Jaxon Smith, 10, of Loxahatchee has become somewhat of a snakehead expert after placing second in the annual Snakehead Smackdown.
July 09, 2025
By Matt Badolato
Snakeheads. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, they’ve amassed a hardcore following among South Florida anglers. Hunting these prehistoric fish with the relentless energy and primal curiosity of a young boy, Jaxon Smith, 10, of Loxahatchee took second place in the 2025 Snakehead Smackdown hosted by RB Tackle in Margate.
“The day started out tough, but we kept moving,” said Smith, whose dream is to become a sponsored angler and travel to fish. “When the sun came up, we could see them bedding in the sun. It turned into the best day of snakehead fishing ever.”
Smith fished with a Drave U.S.A. Jump Frog, sight-casting to snakeheads in shallow ponds and canals around Margate, Florida. He caught his personal best that day, an 8.75-pounder, which earned him second place and the youngest angler to place in the tournament’s artificial-only division.
“I saw a fish staring at the bank, which they do while they wait to ambush,” Smith said. “I threw the frog over its head, and he inhaled it and started pulling drag. My dad had to help me drag it up the bank.”
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Jaxon’s experience with snakehead behavior has evolved into an instinctual knack for getting a hook into them.
“Their lateral line is one of the most sensitive of all fish, so they can sense prey from a long way away,” said Jaxon. “They can also sense your footsteps along the shore through the water, so they can be hard to get to bite in overfished areas or if you’re not sneaking along the bank quietly.”
His lure of choice, and the bait of choice for 90-percent of other snakehead anglers, he says, is a topwater frog.
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“Their eyes are on top of their heads, so they’re made to eat frogs, turtles, and little birds. Their mouths are perfectly sized to eat frogs. You also need to give it a second after they eat it before setting the hook.”
The largest fish of the tournament was an 11.75-pounder caught by Matteo Lasorsa.
Although he wouldn’t give up his secret South Florida snakehead spots, Smith suggest anglers stick to shallow ponds or very narrow canals. Boca Raton and Coral Springs are his favorite general areas. Follow Smith at @Jaxonsmith993 on Instagram.
A stellar 18 releases won it for Remix at Quest for the Ring. A ‘Cleare’ Quest Sailfish have a habit of schooling together, forming tight formations when they travel and feed. Capitalizing on this behavior, JC Cleare and his crew aboard the Remix notched 18 sailfish releases to win the 14th annual Jimmy Johnson’s Quest for the Ring Championship.
“We’ve always wanted to win this thing, and we’ve gotten close with second and third place finishes in the past,” said Cleare, a charter captain running the 44-foot Contender out of Sailfish Marina in Palm Beach. “We thought it would be good fishing, but it was slow during the pre-fishing days.”
On the first morning, they drove from Miami to Boynton in search of ideal conditions. They settled on an area that looked promising enough to put lines in.
“We caught a triple header right off the bat, but then the bite shut off,” said Cleare. “Other boats left, but we stayed all day and released a sail with just a minute left before lines out.”
Low on the leaderboard, Cleare knew they’d need a strong Day 2 finish to climb the ranks. He opted to run north again, knowing there were at least a few fish around. This time, however, they found bluewater, great current, lots of bait on the surface and no other boats.
“We caught most of the fish on goggle eyes and threadfins,” he said. “At one point we had five fish on at once and lots of multiple hook ups.”
Cleare attributes their success to the Contender’s spacious layout and the ability to fight multiple fish at once while they’re schooling.
“Sails are like mahi—they get excited when they see others feeding,” said Cleare. “It’s important to be able to keep the other lines fishing while you’re fighting a fish, because they don’t always bite at the same time. There might be other sails just sitting down at sixty or seventy feet that will come up when they see another hooked up.”
Cleare also reinforces an age-old piece of angling wisdom—patience.
“The difference between catching two or three fish in a day and 10 is patience. Don’t leave in an hour without any bites. Things can change with the next tide. Have patience with hooked fish—don’t drag your other baits around, let them fish.”
Cleare’s team took home $444,000 and Jimmy Johnson’s championship ring for their win.
Bigger & Better was hard to beat with 227.64 pounds at Wahoo Shootout. Triple Winning Wahoo Using a mix of science and skill, the crew of the Bigger & Better captained by Zack Wilson found the winning trio of wahoo during the 2025 Northeast Wahoo Shootout.
“We got bait quick, some nice bonito on diamond jigs and sabikis, then got to our first spot and had our first two fish in thirty minutes,” said Wilson who lives in Jacksonville Beach. “It was a popular area, so the bite died when the other boats showed up.”
Using Ripcharts, a web-based, paid subscription service which reveals sea surface temperatures and chlorophyll concentrations, Wilson made a run to a nugget of warm, blue water that had slid inshore over hard bottom area.
“We caught our biggest fish of the day around 2 p.m. and decided to head in around four with three good fish,” Wilson said. “We’ve been fishing this tournament since 2012 and knew we had a chance.”
All three wahoo weighed over 70 pounds each with a total weight of 227.64 pounds. Wilson reports they were fishing between 130 and 160 feet off Jacksonville and says satellite data is just one fish-finding tool he employs.
“All the new tech doesn’t replace time on the water,” he said. “Having a network of other fisherman helps pinpoint where the bite is. Now, whether they’re telling you the truth or not is another story.”
Also on board the Bigger & Better were Brandon Sebree, Chad Faulkner, Anthony Folkerts and Dan Rohan.
The largest wahoo of the tournament was a 107-pounder caught aboard Recoverable Depreciation run by Ronnie Brannan.
Top junior anglers include Merrick Ship with his 95-pounder caught aboard Seabones , a 69.7-pounder caught by JT Gilbert aboard No Filter , and a 69.4-pounder caught by Brooks Shugart aboard the One Time .
Top lady angler went to Ellie Fauth’s 89.4-pounder caught aboard On Location . Second place went to Kelly Wilson aboard Nimrod with an 84-pounder. Larkin Goelz aboard Walk Thru II landed a 77.6-pounder for third place.
This article was featured in the June 2025 issue of Florida Sportsman magazine. Click to subscribe.
