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snook

2K views 5 replies 4 participants last post by  flydoc 
#1 ·
hi guys, just wanted to start a new thread covering snook fishing, favorite snook flies, and a chance to show off some pics of good catches. so please share some tips and tricks for back water snook fishing because most of the places where you will find bones and reds, you will also find snook and a lot of the time when the bones and reds are being selective snook can save the day! a lot of newbies go out focused on bones and will pace the flats all day searching for bones and come up empty, it is good to keep in mind to all ways have a back up plan if the fish are hard to find or seem imposable to tempt with a fly on that day, a good alternative may be to turn to snook to save the day. and a good size snook is no joke when hooked!
 
#2 ·
Snook!

One way I recomend trying that a lot of people overlook is a large, kinky fiber benback, charetreuse and white, fished on a fast sink shooting head in any inlet and pass at night. Snook are a lot more active at night and; thus, you chance of success are greater and being at night doesn't have to interfere with your other fishng plans...

Stan
 

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#3 ·
Thanks, Stan. I'll give that one a try at the inlet on the northern tip of Longboat Key when I'm there next month. Let you know how I make out. Should be a good warmup for the striper season here on the Cape.
Flydoc
 
#4 · (Edited)
snook in the lights

where i live in south west florida, there are a large number of docks that have "snook lights" at the end of them. i've read a lot of articles on fishing the lights and most of them seem to recomend casting in to the dark, letting the fly drift through the lit area of the water and the snook will ambush the fly as it drifts back in to the dark of the shadow line. where i live this isnt true, if the fly reaches the dark you will only hook up with lady fish which dont want to get too close to the snook but are also attracted to the lights for an easy meal. i noticed that the snook sit directly in the light with the smaller snook near the surface and the larger ones near the bottom. you can see them blasting small bait fish and shrimp as they drift through the light, and you can get pretty close to them and watch the show. at first they may drop out of sight when you show up but they will return a few minutes later and continue to feed. for flies the best seem to be small #4-#6 all white crazy charlies, small white bendbacks with a good amount of flash, and small clousers. most of the time you will only be able to get one fish from a light before they "get smart" and wont touch a fly again. just move to a nother light and you should get a hook up with in the first few casts. a night of light hopping is fun and a good way to land a lot of fish!
 
#5 ·
Hey, JD Flies,

I don't know where exactly you live in south west Florida, but last April I got a chance to fish out of Englewood Beach, which is sort of in south west Florida and may be near where you live.

I had a great time learning how to fish for snook and thoroughly enjoyed myself doing it. We fished for them during the day, throwing flies up into the mangrove roots on a rising tide; we fished for them at night (with some success, I might add) in the pass that leads into the Gulf of Mexico; and we fished for them under the snook lights you describle so well.

It was sort of a toss up as to which style of fishing I preferred, mangroves or lights, but the light fishing was definitely a blast. I learned the value of heavy fluorocarbon shock tippet really fast as the odd fish was not a lady fish (what weirdos those are) but blue fish, which chomped my 12# fluorcarbon as if it were made of spun sugar. Pull. Wiggle. Wiggle. Gone.

Can't wait to try for those ol' snookies again.

Cheers,

Eric
,
 
#6 ·
Eric said:
I learned the value of heavy fluorocarbon shock tippet really fast as the odd fish was not a lady fish (what weirdos those are) but blue fish, which chomped my 12# fluorcarbon as if it were made of spun sugar. Pull. Wiggle. Wiggle. Gone.
,

Been there, done that...I use wire up here if I'm targeting blues, but it's not stealthy enough for stripers, snook, etc. So I tend to lose a few flies if the blues are active when I'm after other species...maybe I'll try a 30-50 lb Mirage fluoro bite tippet sometime to see if it holds up to the blues without spooking the less toothy critters...
Flydoc
 
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