Snook fishing just got easier with these smart and effective tips. Read them and you'll know fishing for snook can be fun too.
Snook fishing is an interesting activity, and for those who are fishing enthusiasts, it is a very attractive challenge. This activity can be exhilarating as well as frustrating. This is because, snook fish are very stubborn and unpredictable. Moreover they are sleek and strong too. A native of the western Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, these fish are found in areas ranging from southern Florida and Texas, to Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. The common snook is also called sergeant fish.
Where to Look for Snook Fish: Well, this is certainly not a problem. Snook fish are found in all types of water, from salt water to freshwater. Make sure you look out for them near shorelines, inlets, estuaries, and in their vicinity, too. Additionally, they prefer cover, so look out for them in reefs, mangroves, and rock formations. Setting up a bait near these areas can improve your chances of getting lucky with a catch. Another important place to look in, is shallow water areas.
Catching a Snook: A number of techniques, along with numerous different types of baits and lures can be used to fish snook. The process is very similar to fishing for a large mouth bass. So, one of the methods is to target deeper holes using live pinfish, or you can use artificial ones like bucktail, plastic tail, or jig, and bump them at the bottom of the water. Try this trick. Troll a needlefish or a ballyhoo, rigged to large feather. If you want to target deeper holes, the best time to fish would be during low tide, more specifically the last hour of a falling tide till the first hour of the consecutive incoming tide.
Baits and Lures: After you find a snook fish, start with a 10 or 20 pound outfit with a number 40 shock leader, measuring 30 inches. Then tie that to a 1/0 or 2/0 hook. To get it to the bottom, increase the bulk of the line by adding split shot or a sinker to it. Some of the live bait fish are mullet, menhaden, and pinfish. Along with these, another very commonly used bait is shrimp. Now to put a shrimp on a hook; the best way is to hook it just behind the head through the shell. Try and not to hook it through the shadow visible through the shell. If you hook it in that spot, the shrimp would not last long.
Another way in which you can catch snook, is to thread the shrimp with its tail on the hook, right at the spot where the fan begins. Now, the spot where the hook comes out, will be just behind the shrimp's legs on the underside.
Another trick to lure snook fish in your trap is to net as many bait fish as you can and scatter them in the water. For this, grab a soft drink bottle and cut its bottom. Fill the bottle with bait fish and fling around a dozen in the water. The snook will be spoiled for choice and to ensure that you capture it, cast the bait towards the center of the water which is where you should have scattered the bait fish. As for lures, the best ones are red tail hawk jig and mirrolures.
Snook fishing is all about patience, and throwing in the right bait at the right time. The best time to catch these stubborn fish is late spring or early summer. Have fun!
