Tampa Bay snook populations took a hard hit this winter Many of my '' go to'' snook spots that held large numbers of juvinile snook resembled a deserted village. The river estuaries which usually held hundreds of dink size line siders during the spring season held trout and redfish, but little in the way of snook.
So, where did all the snook go? Well, the hard cold truth is many fell victim to this winters record breaking cold water temperatures. The good news is many snook did survive!Snook are now in their summer time spawn and have found their way to Tampa Bay beaches. On a recent snook trip we mangaged to land over 2o+ snook in a short period of time. Snook ranged from 22-30+ inches and were taken freelining pilchards along the break of the beach, on the out going tide.
Granite, in years past 50-100 fish days were not uncommon but all things considered we were gratefull for what we caught and when we left them, we left them biting.
If you do choose to target snook this summer please use extreme care when handling them. Handle them as little as possible and get them back in the water quickly.Summer is a stressful time for snook and hot water temps along with spawning conditions can play a heavy toll.
Please remember snook season is closed till Sept. 1 st. and do to this years snook kill could possibly be extended to an even later date. Which in my oppion would be warranted. Practicing responsible catch and release techinques is vital
to a recovering snook population and the angler can help to make a diffrence. Fish long, fish hard and fish responsibly.
Till next time have safe and quality day on the water.Capt. Sean Hagen & Capt. Sean Rice "FISHING LIKE A pro with EUPRO! www.fishingwithshamrock.com
813 545-5639 or 1877 357-HOOK ! Shamrock charters.
