by Capt. Bart Marx
Hello fellow anglers, it is summertime and the fishing is getting heated. Yes, whether you fly fish, live-bait fish, or lure fish this is one of the best months. There is a migration going on- it is snook and these guys and gals migrate to salty waters to spawn. Yes, it is not every year this species migrate, some every other year. There is no rhyme or reason as to why this happens. They come from up the rivers and streams to salty water, so they can reproduce. So this is a great time to target snook, they usually are in a feeding pattern to strengthen for a productive spawn. Any bridges with lights that have a shadow line will hold snook at night, and some trusses too that have lights on the bumper system.
There are several ways to target snook. At night I have had fly anglers fishing docks and lights. You need to be a good caster for this, as it is in the dark. Fly fishing off the beaches early in the morning, before the sun worshippers arrive. The beach can be a fun place casting artificials too, use silver spoon lures that match the bait in the surf. Then you have your live baits that will work, though this could be a little harder. This is where you need to catch your own live bait wherever you intend to fish. I use a seven or eightâ cast net for this; in the boat I use a tenâ 3/8 mesh net and keep them alive in my fifty gallon well. Then I fish the areas where there have been snook sightings earlier. We chum with live baits to find if the snook are there and feeding, these are the scouts. When the area has shown that they are feeding, pick a nice bait out of the well, hook it to your line, and toss it to the hungry fish. And this is all hook and release as snook season is closed. Â S.W. Florida is an area where anglers come from all over to catch one of these slimy critters just to fulfill one of their bucket list, check the box deals. Most of the male snook we call the little buck; they are usually in the eighteenâ to twenty-twoâ range. Then you have your big girls that can top fortyâ. Both of these should be handled as little as possible, for those once in a life time photos. Treat them gingerly, they are our future stock.