Sneak up on Snook
Lou Mintzer, North Carolina correspondent
In May I had the opportunity to do some great fishing in Florida with my friend Tom Phelan in the Charlotte Harbor area, which is often called “The Fishing Capital of the World.” We wanted to catch some nice snook and cross them off our bucket list.
We stayed in a great small resort called the Weston WannaB Inn, between Lemon Bay and the Gulf, right next to Stump Pass Beach State Park. The area is beautiful.
Julie Huber, with The Charlotte Harbor Visitor’s Bureau told us about the resort and recommended Captain Van Hubbard for our snook trip.
Capt. Van picked us up at the WannaB dock on Lemon Bay at 7:30 a.m. The tide was going out. The bait tank was full of lively “white bait,” or pilchards, he had netted earlier. We only went a short distance and started fishing.
Capt. Van said he has been fishing these waters since the early 80s and it showed. “This is the first week I have seen big snook in this bay. They are just starting to come in to spawn,” he told us.
Capt. Van uses Quantum light spinning gear loaded with 20-pound Cortland Master Braid, red Daiichi, # 3/0 circle hooks and Target Beads to keep the bait centered on the hooks. No weights are added to the lines. He showed us where to cast and how he likes to hold the rod. “When you feel a tap or your line straightens, just reel,” he said.
We cast the baits close to the shore and started a painfully slow retrieve to the boat. Tom got the first hit and reeled in an 18-inch snook. I was next. We high-fived each other.
“Reel, reel, reel, no slack in the line,” yelled Capt Van as we pulled in lots of small snook. Tom got a big hit, the snook jumped and peeled off line. Tom yelled, “It’s a big one!” It was 35 inches and weighed about 16 pounds. Wow, what a fish! Minutes later he had a bigger one, 39 inches and 18 pounds.
Next, Tom landed a ladyfish and it went in the live well for crab bait.
We caught a few more snook at slack tide. Capt. Van backed the boat slowly south. I had a bait trailing far behind. “Fish On!” It hit hard, bent the rod almost in half and took off 50 yards of line before it jumped. I managed to get 20-30 yards back but then she went over a sunken log and snagged my line. She was huge.
“Keep your line tight, no slack, no slack,” yelled the captain. His experience showed as he maneuvered closer with the trolling motor. He hung way out over the bow and managed to free my line yelling, “Reel, reel, no slack.” She headed to deeper water and the fight was soon over.
“She’s huge, she’s beautiful,” I hollered as I got her near the boat. She was 45 inches and about 25 pounds.
“You are very lucky and you may never get another snook that big,” Capt. Van told me. I had to agree.
About 10:30 the bite really slowed and the “alley” was getting busy with paddle-boarders, kayaks, boats and other anglers. Van made a call and talked to a buddy fishing for tarpon nearby. “Let’s go try to catch some big tarpon,” he suggested. We didn’t object.
We went west through Stump Pass into the Gulf and headed north toward two boats working a small spot just down the beach from our condo.
We could see big tarpon jumping and rolling. What a sight. Capt. Van asked if the other two captains minded us taking a shot.
We switched to big spinning rigs with 50-pound braid and larger hooks. We threw white baits right on top of the tarpon, but they were having too much fun to eat our baits. The other anglers were using live crabs and not getting any action either.
We finally called it a day and headed back. Capt. Van suggested picking up our wives for lunch, and we all had a great time talking about the big snook and a great fishing day.
If you want to go to the Charlotte Harbor area, contact Julie Huber and her staff at Charlotte Harbor Visitor’s Bureau at (941)743-1900 or www.CharlotteHarborTravel.com. Their service and information was just great. For a wonderful inshore fishing trip, contact Capt. Van Hubbard at www.captvan.com.