Saturday's snook action was outstanding. Most every bait was attacked or inhaled within a minute. Snook can be a challenge to locate, and then getting them to chew is another challenge. We gathered bait just as it got light; chumming on the flats required 6 tosses of the net to fill the live well. Scaled sardines just big enough to not get gilled in the 3/8" cast night along with way to many pinfish. Sunrise was nothing short of spectacular. Smooth glass like conditions make for a great ride for my clients.
Tampa Bay eastern shoreline was our destination and it did not let us down. Within several seconds of the first bait hitting the water it was game on. Snook after snook after snook hammered our baits with a vengeance. To keep things interesting I would chum every 15 minutes and the water would boil more like Mackerel or Jacks. Needless to say the fish were stacked up. Snook make a very unique popping sound when they take bait, once you hear it you will never forget it. The typical snook was 22" with the range running 20-25". Unlike the last few weeks we did not hooked any true toads in or above the slot but nobody was complaining. Check this out we had a 4" pinfish taken by a 12" snapper!
Next target was Mackerel on the way to my redfish hole. What we did find was schools of Bonita aka Little Tunny. If you have never caught one of these drag screaming speedsters you are missing out. On light tackle it's a blast. Typical Bonita runs 8-15 pounds and Saturday we had nothing but the bigger ones. Ripping silver jigs through the schools was almost a guaranteed hook up. As we would battle our fish the school would move off and once we released or fish we simply repositioned ourselves up current and drift back into the combat zone.
This was so much fun we ended the day this way and said no thanks to the redfish. Trust me catch 8-10 Bonita on light tackle and you arm and wrist are done for the day. Water temps have climbed back into the mid 80's but the bite was more like fall. Go figure.
Capt. Steven
