Cold weather helps snook season wind down
It was very hard finding many fishing reports for the past week. A combination of cold and wind kept most anglers off the water; however, there were a few short breaks between the fronts when a handful of fishermen caught something to talk about.
Offshore was a no go for the most part as conditions were just not favorable. With that said, there was one report of grouper chasing down diving lures trolled over structure in 25 to 40-foot depths. All were gags with a couple keepers up to 25 inches caught between north Captiva and Blind Pass in the gulf.
Inshore the bite was hard to come by much of the week. Some very, very low tides gave good opportunities to pursue tailing redfish but the wind is what made the tide so low and also kept most flats stalkers at home. One angler reported wading in the Indian Fields area of Matlacha Pass and sighting several reds, landing one in the mid-slot and catching a few nice trout. A couple kayak fishermen experienced similar results south of Pineland behind Josslyn Key. Redfish from 17 to 24 inches, undersized snook and trout were in the potholes on the low water then moving onto the flats as the tide rose. Most of the fish were caught on white, chartreuse and new penny-colored soft jerk baits worked with a slow retrieve.
As the water cools down, we are beginning to see more big sheepshead. This is one of our few fish that thrive on the cold — the colder the water gets the more we will catch in our waters. Not in schools yet but sheepies up to 16 inches were caught on the deep side of oyster bars in south Matlacha Pass between the power lines and the mouth of the Caloosahatchee River. They also were caught in equal size at the Sanibel pier, the rock jetties outside of Redfish Pass and under docks at Useppa Island. Small live shrimp or fresh-cut shrimp fished with a small hook and a sliding egg sinker worked best for hooking the notorious bait stealers.
Well, snook season has come and almost gone again, and with the recent coldness most snook of keeper size have remained in the water unharmed. That’s not all bad but it has been disappointing for many anglers looking for a holiday snook dinner. The snook are on the move with deep holes, canals and nighttime fishing from bridges and piers turning up the best results. Pinfish, cut ladyfish and large DOA shrimp took a few during the day and large diving lures, live needlefish and handpicked shrimp took a few from the Matlacha Bridge and Sanibel pier.
I experienced a great five minutes of snook fishing this past week right in my back yard. After I returned home from a charter, my son, Jake, had just got home from school and I asked if he wanted to fish a little bit because I had seen a snook on the prowl earlier. Of course he did, so we baited up and no sooner did the bait hit the water and BAM a snook nailed it. We maneuvered around the dock and pilings and somehow managed to land a fat 29-inch snook.
“Man that was easy, let’s try it again,” I said to Jake. We baited up again, put ourselves in a little better position to fend of a run to the pilings and threw out the bait. Once again it was almost immediate, except this fish left a much bigger hole in the water when it blew up on the bait. Jake did most of the work on this one and it was a real challenge for a 10-year-old to keep this fish who gave us many short runs and some great close up jumps out of the pilings, the boats and all else in the canal. Somehow the fish never cut Jake off (he will tell you it was the skill of the angler) and we eventually landed her. This fish was stocky and measured just shy of 33 inches, by far Jake’s biggest snook to date.
Of course, Jake had to run and get his mom for a picture so we put the two fish in the live well. After a few pictures with a little boy, big snook and even bigger grin, Jake decided we should release the big girl to fight again another day. As we had company visiting from out of town, the smaller fish wasn’t as fortunate as that fish was scheduled for dinner the next night.
Snook season is quickly coming to a close and with the weather lately who knows how many good chances are left. I would have to say if you get a chance to go fishing go for it. If it’s cold, fish the deeper protected areas and slow your baits down. If it warms up over several days, there is a good chance that the snook could go on a good bite to wind down the season. Warm or cold, good fishing or bad, it still beats getting caught up in that shopping frenzy that follows Thanksgiving.
Have a safe and Happy Thanksgiving holiday and I hope the weather allows everyone to enjoy our back yard wonders with family and friends.
If you have a fishing story or photo that you would like to share or for charter information, please contact me at (239)283-7960 or visit us at http://www.fishpineisland.com