‘Game on’ as snook season reopens
After a long summer closure, snook season is once again open as of Sept. 1. Although we can catch and release them year round and many anglers choose to release all the fish they catch in season or not, there still is a lot of anticipation for season to open.
Unlike the spring season, there generally are not as many anglers chasing the linesides in the month of September. Fishing often can be really good; the snook movement will be the opposite of spring and early summer. Instead of moving out to the Gulf passes and beaches, they will begin to vacate these areas and move back inshore to the rivers and bays. Until we begin to see the weather change with a little cool air from the north, however, there should still be plenty of fish around the beaches.
As we progress into the month, it’s wide open on where you might run into some fish. The docks, rocks and submerged areas around any of the passes are still going to produce all month as should rocks or structure along the beaches. Also piers and bridges are a great places to look day or night. In the sound, harbor and Matlacha Pass, snook will be stationed on island points with hard bottom and good water movement, in sand potholes near islands or keys and hanging around the areas of oyster bars where the oysters break with the sand. Fish will also begin moving up the Caloosahatchee River where points and deep shorelines around the mouth are great places to hook into some really monster fish. We have had a lot of rain recently and that equates to a lot of freshwater rushing into the river; this could hamper fishing near the river.
While most anglers fish during the light of day, the best snooking (with the largest fish) often occurs after the sun sets. You can find some success from boat or shore. From a boat, look to areas where you have found fish during the daytime and also around docks or piers with deeper water and a good tide movement. If you find this combination and a light shining over the water, you may hit the jackpot. A light over the water or the newer style that is submerged are known to locals as a snook light, and for reason. The light attracts smaller fish and critters of all kinds, which, in turn, attract plenty of snook waiting in the shadows to ambush an easy meal.
From shore, the same principal applies at night — lights on bridges and piers are going to attract fish. The Matlacha Drawbridge and the Sanibel pier are a couple places that have been nighttime snook hot spots for years and years.
For bait, the choice is wide, you can go with live, artificial or cut bait. I believe you can catch snook on a broader choice of bait now than in the spring. At that time, they seem to be keying in on oily fish like pilchards and hearings needed for their spawn. This time of year we often do better with slower baits like pinfish and pigfish. Don’t get me wrong, pilchards are still great baits but often aren’t worth the hassle of netting them. For whatever reason, our waters are swarming with ballyhoo this summer. They are difficult to keep alive but also make a good bait. And do not discount a decent size live shrimp; they are deadly at night and good during the day if you can keep the smaller bait stealers away.
Calm mornings and evenings give the perfect opportunity to watch a big snook explode on an artificial. You can catch a snook a lot of different ways but there is absolutely nothing that compares to the rush of watching one blast a top water lure. It’s a little tougher through mid day to get these fish to take artificial, but early and late in the day and at night the artificials often out-fish live bait. For the fly fishermen, the results are often great at night working the lighted docks and piers.
Dead bait is not very exciting to fish with but it will catch fish. Anglers have taken note over the last several years the success with dead-baiting redfish. Well, while catching redfish they also have landed snook. It’s no secret, if you ask a true old-timer what the best way to catch a really big snook is, many well tell you to fish a fresh mullet head on bottom. This could be because the larger a snook gets, the lazier it becomes where a large chunk of meat looks pretty enticing. Whatever the reason, it works. We have caught them on cut ladyfish, mullet, herring, shad, needlefish and ballyhoo. You might have to work through a bunch of catfish or, if you’re lucky, redfish but the end result could be worth it.
Studies are ongoing on snook to see if they are in decline and further measure needs to be taken to protect them. They are great eating, if you catch one within the legal size and season, there is nothing wrong with inviting it home for dinner. If we police ourselves and take a little care to safely release the fish that don’t measure or we do not intend to keep, maybe we won’t need any further restrictions.
Don’t forget, whether you are fishing from shore or boat, you now need both a saltwater fishing license and snook stamp. The slot size on snook is 28 to 33 inches overall length with a daily possession limit of one per angler. For more information visit: www.myfwc.com.