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Bountiful Bait Makes For Good Snook Fishing

Photo by FRED EVERSON

James Johnigean of Ruskin caught and released this big jack crevalle on a live sardine in the Little Manatee River.

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 21, 2008

Updated:

There has been plenty of activity in the Little Manatee River for the past few weeks.

I have been seeing big schools of jack crevalles ravaging the abundant bait fish near the mouth of the river almost every morning. I have also seen some tarpon rolling around the docks on the north side of the river at sunrise.

These fish look to be in the 50- to 60-pound class - exactly the fish you want to catch. In shallow water they will jump 10 or 12 times, and you can land them in 10 or 15 minutes. They should continue to hang around as long as the water temperature stays in the low 80s.

Bait is as plentiful on the South Shore flats as I have ever seen it.

Captain Mark Thomas stopped by the dock early one morning and told me he caught more bait than he could use with two throws of the net just outside the E.G. Simmons Park boat ramp.

Captain Chet Jennings also said that was the most bait he has ever seen in the Bay at any time of year. That should make for a productive fall snook season, but first the water temperature has to drop a bit.

On my most recent trip with James Johnigean, we found plenty of bait on the flats in front of Big Pass. Most of it was good sized, but it was in the grass, and mixed with small threadfin herring. I was throwing my 3/8-inch mesh net and I gilled quite a few threads - it was a real pain getting them out of the net.

With a live well full of bait we headed to the backside of Joe Island. We saw a few snook, but they were skittish. We didn't have a single hookup down south, mostly because there were so many other boats in the area.

Catching snook at midday on a slow moving tide on a weekend under a high pressure system is a tall order, if not practically impossible. If you want to catch snook on the weekends, you need to be on the spot at sunrise or sunset.

We came back to the Little Manatee River to look for anything to bend a rod and were not disappointed. There were some 2- and 3-pound jack crevalles west of the railroad trestle, and we caught a few fish on live sardines.

Daytime snook fishing continues to be mediocre, but that should soon change. Water temperature will continue to drop, and as long as the bait is plentiful, the fall bite could turn on any day.

Fred Everson is a Ruskin fishing guide. All South Shore fishermen and guides may submit information and photographs to be included in this column by calling (813) 830-8890 or sending an e-mail to ihuntsnook@aol.com.

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