After being closed for the last three months, the Atlantic snook season opens back up on September 1st. Snook are lots of fun to catch because they are excellent fighters and make for great table fare if you can catch one within the slot limit. In order to keep a snook, the law says they must be a minimum of 28 inches and not larger than 32 inches with the tail squeezed. You must also possess a saltwater fishing license and a snook permit.
This time of year, snook can be found congregating in and around our local inlets, fishing piers and even right off the beach. As long as there is some moving water and some type of structure that they can use as shelter, the snook will be there. When targeting snook, you can use both spinning or conventional gear, but be sure you have a rod with some backbone and a reel with decent line capacity. Once hooked, a snook will typically run towards structure in an attempt to escape. If you allow them to get into the structure, you will likely get cut off.
Snook will eat a variety of live and artificial baits. The best live baits are pilchards, finger mullet, shrimp and crabs. On the artificial side, they will eat both topwater and sub surface baits. When water temperatures are warm, use baits that can be worked fast as the snook will be very active. When the water temperatures cool off a bit, snook won’t be as aggressive, so use baits that you can work slower.
Keep reelin,
GENE DYER
Editor & Publisher
Coastal Angler Fort Lauderdale
fortlauderdale@coastalanglermagazine.com
(954) 680-3900