Fishing The Elusive Snook in Boca Grande

     I have to preface this story by giving credit, once again, to my friend of many years and the Uncle to my children, Captain Rick.  Ok, he is not a certified Captain by licensure, but believe me, he knows his stuff. He has kept myself and other friends out of harms way and on the fish for many years.  He is the Obi Wan Kanobe of Florida Bay fishing.  He has taught me quite a few things, which may even surprise him, since I may ask him the same questions from one trip to the next.  He has taught me different techniques to keep pulling in more fish without going through miles of leader and a mountain of hooks.  This fishing expedition would be no different.  The Snook were biting and we were playing for keeps.   

If you know anything about a Snook, you know that they are probably the best sport fish in Florida. They are strong, fast, voracious, and they are much smarter than the average guppy! Heck, they're much smarter than half of Charlotte County! I digress. Snook are not a small fish either. Some of the largest snook recorded were over 4.5 feet in length and over 50lbs. The coloration of the snook is not vivid but matches the waters it is swimming in at times. Many times a snook can be silvery with a black lateral like when it is in clear water. Sometimes when they are found in more turbid waters they can have a more brownish to greenish coloration, and even more so as they age. The snook has a large flat mouth with no teeth. They have a mouth plate that is rough as to hold their prey if they don't swallow it on their first try. But the feature that the snook have that is it's greatest weapon against capture, is it's razor sharp gill plate. If the fish bites a hook and it turns around, that plate can snap that line in an instant. And if that was not bad enoug, the snook will purposely use sharp rocks, barnacled pilings or tangled mangroves to break off your line.  Captain Rick recommended I use about 2-3 feet of fluorocarbon leader when fishing for snook. The fluorocarbon is invisible to the snook and strong enough to withstand that gill plate quite few times. But like anything else, that leader gets scratched up, worn down and broke in no time. An afternoon of snook fishing usually requires one or two leader changes if you are catching the fish. We had loaded the boat with all are provisions, Jack Mackerel, bread and venison jerky. The jerky was for us but the mackerel, for someone far more important.

     We try to get out early to beat all the other boats to the ramp.  It can be a human zoo of fisherman, sightseers, kayakers, and the dreaded jet skiers.  I have personally always wanted to have a jetski, and have rented them a few times.  But in general most fisherman hate them.  They fly around, scare fish, cut people off...anyhooo.  We set off early and reached the ramp at 6:30.  It's a beautiful double ramp but the parking lot fills up quickly.  The water is flat and the wind is down, the air is warm...it's a great day to fish.  The sun coming up on Boca Grande is a sight.  The sun is a peachy yellow and it makes the water sparkle like diamonds.  It almost puts me in a trance.  The ride out to the fishing grounds at that time of the day makes the whole trip.  We could go home without a bite and I would be satisfied.  After about 10 minutes we find a shallow area, about 3 to 4 feet deep.  No, we are not fishing here, it is time to catch bait.  This time of year the best bait for snook is a small bait fish called greenbacks.  A small silvery fish with a green back.  We will use our chum mixture of mackerel and bread to draw the little critters close to the boat and then Captain Rick will throw an 8 ft cast net on top of them and we will be set.  The chum brings schools over to us.  Rick uses his skills to toss the big net into the air and on top of the school.  It takes about 20 throws but the bait well is totally full.  We will be able to fish all day!

     Captain Rick and I head off to our next spot.  Boca Grande has many different areas to fish and each has it's own special features.  We can head to Bull Bay or Turtle Bay, try the Pass, fish off the beach or head to the West Wall.  We head to Bull Bay.  It's a quiet area surrounded by mangroves on two sides with about half a mile or so in between.  We could find many different kinds of fish here but we prefer a nice size snook.  There are Jacks, Permit, Trout, Redfish, Sharks, Stingrays, flounder, just to name a few.  We fish against the mangroves because the snook usually stay close to these areas, looking for juvenile bait fish to slam. I call it slamming because that is how a snook hits it's prey.  They slam into it so hard and fast they either smash it in two or knock it out and get it on the next hit.  They will knock lure up into the air at times.  Sometime you can hear snook popping.  They make a popping noise when the get near the surface and try to feed.  Of course when you are looking for snook you will see plenty of mullet.  They will jump in the air about 2 or three feet and splash down, trying to clean themselves.  They are vegetarians so we cannot catch them without a net.  But since they don't make very good eating we pass.  In the 60's and 70's you could always find someone selling smoked mullet on the side of the road.  Since than many have lost the taste for it.  Before too long, we start getting hit hard.  Rick usually breaks the ice and brings in a few medium sized beauties.  The 25" are probably the best fighters because they are very aggressive and fast.  The larger sizes (32" to 45") can be fun too but the tire after a bit.  Before long we are catching fish after fish.  Some snook and a few reds.  The reds are like bringing a rock sometimes.  They can fight also but seem heavier and like to stay closer to the bottom.  We are having a blast and on our way to Turtle Bay we see a group of stingrays playing the shallows.  Awesome!

By the end of the day we have hit all of our favorite spots. The West Wall was great and the pass was treacherous. We've seen sharks, dolphin, and a manatee. The dolphin kept begging for my jack that I caught. I threw it back in trying not to feed the dolphin but he was so fast he caught up to the jack and finished him off.  That dolphin sat there about two feet from me and just waited for me to throw that jack.  They are so smart!  On our way back we always try one trick. We fish the railroad trussle. It is a switch station for the old railroad. It has a large concrete wall and the fish love to hide there, and the snook there are big! We always throw a few casts there and wait for the BIG slam. If you don't yank it quick enough the snook will snap you off on the pilings that surround the area. It's a great way to end the day. Neither Captain Rick or I can do it. We have gone through all of our bait and it's time to head home. The sun is heading down and we have a couple reds for dinner. All our other fish has been released and we are beat. It's been another great fishing day to remember!