Myrtle Grove Water Management Area lake

Myrtle Grove Water Management Area lake is a quiet, non-tidal fishery, and that's actually a gift for snakehead hunters — no tide charts to juggle, just water level that holds steady day to day. These fish set up shop in the thick stuff: matted grass, lily pads, laydown wood, any edge where they can ambush and gulp air. Work the calmer coves and stained backwater pockets where cover meets open water, especially where wind is pushing bait and debris into a corner.

Early and late light are your prime windows here. Snakehead cruise the shallows at dawn and dusk, then slide into shade or deeper grass as the sun climbs. On bright, hot afternoons, hunt shade lines under overhanging brush or thicker canopy pads — that's often where a big fish is parked digesting.

Access is bank-and-carry territory. Mapped parking sits roughly 1.86 miles from the water, so plan on a walk-in approach, and there's no boat ramp within about 3 miles — this is really a kayak-carry or shore game. Bring weedless topwater frogs and buzzbaits to work over the mats, chatterbaits for searching grass edges, and weedless soft plastics punched into thicker cover. Spool up with 40-65 lb braid — you'll need the backbone to horse fish out of vegetation before they wrap you up.