We were back under the stars last night in the hunt for linesiders aka snook. As I have often said it's a whole different world after dark. Simple tasks like casting takes some getting used to. Lower Tampa Bay canals near the passes are thick with snook this time of year. Fishing structure along with Snooks razor sharp gill plates require beefed up fluorocarbon leaders of 30 or 40 pounds. This is combat fishing at its best!
The hunt began as dock lights came to life. Any area with dock or underwater lights is worth a try. This is visually stimulating experience watching snook and trout chase bait in and out of the lights. Toss your white bait or pinfish into the shadows rather than directly into the lights. I promise there are many more snook you don't see lurking just out of sight. I told my anglers cast into the shadows up current and let the bait drift naturally through the target zone.
Our first stop was thick with trout but no snook. Spotted sea trout slammed white baits but were reluctant to take a pinfish. Trout are nice but snook was our primary target last night. One of the great things about dock and canal fishing is you never have to run far to get to another good spot. I have a dock that's old with lots of poles that I always target. While we did not see any snook we did catch several snook to 22". We did this several times with fair success, all and all a decent night.
Bait gathering on the flats was tuff again for Captain Steven, tossing a 10' net less is always better than more! One cast netted several catfish which makes for a real mess. Use caution dealing with catfish as they have 3 nasty spines that can do lots of damage.
Capt. Steven
