- November 23, 2024
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Most of us who fish around Flagler County know that the big freeze from couple of winters ago severely affected the snook population — not only here, but across the entire state. Well, I’m here to tell you that they are on the rebound.
Back in February, I was catching small 6- to 8-inch snook on a fly. Then they just seemed to disappear.
Guess what? They’re back, and they’re bigger.
This class of fish is now in the 10- to 15-inch range, and I’ve been steadily catching them.
Why they have suddenly showed up again is a good question. I think a lot of it has to do with the run of shrimp that we’ve been experiencing in our waters lately. If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the years, it’s that snook can’t pass up a live shrimp offering.
Although shrimp is, in my opinion, the best bait for snook, they can also be caught by other bait. I’ve found that they love the color white or a combination of white and chartreuse. Last year, I came up with a fly pattern that is all white except for a shrimp-colored nose. The snook just love it. I’ve caught numerous snook on it over the past two weeks.
When I’m not fly fishing, I’ll use a white 3-inch Yo-Zuri 3-D crystal minnow. Another lure I like is the 17MR MirrOlure in either white or chartreuse.
Whenever you are fishing for snook, you should always tie on a piece of fluorocarbon leader to the end of your fishing line (30 pounds to 40 pounds test). It will keep you from losing tackle.
Snook have very abrasive mouths that will rub through a standard fishing line in a heartbeat. If I’m attaching monofilament fishing line to fluorocarbon, I’ll use a double surgeon's knot to attach the two lines. If I’m using braided fishing line, I’ll use a triple surgeon's knot to attach the fluorocarbon leader. The surgeon's knot is easy to tie and very strong. If you Google it, you can find out how to tie it.
When I attach a fly or a lure to the end of my fluorocarbon, I like to use a loop knot. The loop knot allows the bait to work more freely and gives it a more natural appearance when being retrieved. If a lure has a split ring, I’ll remove it to use the loop knot. Again, Google it, and you’ll find how to tie a loop knot.
Also, www.animatedknots.com is a real good website to learn how to tie specific knots. Now that I’ve told you some of my secrets, go out and try putting them to use.
