Snook Fishing

SnookFishing.org The Snook Fishing Report

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Big Black Drum

Scott — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 02:43:06 +0000

Bill and Mike tracked down these schools of fish the last couple of weeks and Mike told me I needed to fish for them sometime soon. Me and Pat took a Friday off from work and met Mike and Michelle out by the Sky-way in search of these schooling drums. We finally tracked them down and I could not believe how many there were in the school. Before I could call Mike and tell him I found them, Pat had his line in and was hooked up! Getting him to the boat was a a feat in itself. I never seen a drum this big and the sound the make out of the water is incredible. I soon got my try and oh my god that was awesome!!! That was the biggest fish and the heaviest fish I have caught. It got even more exiting when we had a double hook up with two of the biggest. We fished the school for about three hours and soon quit after me and Pat caught about twelve of these monsters. I could not begin to describe how heavy these boys are and how fun they were to catch! I sure want to try that again before their gone!

SMALL craft advisory

Scott — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 02:08:40 +0000

With a cold front approaching, winds strong out of the west 15 to 20 knots me and Mike just had to try our luck and go fishing! As we prepared to launch Mikes boat ,Bill Clark was heading back saying he quits! He was telling us how rough the bay was and also saying how difficult fishing was with the winds! As we departed the docks Bill emphasized how crazy we are for going out. As we got started winds cranking, I lost a snook right off the top! The bay was unreal by Central Ave with waves from 1 to 3 feet making this area none fish able . As headed to protected areas the snook were everywhere! Mike soon hooked up and lost his first fish at a back canal from what seemed to be no lie about a 40 inches! Mike brought the first 35 inch snook to the boat and released after some pictures! As the high tide shortly coming to an end we did get a couple more hookups in which we lost more fish than brought to the boat. More over the slot snook are being seen in the back canals making the winter transition great for the fishing I have been waiting for!We soon called it for night heading back to the ramp and saying that this was an awesome experience and for the next time the winds pick up me and Mike will be the only two fools out there!!!

Old school !

GladesGhost — Sun, 18 May 2008 22:35:59 +0000

I would like to say I was the one who caught this snook but I didn’t! I did untangle him from the trolling motor on a ripping incoming tide. And I did get the net under him and in the boat, but Mike hooked him Old school style deep jigging with a bucktail. A bucktail is the one of the best baits ever. I have been told that the military puts one in the survival kits of it’s pilots. I personally want the 45 cal pistol close by but hey thats another subject. That same bucktail you see in this snooks mouth was attractive to about a 80lb Poon later in the night. Anyway thanks again to Mike for a great night of fishing and enjoying the great resources we enjoy here in Florida. Let’s never take it for granted!

GladesGhost

“It only takes one”

Time for the BIG-INS

Scott — Sat, 10 May 2008 15:37:58 +0000

With the tide outgoing and winds variable at 8 to 15 knots from the WSW , I was hoping for my luck to turn around from my lack luster April. We headed down south to some of the deep passes looking for some of the big breading snook that are getting ready to spawn. We started by a favorite “THE LIGHT” where Mike got an over-sized 32? redfish. With this catch off the bat I had a good feeling about the nite. Second fish came at the Joel’s favorite light were Chris was trying to break his record with a stout 37.5? 18lbs snook . Moving along at the fender light,Mike on with another over the slot fish,a 34.5? snook.Mike got some strong bumps down deep and also lost another over the slot snook on his rubbed thru 60 lb leader. On our travels back to drop our passenger George off for the night,we found a new light that were holding 2 of the biggest snook just sitting there! With Mike on the motor the guys let me have this one. First cast I’m on with a pissed off snook! With one of the best runs ,I got her to the boat to find out this is my biggest snook caught to this date a 37? 20lbs. What a night, all of our snook were over the slot including some of the redfish and quiting at 1 am when the best fishing is about to start on the next tide change!

ANOTHER TOUGH NIGHT

Scott — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 21:49:24 +0000

With good reports of Monday fishing… me and Mike brought a friend of mine, Captain James McKeever out for an evening of snook fishing on Tuesday. James does a lot of spear fishing and offshore fishing but rarely spends time inshore or flats fishing. He has never caught a snook and we were hoping to add another fish to his list…. A cold front came through on Monday making the barometer fall as well as our fish bite. We started north of Pasadena hitting most of our favorite lites but with strong winds no fish were seen nor caught. We then headed south to find out if fishing could be better with this outgoing tide. Our first fish was from Mike, a 27 inch Redfish… and soon later James hooked up to a 26 inch Redfish… they both made the trip home. We hit some of the local bridges where some snook were present on the top but not hitting. Changing tactics Mike started jigging the bottom… seeing if the bite was ON down deeper. Next thing we knew Mikes pulling in a 36 inch… 17 lb. snook to the boat!! I watched as mike ALMOST yet again…. went into the water when a goliath grouper got a hold of his jig. Not pulling him from the water, we est. him to be at about 28 inches. The night was long and weather not at its best… we did have a fair nite!! but I wish this nite with James, could have brought home a slot snook or two at the end of this snook season!!! We will have to bring him out again to get him addicted to OUR STYLE of fishing ….For some BIG time Summer SNOOK!!!!!

A wet night to remember….

M.Carnahan — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 03:10:29 +0000

Second time to break 40 inches

M.Carnahan — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 02:15:43 +0000

Below is a picture of the 40 inch snook I caught last night while jigging a deep hole in Passagrill. Kevin also pulled up a 32 inch from the same hole.

Saying Goodbye To Grandma….

M.Carnahan — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 18:46:25 +0000

For those of you that know me know that there is a canal I call Grandmas canal. The name of this canal to many would mean nothing. But for those of us who refer to this canal as grandma’s canal know that this canal holds lots of large snook in the winter. Anyways, the reason for this post is to let you know that earlier this month Grandma past away at the age of 93, five weeks shy of her 94th birthday. Below is a picture of the canal in 1957. As you can see from the photo everything has changed except the seawall. The man in the photo holding a Kingfish was a friend of my Grandfather.

Tyson, A friend of mine holding a 37inch Snook caught in Grandmas Canal late December 2006.

2 four 2

Scott — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 03:00:14 +0000

With the pressure on…..the last few nights have been nothing to write about, only me and Mike crying about why the fish are not biting. We brought Joe Terry and his father Joe Sr. out with us… 1 last time to catch a keeper or two before snook season closes. With the tide outgoing we started by staying north of Pasadena….. but soon fell short with no fish to the boat. We saw very few fish in most of the spots we picked but as the tide went slack we found ourselves changing plans in order to salavage the nite. We hit the Gulf and headed south finding boaters everywhere. Trying to find lights with no boaters in canals was challenging but soon paid off. We hit some of my favorite lights by the Bay Way and soon got Joe hooked up on a slot 28.5 inch that became a night of many more…. Soon after, on fender at Tierra Verde Bridge, Mike noticed 2 huge tarpons feeding . I had a feeling that he would soon get hooked up……3 cast later, he did it!!! He got an est. 80 lb tarpon on!!!I have never been in this situation before…. but had quick instructions from Mike to get him to the boat. About a minute later it was over by him cutting the line deep at the fender!! After getting my heartbeat back & under control… and getting Mike calmed down, we went back to targeting smaller fish! We got back in the game by getting Joe’s rod bent over on a impressive 35.5 inch 19.5 lbs. snook. With no strength left we made Joe hold up his prize for the camera. Mike soon also got a nice slot 27 inch red that also put up a great fight! We scouted many lights on the way in, on another slack tide and watching the moon rising and talking about our hard fought nite. As for me… I just hung back talking to Joe Sr. about how he caught snook back in the day!!! I hope he had a night to remember. (Joe Sr. a young 85)

Fishing with my 2 SISTERS!!!!!

Scott — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 19:34:38 +0000

We hit the boat ramp at 8 ish….. to finish the week off, with my two fishing sisters…. Chrissy and Mikett. We stayed north of Central Ave where the tide was outgoing and winds lite, out of the WSW. We first stopped at Mikes Grandmothers house to mingle with his family and get the night started. The second light of the trip in Blind Pass gave me my only fish of the nite, a slot 33 inch snook that got our night off to a really good start. After going back to Mikes Grandmothers house to show his northern family members what they were eating for dinner and posing for some pictures ,we got back on track. With multiple stops, some fish were visible but soon found out that this nite was going too be harder than we thought!On the verge or giving up,with Mikette and Chrissy’s MANginas hurting… Mike gets hooked up on his first fish of the nite, a slot 28 inch snook! Giving up for the night…. Mike decided to hit the Foglight one last time because of the fish he got dissed at from the first light. After what seemed like 50 casts between me and Mike, he got drilled by a strong 33 inch snook. I almost lost his best fish of the night trying to land him in the net. Back at the ramp listening to other boaters stories …I guess we could not complain…. 3 hookups with 3 keepers to the boat!!!

Fishing with Joe Terry

Scott — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 17:43:15 +0000

Me and Mike chartered a friend of mine, that has not snook fished in about 15 years. We headed south where we knew the fish would be, hoping for an unforgetable night. The tide was strong & outgoing, the winds were low, and the snook were not showing……. making it hard to get Joe hooked up. We saw some on top by the fenders, but Mike soon found out that they were holding deeper in the pass. Mike got hooked up with a nice 34 inch snook using a jig, and soon after got hooked up with a monster snook that almost put Mike in the PASS. Mike could not stop him…..breaking his leader before Mike could hit the water! The night soon turned around with good production from our two fisherman. Mike soon got the first slot 31 inch snook to the boat and then Joe brought his first snook to the boat. A great one for his first, 27 inches. As the night wore on, the fishing got more difficult…… but we were able to get Joe hooked up about 3 more times. The bite soon came to an end, back at the ramp around 2 a.m. …..with the tide gone! Thanks Joe.

A Night to Remember

M.Carnahan — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 02:25:24 +0000

Joel invited me to go fishing with him last night on his little camo boat. Monday isn’t one of the nights I usually fish so saying no was on the tip of my tongue. After agreeing, we rolled out around 7:30 and killed some time by putting around until the sun went down. When it was dark enough to fish we rolled up on one of Joel’s favorite lights and parked the boat into the mud. The tide was so low if we would have hooked the dock we would have gotten out of the boat and walked to the dock to unhook the lure. Extreme low tides are not one of my favorite times to fish. In fact the last time I fished a tide this low I got skunked and lost a favorite lure while casting into the exposed oysters.

The next light we visited was on, the snook were eating bait like there was no tomorrow. Joel and I both landed keepers along with a few more slot snook. We left that amazing light and headed to the ramp but before we got there we tried a light known for holding redfish. Joel casted first and landed another large snook (32inches). While Joel was fighting the snook I couldn’t contain myself I had to cast. Suddenly a 24inch red hit my lure and we were both hooked up. Usually after catching a large snook on a light that pretty much finishes it. Not this light, after Joel released his snook he casted again and also caught a big red. We decided that was it for us, we limited out on both species we fished for. That light was so hot we probably could have landed a few more fish, but instead headed in.

I can count on one hand the amount of times I have fished where I have got a strike, or hook up at least 70% of the time. For Joel and I, last night was one of those times. I think we will remember this night for years to come.

Did I mention there was no water; the tide was below -1.

Finally getting it done

Scott — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 03:22:51 +0000

We got a earliy jump out of the boat ramp hoping to change our dry spell on our lack of fish production.The wind started of being calm but was soon followed up by strong gusts out of the south and southeast making it another difficult nite.With not a hole lot of boaters out I got this 30 inch snook and one more at one of our best producing lights.

My New boat

M.Carnahan — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 15:53:44 +0000

I have been looking for a dock light boat with a wheel house for a long time.

My fish is bigger than yours

BMF — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 01:35:07 +0000

I’ll let the photos do all the talking…

M.Carnahan — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 01:10:24 +0000

20 lbs 37 inch snook

Chris adjusting to catching large snook.

Chris’s largest snook before this one was 18 inches.

The happiest guy on the boat.

friday 03/22/08

BMF — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 20:36:15 +0000

It was about 8 when l left the dock l had left sooner but forgot my camera .someone wise once told me [ if your gonna bullshit have pictures] anyways l got to my first dock and someone else was there when you fish dock light’s not only do you have to figureout what the fish are going to do but also what other people are going to do so that you dont fish dirty water’s so l shot over to grandma’s canal and hooked up with a 26 in. first cast so l went to the second dock in that canal and lost a slot fish my maverick splitring came off so l retied and the next dock l landed a 34” l went to two more dock’s and and caught three more all short got to the dentist dock and lost another slot fish the maverick splitring’s are killing me one more time my hook came off and then l landed a 30” and a 29”l ten tried one more spot close to the boat ramp and caught a small one the moon was full the tide was a low incoming the water was 70 degree’s got back at the boat ramp around 11:20

Good rookie night

Scott — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 19:10:33 +0000

Me and Mike left the boat ramp around 8pm. on a big rising full moon. We started heading down south for the upcoming high tide and stopped on a no name dock that we have fished before and with great results. I got hooked up with a great fish! I got slammed at the dock piling and immediately got my fish wrapped around the dock,with Mikes help we landed a slot 33 inch snook. We headed south with multiple stops, with small hook ups and no slot fish. My next slot snook came at the car light where the wind was cranking from the east,pushing our boat around. First cast , I nailed a slot 32 inch snook that made his trip home with us. With a lot of boaters out we decided to find some canals that could be holding fish that are not fished. Finding some with some potential , we headed in calling it a nite awaiting tommorrow!

WHERE WAS EVERYONE

Scott — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 17:00:02 +0000

Pulling into the boat ramp with lite rain coming down me and Mike could not belive we were the only people going out tonite. The nite stated out very slow with only one good hookup at the Under Water Light and soon terminatd by a fast snook that I could not handle. After a breif encounter with the crazy lady, Mike was back on with a nice 33.5 inch snook ! We measured him several times hoping he would shrink to 33 inches but had to let him go! We brought several small snook to the boat but not big enough to keep. Mike soon followed it up with a keeper 29 inch snook that made his new home in the holding tank while waiting to be released with a bigger catch. My best chance of the nite came at a house on Central Ave where I got 2 snook , a small 24 ” and a keeper 31 inch snook. With the last light of the trip, again the fish were everywhere, and soon I hooked into a nice 22inch redfish at the Fog Light. We ended the trip by looking at some future honey holes and checking out some old hot spots! Back at the ramp about 12:30 still nobody at the ramp, we just could not belive no one came to play. Thanks to everyone for letting us have the water to ourselves!

Poor CHRISSY!!!!!!!!

Scott — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 16:53:53 +0000

With the winds lite out of the west,we decided to head south to fish. Me , Mike and Chris started our nite at the Tiger Lilly where the bite already stated . Rite off the top I hooked up with my first fish of the trip , a nice 35 inch snook! I thought I was going to lose him at the boat due to his aggresiveness and our small net ! The second fish of the nite came from Mike, at Paulie’s light where he got a nice slot 32 inch snook from the depths of the dock using the most used up jig we ever saw !!!!! Most of the best lights down south were not holding fish or they were fished before we got to them making it hard for Chris to catch anything. The next slot fish came in a canel off St. Pete beach were I caught a nice 31 inch snook that Chris was trying to catch. SORRY Chris! The time was getting late but we were not going to give up until we got Chris a snook on the line. We tried so hard to put him on a fish, but the tide was just too damm low, so we just gave up a couple of hours later! Chris at least did not go home disappointed, he did catch a nice trout……… that Cheese Burger cooked for lunch !Thanks Chris , maybe next time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

o.k nite

Scott — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 11:14:58 +0000

The snook fishing started slow for me last night as my luck of catching the docks continued . Mike on the other hand picked it up from where he left off. Mike caught his first on grandmas canal about 26 inches . We then pissed the crazy lady off by catching a nice 35 inch snook and making it impossible for any on else to fish the lite, because she turned out the lite as soon as we hooked up. I got my best chance last night as I hooked on to a slot fish by Alstot’s house but soon lost him as he took me straight to the pilings. We ended the night by catching a 18 inch snook at the under water light. Boy do I hate this time change!

Fri night 02/29/08

CaptSteveO — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 00:24:53 +0000

Decided to go south. Brought the fly pole and some plugs. The tide just started to move out. Got a small one in the “goon” and saw a couple more near “aquasport” light. Some were in the main channel near the bridge but coi broke off on a piling. Got hungry and went to the wharf where there were a lot of snook under but we didnt try for them. had a couple beers and some cheese fries and off we went again. Sailboat canal had lots of snook near the mouth, landed about a 25″ but didnt see anything in the back of the canal. But a boat that sounded like they put some spare change in the motor, was motoring in the lights, so im pretty sure that put them down. OH YA. IF ANYBODY HAS HEARD FROM MICHAEL CARNAHAN TELL HIM TO CALL ME. IM GETTING WORRIED! WHERE ARE YOU MIKE!

Sunday night 2\108

BMF — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 22:31:53 +0000

THE WIND’S were out of the north about 5 miles an hour it was low low tide and l was afraid nothing was gonna bite.I went to a couple of dock’s but nothing, so l tried some dock’s that were deeper . second cast l hooked up with a small one[26″] so l went to another deeper dock and first cast l caught a 32″ the a couple of cast later and l got a 23″ red . l left there and went t another dock near by and landed one about 31″ l was out for about 2 hour’s and decided to go home l knew where some deeper dock’s were but l was lazy and did’nt want to travel that far just in case they were’nt biting. the temperature outside was 56 and l’m not sure what the water temp was

Tuesday 0\2\58

BMF — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 04:05:12 +0000

Went out for a couple of hour’s and the first dock we came to was crazy ,the snook were chasing bait around the dock. l told jason that he could have the first throw since he was getting excited about what was going on, l could’nt blame him . he threw and nothing so l threw and my maverick got hit it was a 33″ snook ! jason changed his lure real quick he threw a couple of time’s then bam a good size one hit right at the boat but the hook pulled and he was gone . we were at another dock when jason hooked up againe with a monster but once again the hook pulled you get a lot of those this time of year they barely hit and you hope you have a good hook set but sometimes they win . the water was 68 degree’s it was dead calm with the wind picking up a little

I got Skunked

M.Carnahan — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 15:08:04 +0000

Outgoing tide
Water temp 67 degrees

On Saturday night Scott and I headed out into the rain dressed for action. Our first stop was the fog light. There were no snook to be seen, although I couldn’t see anything anyways through my rain covered glasses. I love fishing in the rain and fog, it does cause some what of a problem since I am always stopping to wipe off my glasses. We moved on to the crazy ladies dock where Scott caught another 34 inch snook to match the one he caught the previous night. The next stop was the sail boat light where again; Scott caught a slot size snook. It got to the point where Scott let me cast around six times before he casted. I suggested we return to the crazy ladies dock, since it appeared she wasn’t home and there were lots of snook showing. I positioned the boat just in front of the dock, and again Scott hooks up with another large one. The snook shook his head with his large mouth open and out flue the lure. The snook was around 34 inches. We called it a night around 10:30 and headed back to the ramp.

Just one…

CaptSteveO — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 01:18:34 +0000

This is a report from last Thursday. 1/24.

Water temp 64, a little rainy and windy. Full moon, incoming tide.

We started out for grandmas canal. There were some fish there, and Crunkahan hooked up on the 2nd dock with a nice 35″ fish. We had seen plenty of fish but most weren’t interested in what we had to offer. I think we broke the trolling motor speed record. His trolling motor took a crap and we swapped over mine. I use the 101lb thrust for my big ole bay boat. I think we were cruising at 4mph with it on his boat, pretty cool. Anyways we called it quits at about 10:30.

Saturday night 1\26

BMF — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 19:35:44 +0000

Got out at 10:30 pm the wind was light and water was 69 degrees. It was a little while before l got my first bite, but the hook pulled. You’re casting a million times then one hits and it kinda catches you off guard. The same thing on two other docks, but l did find another dock holding fish so maybe that will be a good one for a while

01\238

BMF — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 22:21:23 +0000

The time l left was ten o’clock pm the water was 63,the first dock we had two good hits but the fish seem slow to bite.our second dock and third dock the same .we went to a different area and the bite was on and we landed one but had several taker’s, l think if you have 10 or 12 dock’s to pick from in different area’s your chance’s of hooking up are good. there are some night’s that no matter what nothing happen’s ,those are good night’s to check different dock’s out. there’s a lot of dock’s out there when given the right time of year they hold a lot of snook then a month or two later and sometime’s a shorter period of time they move on to another dock at least thats my experience. we fished for about a hour and ahalf that night with several snook near landed and one 33 ” landed plus tow redfish upper slot .we were at thetop of the tide it was 62 degree’s out and was dead calm

Full Moon

M.Carnahan — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 04:11:32 +0000

Bill and I headed out under the full moon. The weather conditions were perfect. No wind, a rising tide and the temperature around 67 degrees. The first light we trolled up to was the FOG Light. There were no snook to be seen. I took the first cast and although I didn’t hook up, Out of the shadows swam 2 large snook and a red fish. Bill casted and as soon as the lure hit the water the red was on. To our surprise the next few channels we hit were loaded with snook. Bill caught a 32 inch snook back in grandmas neck of the woods, while I, just seemed to throw lures at them. It wasn’t until we reached the “crazy lady’s” dock, before I had my first hook up. Another beautiful 32 incher.
I would say the snook have moved from the docks they were on in late December, to new ones. I am seeing snook on docks that held them last year at this time. When it was all said and done, Bill caught one red and three snook to my one snook.

Monday trip

BMF — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 03:16:09 +0000

I left the boat ramp at 645 Monday evening. The wind was blowing at about 20 mph & the water temp was about 59 degrees. There were no hits on first five or six docks. Then at two dead end canals, I saw probably six to seven snook under each dock I came to. I got about four to five hits, but nothing would take hold. It was the last two hours of the high tide, they just weren’t hungry I guess.

Topwater

GladesGhost — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 02:19:39 +0000

Went to my super secret Upper Tampa Bay Honey Hole this morning in the Fog. It was so thick it could of be mistaken for a light rain. It was a an extreme negative low tide and quite frankly there wasn’t much water. After about an hour the tide began to come in and the mullet got on the move so I figured a Red wouldn’t be to far behind. I mainly fished the DOA Cal Tail and a Terrorize but nothing. The smell in the air reeked of dead Snook,Sand Perch and a baby Jewfish or two. (That’s right I said Jewfish and I’ll never Change) All from the freeze we had last week. I have friends who guide in the Keys and they said they experinced a fish kill down there as well. Anyway I digress. After working the DOA products which by the way I have tremendous confidence in I switched to Topwater. I like the Skitterwalk, but I really love the new MirroMullet and the ShePup by MirroLure. I was at the point after having no success for the past 2-3 hours that I was down to my “this is my last couple of casts”, I tossed the Chartreuse Chrome sided ShePup across this area that I swear wasn’t any deeper than 18 inches when on about the 4th twitch the world exploded! It was that signature Snook sucking sound and a boil of water that honestly startled the crap out of me! He made some awesome runs and a little head shaking action before I drug him up the mud bank. H e was about a 10-12lb beautiful Snook and about 30-31inches. I have really fallen in love with Topwater Fishing this past year. I will always do dock lights but watching the boil and the attempts fish make to get that bait is just awesome to me. Yes he swam away unharmed cause nobody likes a liar or a poacher!

GladesGhost

“It only takes one”

Strange Fish Sighting

M.Carnahan — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 02:12:38 +0000

While fishing with Steve earlier this week we saw a large snook following some strange looking fish in the light. After casting a few times, we spooked the snook but the strange fish were still swimming around. I trolled up to one of the fish with my landing net in my hand and netted it. Neither Steve nor I had ever seen this type of fish before. I search the Internet and a few books to identify it, but no luck.
It wasn’t until I sent the pictures to GladesGhost that I got an answer. The name of the fish is “Southern Stargazer”. GladesGhost told me it was a good thing we didn’t handle it because the Southern Stargazer can send off an electrical shock. Here is a link to a youtube video of the fish.

bad start

BMF — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 02:10:53 +0000

The night started off bad. I unloaded my boat like always, when I realized I had backed down to far and my boat was adrift. After wading up to my knee’s in 61 degree water I was finally off. I went to five or six lights and nothing. I saw one but that was it. My friend called me and said it was about to rain, so l picked up my panties and headed home. Mike called and said they saw plenty of snook where they were…..Swell, I should have kept walking when I was wading out to get my boat.

The calm after the storm..

CaptSteveO — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 23:06:03 +0000

1/17/08

Slack-Begining of outgoing

2 days after the first quarter moon

Well the weather was pretty bad with off and on rain all day, and pretty windy at times. It was a weak front coming through and another big one in 2 days. The skies cleared for a little bit and the wind went calm. I got the call from Mike, and 3 hours later we were off looking for some snook. Our first stop was the “fog light”. I sight casted to 1 snook who couldnt help himself, just as quick as I hooked him he was off. He was an estimated 37″ fish. Off we went a little farther south. Near the “dentist light” I was hooked up again, this was another good fish, I worked him away from the pilings and bam, hooks bent. I should have known better. On we go, we caught some trout, some reds. Finally get to a dock holding some snook which were actively feeding. I snaked in front of Mike and hook up. Another decent fish pulling me into the docks. “Snap” lost that one too. I give up and tell Mike to show me how its done. We come around the corner and see some fish. Mike hooks up and brings him in for a photo shoot. He was around 31-33″. We hit one more light where we saw some snook earlier but were chased out by something that looked like some kind of hybrid sheep dog/horse. Out of all the snook chasing my plug, I see them scatter and im hooked up with a nice red. I bring it in, we exchange numbers and off he went. We called it a night around 11:30. Not a bad night.

A 2 on a scale of one to ten.

M.Carnahan — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 06:03:06 +0000

Arik add I went out to night and braved the 20 mph southeast wind. Arik caught a dogfish and a speckled trout while throwing shrimp, I hook two snook and a red while throwing artificial. This night isn’t even worth bloging about other than the fact I wanted to document the conditions.

Navigating by GPS

M.Carnahan — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 15:51:03 +0000

1-12-08
Outgoing / Incoming Tide - 4 tide day
Water Temp. 65

Scott, Chris and I took Scotty’s Pathfinder out last night snook fishing. We ran as far south as the Skyway but nothing. The bite was off for us. On the way back Scott caught a large lady fish and I boated a 10 inch snook just before the fog rolled in. I enjoy the fishing in the fog (as long as the boat I‘m on has a chartplotter) but the few other boats we saw might not of felt the same way. We continued to fish a few more lights with the same results as earlier until we trolled up to the FOG Light (a name given to this light by a friend over two years ago) . This light had three huge snook on it. One close to 40 inches even swam up to the boat. We fished the light for a few minutes but came up empty. The ride back to the boat ramp was slow, but without the GPS chartplotter we would not have gotten home at all.

Went North

M.Carnahan — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 15:50:10 +0000

1-11-08
Incoming Tide
Water Temp. 65

I decided to try fishing north of Johns Pass last night. The fishing was a little rougher than usual. I caught two 26 inch reds and a 22 inch spotted trout. I only saw one light with snook on it. I spoke to some friends who had more luck south of the pass.

Brought a Pinellas County Sheriff along.

M.Carnahan — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 15:49:36 +0000

Last night Scott invited Chris, Mike, and me to go out on the Pathfinder. This was the first time in a few years Mike had been fishing. Being a Pinellas County Sheriff in the marine division, Mike is no stranger to the water. The night started out a little slow but after a few lights I caught a 31 inch snook and on the next light a 33 inch one. We trolled up to the light we call the “dentist light” and Mike caught a 25 inch red on his first cast. After a few more lights we decided to go fish Gators. Last week a bouncer from there tried to run us off. On the ride to Gators I was thinking how nice it was having Mike with us to explain that Sid Rice doesn’t own the public waterway. When we reached Gators there were no snook to be seen and Gators was so slow you might have thought they were closed. As for Chris and Scott’s evening, they both have fished better nights.

Over 50 lights and only one snook

M.Carnahan — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 15:48:59 +0000

1-4-08
Outgoing Tide
Water Temp. 65

It had been a few days’ sense the cold snap and Steve and I set out to try our luck.
Knowing that some other friends were also heading out we got to the ramp early.
We did the normal round of lights and saw nothing. It wasn’t until we ventured off to an area that we rarely fish that we saw a light with snook. Steve casted and hook one right away, but just as soon as it was on, it shook off. After repositioning the boat Steve hooked another one, the snook was around 31 inches. We tried a few more channels and then headed home. I hope to see more snook on the next trip.

The Coldest Night In Three Years

M.Carnahan — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 15:48:13 +0000

Who said snook don’t bite in 55 degree water. Well it certainly wasn’t Bill Clark.
Wednesday, I called Bill to see if he would brave the cold weather with me and to find out if the snook were biting. When I arrived at the boat ramp the first words out of Bill’s mouth were “we are crazy” but that didn’t stop us. We headed out into the cold wind and waves toward our first light. The first channel we fished, I boated two small snook, while Bill came up empty. A few lights later, Bill had passed me on the fish count with a couple of reds and two larger snook. We traveled further south where we saw even more fish busting small baits. The bite was so good; I thought we could have fished all night, until I got my shoes wet. Shortly after that, I couldn’t wait to head back to the ramp, but Bill wanted to fish a light that we banged up real bad earlier. I thought, F*** to myself as I sat in the back of the boat and watched my shoelaces form into icicles. To my surprise, Bill caught a 31 inch snook on his first cast. When the night was over, together we caught five snook and seven red fish. The air temp was 36 degrees and the water temp was 54 degrees. Not a bad night for those conditions.

Happy New Years

M.Carnahan — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 15:46:33 +0000

Bill and I decided to go fishing instead of partying on New Years Eve. The first snook I caught broke my brand new Shimano fishing rod. The snook was only 31 inches.

Beautiful evening, lots of hook ups and fireworks.

The Reason For This Blog

M.Carnahan — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 16:04:01 +0000

Let me start by introducing myself. My name is Michael Carnahan; I have lived in Pinellas County all my life, and have been snook fishing as long as I can remember.
Within the last four years I have taken snook fishing very seriously. I’ve tried to get out on the water at least four times a week regardless of the weather.
I am setting up this blog to document my experiences. I will list weather; tides, water temp, pressure, and anything else that will help me determine what make snook tick.
I hope by logging all these things I will begin to see patterns and have a better understanding of snook. I am also inviting other fellow snook fishermen to join me in blogging their experiences. I hope you find this blog useful.