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Outdoors

Hot time for snook

August and September anglers can land several trophy fish if they work outer islands during an outgoing tide in evening.

By ED WALKER
Published August 13, 2005

For many years, local flats anglers have known that big snook move toward the gulf as part of their summer spawning ritual.

In August and September, these fish settle into deep channels and holes adjacent to gulf-side islands where the water flow is funneled through on the incoming and outgoing tides.

By wading along the edges of the drop-offs in these locations, anglers can cool off a bit, cover plenty of area quietly and tie into some trophy snook.

Without question, the best time to try the outer islands is during an outgoing tide in the evening. As the sun falls lower, the fish turn on.

This feeding period may kick off two hours before dark or only 15 minutes prior. Either way, if you are in position with the right bait when it does, the action can be amazing.

Since the big snook prefer to lay along the deeper side of the channel edge, presenting a bait that swims along the bottom usually is the way to go.

This is one style of fishing for which scaled sardines normally are not the bait of choice. The big sardines almost always stay near the surface and, therefore, are seldom noticed by the large fish lurking below.

Hand-sized pinfish work well, as do croakers. But when it comes to the No. 1 bait, pigfish (also known as common grunts) take the prize. These large baits stay toward the bottom when cast, have no sharp spines and make the grunting sound that big snook can't resist.

Catching pigfish can take a while. Few tackle shops carry them, so it is best to head out a few hours early to secure enough bait for an evening of action. Hook and line is the best way to gather a few dozen big grunts.

Most are found along sandy edges or holes near large expanses of turtle grass. They can be caught by hooking a small piece of squid on two No. 8 hooks and above a 1-ounce bell sinker. A Sabiki rig can be used as long as the bottom two hooks are baited.

The tentacles of the squid are the toughest part, so use pieces of them first. Most of the time, you can catch 3-4 fish before each piece disappears.

When fishing from a boat, the bait must be cast up current, allowed to drift by naturally, then recast. This repeated casting can take a toll on the health of the baits.

By wading along the edge and walking in the same direction as the current, the bait drifts along the bottom of the channel farther and with minimal casting.

Since the fish here typically feed on items that are delivered by the tidal flow, using little or no weight delivers the best activity and fools the most fish. Baits should be hooked in the forward part of the body so that they move naturally into the current.

Watch for action on the water's surface. The lower the sun gets, the more the small mullet, ballyhoo and sardines move through the area. Occasionally, the snook will rise out of the depths of the channel and blast the baitfish moving down the edge.

Recently, Angie Ford, her parents and her husband, Adam, took a trip to a barrier island off Pasco County. After their guide loaded the well with grunts and pinfish, the group picked a spot along the drop-off where the tide was pouring out.

The boat was anchored, and the anglers waded up and down the edge but had landed just one nice fish as the sun began to set. Then a large school of sardines came around the corner and worked toward the group.

When they got close, three snook erupted from the water and struck the baitfish. Then there was another, and another. The anglers delivered their oversized baits into the melee but quickly realized that grunts were not the bait of choice at that moment.

In a single attempt with a cast net, several hundred of the silvery minnows were caught. Into the well they went, and the anglers quickly switched their offerings.

The snook continued to pound the bait school. As soon as the lines landed nearby, the anglers were hooked up. Everyone either had a snook on the line or lost their bait for 45 minutes.

By the time it was too dark to see, the group had landed 12 snook, from 6-15 pounds, and lost several others. For that brief period, it was as good as it gets.

A few days later, the Fords returned to the spot with a batch of sardines, but the fish did not eat them. They had gone back to feeding deep on the bottom of the channel.

Fortunately for the anglers, the guide knew better than to show up without a few grunts onboard. By fishing with them, the group scored two monster linesiders.

[Last modified August 13, 2005, 01:21:17]