Outdoors

Bait, tide tips to make snook trips a success

By DOUG HEMMER
Published August 31, 2007

Saturday is the opening day of snook season. There are good numbers of snook on the beach, but you might want to target the bridges and residential canals close to a pass.

Large numbers of big snook have schooled up inside the passes. Many are stacked under the fender lights of bridges that lead to the beach. The best bridges to target are the ones that have schools of spawn in the lights.

The schools on the beach have been striking pinfish. These baits stay deeper and won't attract birds because they don't flash like a sardine when cast. The size of the pinfish doesn't seem to matter. We have caught 4-pound snook on 5-inch pinfish and 15-pounders on 2-inch pinfish. The most important thing is to cast the bait close to shore and let the bait swim out to the snook. If you cast the bait short of the shore it will land on the snook and spook the school. When you cast 10 or more feet from shore the bait stays deep and the snook won't see it.

Around residential dock lights, the top baits are shrimp, sardines and grunts. Use 30-pound line and a 40-pound leader to keep the bigger snook from cutting you off on the pilings. The shrimp should be cast up current of the school. Let it drift naturally back to the snook. The sardine is fast and hardy. Cast it under the dock and let it sit a few seconds. If you don't get a strike, reel in and recast. When you leave this bait under the dock it swims around the piling and gets snagged. The grunt works best on heavy tackle. Use a 50-pound test rig that's weighted and cast it close to the dock. Give the snook time to find it and you'll probably land the best snook of the trip.

When fishing bridge pilings it's best to work the back side when the tide is moving. Snook don't like to fight the tide, so they hang behind the pilings to avoid the current. When you see them under the fender lights, cast a free-lined bait up current and let it drift through the light.

The best bite over the weekend should be on the outgoing tide. Snook normally feed better at the start and end of the tide. Take the time to get the right baits and make sure you know the tides for the area you're fishing. These are the two most important factors for a successful snook trip.

Doug Hemmer charters out of St. Petersburg. Call (727) 347-1389.

[Last modified August 31, 2007, 00:28:13]