By: Capt. Andrew Bennett
If you ask many saltwater anglers in this area what they are fishing for, I would bet that the most common response you would get is snook. Snook have a lot to offer, they are great fighters, making long runs pulling out even the tightest drag, and often jumping several times in the course of the battle. They are plentiful and widely distributed in the Tampa Bay area. Their distinctive black lateral stripe and pronounced under bite make them a cool looking fish for any picture. Snook only live in semi-tropical places, which means that they are a special treat to catch for most American fishermen. They yield fantastic, thick, white, flaky filets that are great to eat. You could say that snook bring a lot to the table, and because of their popularity many of my clients ask for them by name, while many others learn to love them during a fishing trip.
Typically, during the month of November, we get our first cool weather of the year and the snook start moving away from the beaches where they spawned during the summer, to the river mouths, and up the rivers as the water temperature cools. It is a great time of year to catch these fish as they are active and feeding. One place the action can be non-stop on smaller fish, at the next spot may be slow, but after a wait, produce the big fish that will give you the fight of your life. Snook can be caught on many different lures or on chunks of dead bait, but the method that has produced the best results for me has been to fish with live bait. I usually have a live well filled with shiners so that I can not only use them as bait, but also as chum. When I get to a spot that I think may be holding snook, I throw out not just a hook and line with a live bait on it, but also a few free-swimming baits as chum. If snook are in the area they often eat the bait on the surface letting me know that they are there, or even if I don’t see the fish feeding, I believe that the extra bait in the water often gets the snook feeding so that I am more likely to get a bite on my line.
Since snook are targeted by so many visitors and locals alike, they must be protected with a limited season, and even during the open season only a narrow size slot of fish no smaller than 28” and no bigger than 33” may be kept in our area of the state. In the Tampa Bay area, one slot sized snook per person may be kept from September 1st until November 30th. If you would like my help chasing your limit of snook, call me and book a trip!