Author: Bullbuster Team
Video Course On Snook Fishing
We put together some of the best videos on the web in one place to help you become a better snook fisherman. Snook can be found in a number of different situations so different techniques are needed depending on where you are fishing. We made sure to include a few different videos to give you a good grasp where you should be fishing and how the techniques differ in different areas. When fishing for snook keep an open mind to trying new things and try to keep some of the tips you found in this article in the back of your mind when switching it up.
We have plenty of videos for you to learn about snook fishing below, but we thought we would start out this article with an awesome Youtube video posted by Ryan Izquerido which should get you in the spirit for snook fishing. It sure had that effect on us!
What Tackle Do You Need For Snook
The tackle you use for snook will vary depending on where you are fishing and what techniques that location requires. Further down in the article you will see a lot of different areas to catch snook, and our tackle tips will get more specific.
Most people use spinning tackle or bait casters when fishing for snook for most situations. If you are fishing from a-top a bridge or a pier this is an exception, conventional reels can really help you put some backbone into the fish.
The type of fishing line, lures, hooks, and bait you will need varies depending on where you are fishing. Scroll below to learn more about different styles of snook fishing. In general though, you can't go wrong using fluorocarbon for leader, since snook can get very finicky.
Tips To Fish Bridges With Tidal Flow For Snook:
Snook love to sit under bridges with tidal flow. Here they can simply face the current and wait for unsuspecting baitfish to struggle by in the current. When the water flow slows down during the transition of the tide, you often see them come up and wait right on a shadow line, waiting for an unsuspecting shrimp or mullet to flow through.
Since their is so much structure around bridges, it is important to fish a little bit more on the heavy side. We recommend using between 40-65Lb braid on your spinning or bait-casting gear when fishing for snook around bridges.
How To Fish For Snook With Artificial Lures Around Bridges:
Artificial lures can be really effective for snook around bridges. Two of the most popular baits used for snook fishing around bridges are spooltecks, and flair hawks.
Below we included a video posted by LandSharkFishing, featuring Ben Begovic ( an up-and-coming snook fisherman that has caught some truly beastly snook). In the video Ben explains how to work your Flairhawks and Spooltecks to get more hits. Ben recommends letting your lure hit the bottom and using a slow retrieve.
Since flairhawks are a go to bait for snook fishing around bridges, we included a video posted by JunoBait (a bait shop in the snook capital of Florida) that has a few tips on how to spice up your flair hawk for more action. He also presents another technique on how to retrieve your flairhawk. Where Ben likes to retrieve slowly, Eric Gates likes to retrieve along the lights rapidly making as much noise as possible. This is probably a better technique to work directly on the shadow lines.
Takeaways For Fishing For Snook from bridges where there is tidal flow:
1) Fish big baits for big snook
2) Let your lure hit the bottom
3) When retrieving baits in current, let the current do the work, slowly retrieve so you don't have any slack.
4) When fishing in slower tides along the shadow lines of a bridge, reel rapidly along the surface.
5) Don't stop casting, when you think your done casting give it another 50 casts.
How To Catch Snook From The Beach
Snook can be found on Florida beaches all year long, however the best time to fish for them is when there are good pods of bait working along the shoreline. Whats great about fishing the beach is you can fish much lighter tackle. Maybe people scale down to 15Lb mono which can with 30Lb fluorocarbon which can make your battle all that much more fun.
Watch out for birds diving along the beach, plenty of snook can be caught feeding on pilchards and threadfin herring as they work their way down the beach. Check out a video of the famous Lunkerdog running that dog along the beach with fish feeding on pilchards.
During October, the mullet run presents a great opportunity to catch big snook on the beach chasing pods of mullet. The fall mullet run can be an adrenaline rush as pods of mullet are destroyed by sharks, tarpon, jacks, and of course snook. Below we included a video posted by BlacktipH so you can see just how crazy it gets during the mullet run.
If you want to specifically target snook from the beach during the mullet run check out the picture below. You are going to want to fish your mullet on the beach side of the mullet schools (where the red arrows are pointing). On the right side of the blue line you will see fish, those are tarpon. If you want to catch snook keep your mullet closer to the wash.
The summer beach snook bite can be pretty good for snook on both the east coast and west coast of Florida. Although the Juno Beach area has a reputation for big snook during summer months. Fish can be caught on lures as well as cut bait. Below we included a video posted by BlacktipH on the night snook bite in Juno Beach during the summer months.
Take Aways For Catching Snook From The Beach:
1) Live bait is a great way to go
2) When fishing bait pods, snook tend to stay closer to the wash.
3) Big snook can be caught with large lures and cut bait at night.
How To Catch Snook Along Mangroves
Casting Lures Along Mangroves (Tips For Catching Snook):
Fishing for snook along mangroves can be a lot of fun. Especially if you are poling along them or are using a trolling motor and casting soft plastics. The strikes can be very exciting in the shallow water. Make sure you are casting your baits as far into the mangroves as possible. If it seems like you casted too far in, you probably need to be casting a little farther. Yes you will loose lures but you will catch more fish.
Fishing Live Bait Along The Mangroves (Tips For Catching Snook):
Another technique for catching snook along the mangroves is to anchor up quietly within casting range of the mangroves, live chum a few pilchards in, and cast a few towards the mangroves. There will probably be some by-catch such as small grouper, redfish, and mangrove snapper, but we are sure you won't mind just a few.
If you have the time check out this classic Sportsmans Adventures Episode with Captain Rick Murphy, as he goes deep into everglades fishing both lures and live bait for snook, small tarpon, and a few other fish mixed in. The episode is about 30 minutes long, but we're sure you won't regret watching it.
Fishing Piers (Tips For Catching Snook)
Pier snook fishing has its own culture. If you are new to snook fishing and pier fishing don't be surprised if you need walk on a local pier and feel like all of a sudden you are at the bottom of a pecking order, thats because each pier has a crew of hardcore fisherman that fish at that specific pier more than anyone else. Don't be intimidated, do your thing, but don't be afraid to ask questions. If you don't ask questions, you will never learn from the people who are there day after day, weekend after weekend, and who truly know how to get things done on that specific pier.
While each pier is different, some general rules of thumb are:
1) Fish heavy mono for your snook so you don't get frayed off on the pilings.
2) Make sure you have a bridge net or know someone who does. (If you don't know someone, make friends with someone real quick, because your guna need a bridge net).
3) Bait is different at every pier, learn from the people that are fishing there what has been working (although sometimes that might be a mission).
4) Fish as light as you can get get away with but no lighter, snook can be finicky, but you are guna need to put some backbone into them.
How To Fishing Along Sea Walls (Tips For Catching Snook):
If you are fishing an area with a lot of water front property and surrounded by a good amount of mangroves, chances are there is some good snook fishing along the sea walls. You can fish the sea- walls with a kayak or with a boat with a trolling motor.
Two methods that work well are:
1) Casting a lure so that it swims along the wall:
You can see this in action with the video posted by William Troutman Adventures. He has got the swim action right, but it looks like he needs to switch to Bullbuster Braid because he keeps breaking off.
2) Slow trolling a live mullet along the seawall:
Check out the Lunkerdog himself running the dog on a big snook in the Ft. Lauderdale area below:
How To Fish Inlets (Tips For Catching Snook):
Snook pile up into inlets, especially during summer months to spawn. The trick for snook fishing in inlets is drift along the inlet and to make sure that your baits are getting as close to the rocks as possible. Snook tend to patrol the rocks.
Also look for points around inlets during the outgoing tide where bait can be sucked out from the inside of the bay, and the snook can be waiting for the unsuspecting bait with minimal effort. Notice in the video posted by BlacktipH below, they are fishing the point of Sebastian Inlet on the east coast of Florida. Snook congregate at these points waiting for bait to be push out in front of them.
How To Fish Docklights For (Tips For Catching Snook)
Night time snook fishing can get awesome under dock lights and bridge lights. Bright lights attract a ton of baitfish, and big snook hang just on the edge outside of the light to get in on the action. Check out this video posted on youtube by Hogy Lures on how to work them under lights.
How To Wade Fish (Tips For Catching Snook)
Wade fishing for snook can be a lot of fun. Fishing around structure like docks with dirty water can be a plus for catching nice snook while wade fishing. Check out the video below posted on youtube by BlacktipH.
We all know snook are fun to catch. They can also be pretty finicky in some areas and sometimes require some specialized techniques. Snook are one of our favorite fish to eat. They are so good in fact that back in 1957 due to overfishing, they were officially made a game fish. Since then, snook populations have increased substantially, with snook permits in place, and with the new slot limits that protect older breeding fish that produce ten times as many eggs.
How To Fillet A Snook:
How To Grill Snook:
This video was posted by "TheJupiterSailfish" is a great video on how to clean and grill up a nice snook. Great grilling vid for some rum and coke. Check out his other videos he puts some good tutorial videos together.
Check out this article (How To Cook Snook) to learn more.
We hope that you have enjoyed this article on tips to catch snook. If you looking to spend more time fishing become a member of bullbuster.net. Also remember that when you buy your fishing lines brand direct you save time and money. Tight Lines!
If you would like to see other types of rigging videos take a look at our Tackle & Rigging Series:
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Rigging Ballyhoo - As part of our mission to help you spend more time fishing put some of the best videos on how to rig ballyhoo that the web has to offer in one place. If a picture is worth 1,000 words, a video must be worth 1,000,000. |
Rigging Swordfish Baits - We put together this article to put all of the best youtube videos on rigging swordfish baits into one place. If you are getting ready to try any new type of fishing watching videos is a great way to learn. |
Making Bottom Fish Rigs- If you want to learn how to make a bottom fishing rig you have come to the right place. We compiled some of the best videos on the web on making bottom fishing rigs. |
If you haven't already seen these articles, check out the Bullbuster How To Cook Your Catch Series:
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