Popes Creek

Popes Creek fishes like classic tidal snakehead water — a lot of shallow, root-tangled cover where these fish sit and ambush rather than roam open water. Look for pads, matted grass, and downed wood along the creek margins; snakeheads will tuck right against that structure, especially where sun-warmed shallows meet a bit of depth nearby. Because the creek is tidal, with the nearest NOAA reference at Mathias Point about 3.5 miles off, the water movement here really dictates where fish sit. On high water they'll push way up into the flooded grass and softer cover to feed. As the tide starts to fall, that's when the bite turns on — the ebb pulls baitfish and frogs out of the skinny stuff, concentrating snakeheads along creek edges and current seams where they can ambush anything getting flushed out.

Access here is workable but not right on top of the water — shore parking is mapped about 1.9 miles out, and a boat ramp sits roughly 2.16 miles away, so plan your approach accordingly; a kayak or small boat gives you the mobility to chase the falling-tide bite along multiple pockets of cover in one trip.

Tactics stay simple and proven: weedless topwater frogs and buzzbaits worked over and through the matted grass, chatterbaits along edges, and weedless soft plastics punched into thicker cover. Spool up with 40-65 lb braid — you'll need it to horse these fish out of the junk once they eat.