a cupcake in her hands. When she saw the snake move she screamed bloody murder and smashed the cupcake in her hands. LOL I laughed so hard. I then released it in a nearby feild and reminded everyone that snakes kill mice and other rodents that are bothersome to peoples lakeside properties.

Micro reply :

Snakes are coming out of their hibernating spots about now in states with real winters. Making their first tenative forays out into the spring. Please don't kill them.

Here's my favorite picture of me and a snake...

Live.2.Fish reply :

I know that there are a lot of you guys that love snakes, but for me, they just scare the heck out of me! I just get a weird feeling when I see one in the water. :-/

Thefishy1 reply :

I love the little guys, I used to work at a Scout camp where I was the "Snake guy". As long as you dont antagonize or hurt them they wont try to bite you.

swilly78 reply :

Leave em' be, and they wont mess with you. The worst way to find out if its a cotton mouth, is by seein' that white mouth to begin with....

nickb reply :

I just give them their distance, and I've never had any trouble with them.

EastTexasBassin reply :

Most snakes I just leave alone but if I see a water moccasin I blast him. I keep a shotgun in the boat in case I come across one. They are just too dangerous and aggressive to have around. I've had several close calls and I've just grown to distrust them.

Any other snake I come across is left alone. They are incredibly useful at controlling rodents n such.

bassmaster3000 reply :

Other than western diamondback rattlesnakes, Washington has basically none, except for bull snakes, gopher snakes, rat snakes, and garder snakes... all harmless...

;D ;D ;D ;D

BlakeMolone reply :

Washinton doesnt have western diamonbacks there actualy northern pacific rattlensakes.

J-row reply :

the only good snake is a dead snake i hate-em i kill evory one i see

the only way i'll shake hands with a snake is with a 12 gauge

fishfordollars reply :

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the only good snake is a dead snake i hate-em i kill evory one i see
the only way i'll shake hands with a snake is with a 12 gauge

I have to agree with you on this one.

.ghoti. reply :

12 gauge not necessary. Try one of these. I've had one for several years, and can attest to it effectiveness.

http://www.coldsteel.com/sjambok.html

Redhed reply :

if a snake finds his way into the boat, he is a dead snake (thats if i stay in the boat )

i dont mind them just not in the same boat as me.

Dyna7329 reply :

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Quote
the only good snake is a dead snake i hate-em i kill evory one i see
the only way i'll shake hands with a snake is with a 12 gauge

I have to agree with you on this one.

ditto.

really glad to know there's guys out there who think alike on this subject.

BlakeMolone reply :

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Quote

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the only good snake is a dead snake i hate-em i kill evory one i see
the only way i'll shake hands with a snake is with a 12 gauge

I have to agree with you on this one.

ditto.

really glad to know there's guys out there who think alike on this subject.

Snakes really aren't very harmfull at all and 99.999999999999% of what people say are cottonmouths are harmless watersnakes. Please try not to go out of your way to kill them, I do understand killing one that gets in your boat but its unnecessary to go out of your way to kill a snakes just because it there.

stan150 reply :

only one good use for a snake , a pair of boots.

CableGuy reply :

You guys are going about this the wrong way! Big bass love to eat snakes, so we should be using them to catch big bass! Embrace the snake!

check this out:

well i can't post a link b/c i'm too new here. So type in doug hannon without a space in your web browser and hit enter.

Jake. reply :

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Leave em' be, and they wont mess with you. The worst way to find out if its a cotton mouth, is by seein' that white mouth to begin with....

You don't have to worry about Cottonmouths. They don't live in Northern Illinois. Just mind the Copperheads.

slomoe reply :

Here's one I found last year. Beautiful snake.

http://s92.photobucket.com/albums/l24/adub45/?action=view&current=MVI_2343.flv

fishinfiend reply :

Quote
12 gauge not necessary. Try one of these. I've had one for several years, and can attest to it effectiveness.
http://www.coldsteel.com/sjambok.html

I like that!!

hjerk24 reply :

Fished a tourney and won, and everywhere we hit bass, we saw snakes on the shoreline, or in the water. We eventually started to call the day the snake pattern. Oddly enough, whenever we see snakes in the water, or along shore we tended to hit some nice bass. This tourney was down on the Chesapeake, and typically fishing rocky shorelines. Maybe a coincidence, but when we see a snake, we prepare for a hit. We have a tourney next weekend, FOM, snakes may not be out and about yet....trouble!!!!

PS...I know rocks are good places to fish..DUH! Just one of those snake days, where everywhere we went, there were snakes....had never happened like that before.

Tooth Dr reply :

Memory tells me from Zoology, that a common water snake is a natrix, after 35 years memory is faint. This snake is somewhat similar in marking, but the major difference is the body. The bad boy is the cotton mouth. The cotton mouth has a short thick body with a wimpy tail. The natrix is more slender. I once had the opportunity to pick up a natrix from the bottom of a creek while searching for Hell Benders (Cryptobranchus) spelling? This was a class project with several members.

Dr T

BlakeMolone reply :

Tooth Dr. It changed from natrix to nerodia.

Drew9586 reply :

Lots of people are afraid of snakes to some degree. I, however, have a true case of ophidiaphobia (sp?). I wake up at least once a week from nightmares about snakes. If I see one while fishing I have to leave that part of the lake because, as crazy as it seems, I just cant convince myself that the sneaky thing isnt just trying to get out of sight so that he can come up behind me and bite me! I have not been able to fish from shore for close to 20 years now! I cant even walk out of my house (in the city where I have never seen a snake) and walk on grass without at least haveing shoes on, and I'm nervous as hell doing that (boots are much easier on my mind). Dosnt matter if they are poisoness or not, they still scare me more than I could explain. Makes fishing very difficult, to the point that fishing in winter is much more fun than in nicer weather!

All of this is said to remind you guys that do like snakes that you should exercize caution when handeling them or showing them to others as some of us just truly cant handle it. For most of us with a real phobia often one traumatic experience is what truns a normal aversion into a phobia that haunts your whole life. That traumatic experience, from talking to others with the same problem I have, can be as simple as seeing someone holding one, so please, exercise caution and good judgement in your interactions with others.

slomoe reply :

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Oddly enough, whenever we see snakes in the water, or along shore we tended to hit some nice bass.

That's interesting because last year, any time my fishing partner and I would see a snake the fishing would pick up. We started to consider the snakes good luck.

shocker1310 reply :

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Washinton doesnt have western diamonbacks there actualy northern pacific rattlensakes.

washington is a northern pacific state

deadeye32. reply :

I hate snakes as much as much as anybody, but good lord Drew9586 I feel for ya bud.

Big Mike in Fl reply :

I'm very sorry to hear it too drew, that's a tough one. I used to have a fairly frequent reoccuring dream/nightmare that involved snakes, always started with seeing a large diamond back, then I'd be rolling down a hill, or around on the ground,and I could never stop because if I did I would be landing on one and it would try to bite me...it was a weird dream that I've had for many many years, but I do not have a phobia, Isee them frequently when out bank fishing and have never had a major run in with one. altho I have considered getting a little pistol to carry on me for just such the occasion. because I have seen cotton mouths a few times, I've just been real good at avoiding them when I see 'em.

about 6 months ago I had to pin down a pygmy rattler while my girlfriend and her 3 year old walked by it because it was sitting on the trail where they had walked to fish. it was a good thing she saw it, a pygmy rattler would probably be fatal to a 3 yr old. but after they walked by, I let it go. I try not to kill any animal if I don't have a use for it, I love hunting and fishing, but I'd never kill an animal on purpose I didn't plan on using in some way.

Ballpark Frank reply :

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Most snakes I just leave alone but if I see a water moccasin I blast him.

I agree with you 100%. I have no problems with most snakes. The one exception is the Water Moccasin/Cottonmouth. I will kill every single one that I see, whether it is close to me or 100' downstream. I love to shore/bank fish and these &*%^#$@!!! are always around. I have have had too many close calls with them. Most snakes scurry away at the first hint of a human or make some kind of noise to warn. The first thing you see from the WM is the white mouth, and that could be too late. I have actually had them come straight at me from across a stream and in the lake. Those that do come across my path are greeted and subsequently killed by my own custom .38 Special shotshells that are blessed in the name of St. Patrick

retiredbosn reply :

most anyone who has lived with the watermoccasin hates them. I have seen them come up and sorta challenge you when you get near the water. Most snakes run, but a moccasin will come after you. I remember watching a show on Nat Geo lately where they were purposely trying to prod a wm into striking and the snake wouldn't from that one encounter the "snake man" declared all moccasins harmless. Don't believe it for a second, those little bugers are nasty, aggressive and sometimes down right mean.

TruflShufl reply :

Quote
Lots of people are afraid of snakes to some degree. I, however, have a true case of ophidiaphobia (sp?). I wake up at least once a week from nightmares about snakes. If I see one while fishing I have to leave that part of the lake because, as crazy as it seems, I just cant convince myself that the sneaky thing isnt just trying to get out of sight so that he can come up behind me and bite me! I have not been able to fish from shore for close to 20 years now! I cant even walk out of my house (in the city where I have never seen a snake) and walk on grass without at least haveing shoes on, and I'm nervous as hell doing that (boots are much easier on my mind). Dosnt matter if they are poisoness or not, they still scare me more than I could explain. Makes fishing very difficult, to the point that fishing in winter is much more fun than in nicer weather!
All of this is said to remind you guys that do like snakes that you should exercize caution when handeling them or showing them to others as some of us just truly cant handle it. For most of us with a real phobia often one traumatic experience is what truns a normal aversion into a phobia that haunts your whole life. That traumatic experience, from talking to others with the same problem I have, can be as simple as seeing someone holding one, so please, exercise caution and good judgement in your interactions with others.

I can't say I'm quite as bad as you but I refuse to hunt in the warmer months and I won't walk into the deep backwoods to fish. I avoid em at all costs. Doesn't matter if they're poisonous or aggressive or not, they creep me the heck out.

fastcasterjo reply :

I dont like snakes and I tend to leave them alone but around my house snakes are always up to no good. I live on a farm and if a snake is within 200 feet of the chicken coop he might as well say his prayers. But if I see one out in the wild where it will do no harm to anything then I avoid and let it be. Sometimes though the deed needs to be done.

BassnMan Mike reply :

Everyone has weakness, Superman's is Kryptonite, mine is snakes! I plain dont like em and I'm a big guy, 6'3 275 with a 54 inch chest and 42 inch waist.

I once broke a co workers are because he was teasing me with a dead snake, yes he knew I didnt like snakes

Micro reply :

Virginia is the northernmost that Cottonmouths occur in the US. And my city has monsters. One local reservoir has produced 72 inchers that were as big around as you forearm. The trail around the lake even has signs. But I've never had a problem with them. I've walked up to them without knowing, stood next to them, and even accidentally squatted over one and never been bitten. The only time I've ever seen one aggressive is when I've gotten between it and the water.

Micro reply :

Here's a baby I caught a few Octobers ago...

Boett43 reply :

I dont know why but snakes make me sick to my stomach lol ;D. What kind of snakes are in Maryland??? haha

BlakeMolone reply :

Thats an eastern cottonmouth rigt? There awsome snakes I just cant figure out why people have to kill ever snake they see even if there in the middle of nowhere and the snake isnt hurting anything! I enjoy herping( looking for reptiles and amphibians) as mutch or more as I do fishing and this post if making me sad lol :'(

Sam reply :

Regarding snakes, I can remember those famous words of my uncle.

"Sam," he said, "a snake and a leaky condom have one thing in common. You don't f*&% with either."

Words to live by.

Mrs. Matstone reply :

I have come across many snakes when I am out fishing and I find that if I leave them alone they leave me alone. Sometimes they come up right next to me when I am fishing. Most of the time I believe they are just soaking up the sun.

Here is a pic I took of one last summer that was my fishing buddy for a while.

This little cutie I saw the other day when I was out fishing.

Tooth Dr reply :

The slender water snakes with the tapering tails are harmless. The bad boy is the cotton mouth with the thick body, then a small tail.

While I was in college, our class went wading in the back-waters of a creek looking for Hell-Benders. I forget the generic name (crytptobrancus?). We came across a water snake (Natrix) laying on the bottom. My professor, Jack S. Brown phd, picked the snake up and handed it to me. I did not want the snake, but...

Dr T

jdw174 reply :

I work on a golf course on the shores of Kentucky Lake. Around here, we're "blessed" with corn snakes, black racers, king snakes, ring snakes, garter snakes and a couple of various water snakes. None of these are harmful and will do their best to get out of your way. If I see one trying to get across the paved cart paths (on a warm day they can't grasp the slick asphalt to move very well), I'll stop and get it on it's way. The King snakes are very welcome as they'll kill and eat Copperheads which we also have around. We've even spotted a couple of big Cottonmouths near the lake. These last two get dispatched with whatever we have available. And did I mention the Black Widow and Brown Recluse spiders???????

done reply :

IMO, if the snake gets out of my way, I am fine. As a avid fisher in the trout streams in NC, I loathe water moccasins. I have seen them go out of their way to come across a stream after a fisherman.

I will generally leave animals alone and do not go out of my way to kill something i am not hunting or fishing for but, when an animal shows aggression towards me, it gets it back. Got in a fight with a Canadian goose in Wilson creek in NC a couple years back. it waited till I was chest deep in water then came at my head. Had to beat it off with my fishing pole and net. There was an oldtimer in the shore laughing so hard he almost fell in.

Micro reply :

Here's a typical adult Cottonmouth from my city of Newport News, Virginia. (This isn't me, its a fellow that participated in a the 2008 VA Herp Society's spring survey at Newport New Park). They do get bigger.

Here's a great guide to telling Cottonmouths from harmless waternsnakes...

http://fwie.fw.vt.edu/VHS/venomous-look-a-likes/cottonmouth-look-a-likes/cottonmouth.asp

Plus, one more picture I took of a juvenile Cottonmouth in Newport News, VA...

Under the Radar reply :

For me there are 2 kinds of snakes.

A chicken snake and a Cobra.

If it doesn't have a chicken in it's mouth........

1inStripes reply :

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, when an animal shows aggression towards me, it gets it back. Got in a fight with a Canadian goose in Wilson creek in NC a couple years back. it waited till I was chest deep in water then came at my head. Had to beat it off with my fishing pole and net. There was an oldtimer in the shore laughing so hard he almost fell in.

I cant imagine no one not being able to keep from laughing about that. Wilson sure does have some nice trout in it.

BlakeMolone reply :

Awsome snakes Micro. Hopefully ill find my fisrt cottonmouth this year. Is all I find is copperheads No jk copperheads are cool to.

hjerk24 reply :

Any theory on the Snake Pattern I talked about? Seeing snakes , then hitting a few fish, almost every time? Anyone had this happen? I am talking tournament fishing...I hope I see snakes every time out.

Micro reply :

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Awsome snakes Micro. Hopefully ill find my fisrt cottonmouth this year. Is all I find is copperheads No jk copperheads are cool to.

Where I live is almost completely devoid of Copperheads. I have found a whopping 3 in my whole life. I have to go to the next county over before they can be found. The woods around the lake I fish has some Copperheads. I took my son out last year looking for Copperheads at this place and took literally 5 steps off the trail and found one under a holly tree. Pretty snakes.

BlakeMolone reply :

Heres an osage copperhead there realy cool but almost nobody likes them :'(

Micro reply :

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Heres an osage copperhead there realy cool but almost nobody likes them :'(

I know what you mean. Every snake around here is considered a Rattle-headed-copper-mocassin.

BlakeMolone reply :

Grr I know what you mean and its mostly just Brown snakes and ive even hear ringneck snakes called copperheads.

Micro reply :

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Any theory on the Snake Pattern I talked about? Seeing snakes , then hitting a few fish, almost every time? Anyone had this happen? I am talking tournament fishing...I hope I see snakes every time out.

Common prey?

1inStripes reply :

Copperheads are in an abundance in SW VA. My mamaw and papaws old house had a lot around them. Killed a few around the house too that was in a our woodpiles, and that took a strike at me while weedeating. Luckily its a little rare to run into a rattlesnake around here for me, although theres quite a few here. My father was almost bitten by one two years ago ginsenging. Stepped right over a log and almost onto it.

crappiekid24 reply :

Whenever I am fishing with someone I am always the one who sees a snake or runs into a snake. You can usually tell when I run into a snake. I will be running and jumping around screaming "Snake". I think I have Ophidiophobia. I hate the sight of them, I hate the thought of them and I hate to stumble upon one when fishing.

bassmedic46 reply :

I leave them alone and they leave me alone. Not a big fan of snakes.

TonyD2001 reply :

If I see a snake I am paranoid for the rest of the day about it. I usually walk right up to them and they see me before I see them. So the rest of my fishing trip I am looking around for snakes and not paying attention to the fish. Not a fan of snakes.

bilgerat reply :

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Any theory on the Snake Pattern I talked about? Seeing snakes , then hitting a few fish, almost every time? Anyone had this happen? I am talking tournament fishing...I hope I see snakes every time out.

I remember reading an article years ago (late 80's probably) where a guy who won a tournament noted that the stumps and trees he hit most of his fish at were the ones that had snakes on/in them. He said there was no action were there were no snakes that day.

mrlitetackle reply :

Just have to throw it out there..... I love the "me, snake, and game warden pic." Should be one of those "priceless" commercials if you know what i mean..

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