The striped snakehead (Channa striata) is a freshwater fish species in the snakeheads family (family Channidae) of order Perciformes (perch-likes). The striped snakehead is native to the ecosystems of the Mekong River basin & Chao Phraya basin in Thailand.
Natural Food Source
The striped snakehead has a more varied diet than the great snakehead or the giant snakehead, feeding on detritus, crustaceans, insects, invertebrates, frogs & fish.
Striped Snakehead Identification
The eel-like body of the sriped snakehead is dark brown in colour with faint black bands visible across its entire body. The dorsal fin of the striped snakehead is long stretching across the back; a small head with a big mouth displays rows of sharp teeth for trapping its prey.
Fishing techniques and location differ slightly from the giant snakehead. Areas of shallow water with thick weed & vegetation growing to the surface are ideal hideouts for the striped snakhead. To fish these weed-choked bays the best lure in the box is a surface frog which due to the weedless upward facing hooks, can be retrieved accross the most dense weed. Striped snakheads will hold up in these areas and once located can be cast to numerous times to entice strikes. Unlike the giant snakehead, a missed strike does not mean the end; these fish are more willing to re-strike at re-cast lures.
