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Get Ready For Snook Season

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By FRED EVERSON, Tribune Correspondent

Published: February 27, 2008

Updated: 02/25/2008 07:55 pm

Three more days until the opening of snook season Saturday, and that usually brings the anglers out in force.

Conditions should be good for the opener as far as water temperature is concerned, but tides are another matter. It will be a two-tide day - a slow rise beginning before dawn and rising until nearly 8 p.m. Most snook fishermen favor a strong falling tide because the more water movement you have, the stronger the bite will be.

Capt. Tom Rinehart and I tried our luck again on the Bahia Beach Reef last week and had some success. We caught six sheepshead, a couple of grunts, a mangrove snapper and a Spanish mackerel.

The water temperature was down to 64 degrees because of a recent cold front, but it looks like it will warm right back up. The magic number is 70 degrees for multiple species to put the feed bag on, including snook, kingfish and cobia.

If it stays warm, I also expect to see some early tarpon. In years past I have spotted small groups of big fish in early March when the water temperature is higher than 65 degrees.

I have seen a few cobia on the flats, and hooked a couple of shorts on the way back to the dock. I also saw a few bonnetheads, but nothing like the numbers that were here at this time last year.

I awoke on a Saturday last week to find there was hardly a breeze. At 6:30 a.m. I decided to drop the canoe into the water and head across the river to Sand Key to see whether I could find a redfish or two. It was chilly, so I dawdled for a couple of hours until the sun got higher and the air temperature rose.

I finally pushed off the dock at 8 a.m. and rowed for about 20 minutes until I hit the bar off Sand Key. Once there I reversed the direction of the canoe to look for fish.

About 10 minutes later, I hooked a bottom of the slot redfish that was full of fight. I already had a fish in the freezer, so I put it back.

Minutes later something hit the lure on impact and put up a ferocious top-water display. It was a short snook and two weeks before the season opener, so he, too, went back.

Then a fish hit the bait right next to the canoe, and fought like a piece of carpet. I knew it was a flounder, about 15 inches. That was dinner for the evening, and the end of a most enjoyable day.

I planned for an instant replay the following day, but the wind was blowing too hard for the canoe, and the tide was too low to get the skiff off the lift.

Plenty of wind will be the norm for the next couple of months. April has been as breezy as March for two years, and I don't expect that to change anytime soon.

Fred Everson is a Ruskin fishing guide. Submit information and photographs by calling (813) 830-8890 or sending an e-mail to ihuntsnook@aol.com.

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