Delaware River

Northern snakehead have made themselves at home in the Delaware River's shallow, sluggish edges, and that's where you need to be looking. Any backwater with vegetation mats, submerged wood, or overhanging grass is worth working slowly. These fish are ambush predators that sit tight to cover waiting for something to swim overhead, so don't waste time blind-casting open water when there's a shady wood tangle or matted pad field nearby.

Because this stretch is tidal, with Delaware City the closest reference station about 2.6 miles off, timing matters as much as location. High tide pushes snakehead deep into flooded grass and brush where they're nearly impossible to draw out. As the tide starts to fall, that same cover gets squeezed and baitfish get pushed out into slightly deeper pockets and channel edges — that ebb movement is when snakehead turn aggressive and start hunting, making the last two hours of a falling tide the prime window.

Shore access here means parking roughly 1.56 miles out and walking in, which works fine for bank fishing likely holding spots. If you want to cover more skinny water and reach the thicker cover, launching from the boat ramp about 2.65 miles away opens up more of the river's backwaters.

Go weedless — topwater frogs and buzzbaits worked right across the mats draw violent strikes, and chatterbaits or weedless soft plastics fished along cover edges close the deal. Spool up with 40-65 lb braid; these fish fight dirty and will bury you in cover the second they're hooked.