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Updated 3/03/08
Good Action
Close To
The Beaches
by Capt. Matt Mitchell
The anticipation of the opening of snook season last week
fizzled out quickly with a late February cold front. The cold
snap really slowed the opening few days after the great
conditions and action the week before. Reports from fellow
fishing guides and anglers chasing snook were all about the
same: "Slow at best".
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Terrible tides and high pressure were the main factors in this. I did
manage to catch lots of small undersize linesiders the first few days of
season but not that treasured slot size fish. It's almost like the
bigger snook know season is now open.
When the daytime snook bite is slow, fishing at night is often the
better option.
Snook feed better at night. Sight fishing to fish laid up on dock lights
is one of my favorite ways to target them.
A lively hand-picked shrimp is my bait of choice for this with the DOA
glow shrimp a close second. White bucktail jigs bounced slowly across
the bottom around the docks are a good bet too.
If you like to fly fish, night is the best time to catch lots of snook
on fly. To catch these laid-up fish I like to use a floating line on a
8-9 weight, nine-foot fly rod. Rig with 20-30# fluorocarbon shock
tippet. That way a fly can be landed so softly it does not spook the
fish. This allows you to almost cast it right in their mouth. Fly tackle
will often outfish even conventional tackle used with live bait at
night. The fly rod also gives you the advantage of being able to pick up
the fly and place it back in front of the fish with a quick back cast.
Snook will hit a variety of fly patterns including small white flies,
shrimp patterns and top water poppers. Clouser minnows in white and
chartreuse have worked about the best for me at night.
The real bonus of going out at night is the lack of boat traffic out
there. Most of the time you will have the water all to yourself. The
busiest canals that are filled with boat traffic during the day are
deserted at night.
Everything on the water looks different at night so stay in your comfort
zone. Keep close to home in areas that you know well. Often when I go at
night I will work several canals and docks close to where I launch my
boat. Certain lights always seem to hold fish. Dock lights that shine
directly down on the water attract more bait and, generally, more snook.
To locate snook in your neighborhood or close to home simply motor up
and down the local canals, docks and seawalls searching for lights. Once
you locate lights look for fish to be laid up. Quietly anchor or stake
out as far as you can cast from the light or dock. Throw baits and lures
up tide and let the current drift them back to where the fish are laid.
Often the bigger fish will sit just out on the edge of the light's
shadow waiting for bait to go through the light.
A great place to fish at night is the Roosevelt Channel on Captiva. It's
sheltered from the wind and very accessible. It has lots of lit docks
that can be loaded with fish. Start at the north end and work your way
south; the deeper water and strong tide here is a heaven for night time
snookin'.
Bridge and pier snook fishing always heats up at night. Most of these
spots have a cult-type following of night time diehard snook anglers.
Night is definitely the best time to be there if you're looking for that
big trophy snook on a huge live bait. Live ladyfish, mullet, jacks or
sand brim are dropped on heavy tackle close to the pilings.
This kind of snook fishing is full contact with a locked drag and 100#
test line fished on a 4/0 reel. Even on heavy gear if you don't get a
big snook's head up above the water in the first few seconds of the
battle, it's usually over pretty quick.
Click the links below to view copies of my other recent reports.
01/28/2008 -
02/04/2008
- 02/11/2008
- 03/03/2008
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