Last week's windy, cool weather seems to be just what the snook needed. Local populations had been pretty beaten down over the past month. However, last week's brief reprieve from the fishing pressure and the strong tides associated with the new moon have combined to make excellent snook-fishing conditions.
The calm, clear hours early in the day will be best spent fishing for trout or redfish. On low tides those fish tend to concentrate in potholes or on the edges of the flats. Cobia also have been around, but as the weather improves they'll begin to spread themselves thinner across the flats.
Save your largest greenbacks for the afternoon. Once the sea breeze has picked up and the tide starts pumping out, the snook will begin to feed. The past couple of days the big snook have been uncommonly aggressive. More than once we've reeled in snook being followed by others. That can be normal with smaller fish, but in these instances the snook doing the following were 10 pounds or larger. The most bizarre occurrence was watching three large snook trying to bite the bait out of another's mouth while it was being reeled in less than 5 feet from the boat.
- Pete Katsarelis charters out of Tarpon Springs and can be reached at 727 439-3474 or by e-mail at pkatsare@helios.acomp.usf.edu
