Beach snook fishing through the eye of the camera

Here are some photos which chronicle what beach snook fishing is all about. Hope you enjoy!

It's fun fishing. It's fly fishing.

It's baitfish.

Snook. Spotted seatrout. Redfish. Ladyfish. Tarpon.

It's lots of casting.

Some days are great. Some days are slow.

Every trip is wonderful and fun.

Keep your eyes open because you never know what you'll see.

Snook are plentiful, but tough to fool.

The season will run into September, with peak months July and August.

A guided trip with me, Steve Gibson, is $150. You may contact me at (941) 284-3406. I've been doing this for nearly 30 years.

Fishing improves as the weather finally warms

The weather is warming and the fishing is improving.
After some unusually cold weather, I finally was able to get out. I did well.
Spotted seatrout and redfish are the main targets. Remember, snook season is closed at least until Sept. 1. Scientists estimate that nearly 10 percent of the snook along Florida's west coast were killed during the record cold. You can catch-and-release snook, but you cannot keep them.
That's OK! We're catch-and-release anyway.
I'm not sure how beach snook fishing will be affected. Last spring and summer, we had a wonderful time sight-fishing snook in the surf. It was a record year for us. I caught snook to 39 inches (nearly 20 pounds) and had a number of fish of more than 28 inches. In addition, I caught spotted seatrout, ladyfish, jack crevalle, mangrove snapper and flounder.
My best day was spectacular and certainly "once in a lifetime." On that August outing, I caught and released 15 snook to 39 inches, including six of more than 28. I landed three redfish to 32 inches. And I "jumped" three tarpon, all of which went more than 100 pounds.
My best morning was 41 snook on fly.
Beach snook fishing is all sight-fishing. We don't make a cast until we see the fish. I've been doing this for more than 20 years and I know where the fish are at any particular time. We use 6- to 9-weight rods, floating or sinktip lines and 20-pound leaders with 25-pound fluorocarbon shock tippets.
Our fly of choice is my D.T. Special (variation), the best beach snook fly I've ever used.
Back to the present ...
I've been getting into some large spotted seatrout. On an outing to Palma Sola Bay, I caught and released 25 trout to 6 pounds. I had many trout in the 18-inch range.
I fished Al Ewert and his daughter, Annie. Al manages a BMW store in Connecticut while Annie is a senior at UConn. Both are accomplished anglers.
They caught about 15 trout to 4 pounds in Sarasota Bay off Stephens Point. All fish came on D.O.A. CAL Jigs with shad tails. Fishing was tough, but their persistency was the difference in trying conditions.
On Wed., Jan. 27, I spoked at Economy Tackle/Dolphin Dive in Sarasota. To my surprise, a standing-room-only crowd showed up. And the audience was enthusiastic, attentive and asked a lot of question. I talked about cold weather kayak fishing.
I am scheduled to conduct seminars and tie flies Feb. 26 and Feb. 27 at the Grand Opening of Flint Creek Outfitters in Riverview.
I will serve as the Master of Ceremonies at the Lakewood Ranch Anglers Club's annaul Kids Fishing Tournament on Feb. 27.
On March 18, I will speak at the Suncoast Fly Fishers in St. Petersburg.
Fishing is improving. We're keeping our fingers crossed that the sun shines and the wind is calm.

Snook and spotted seatrout plentiful

I was after snook, spotted seatrout and redfish. Those are the eligible species for our Fall Fly Fishing Challenge on Saturday.

So, I launched my Native Watercraft Ultimate 14.5 and hit Bishop Harbor at about 7:15 this morning. No need to be on the water before dawn. Our captains' meeting is scheduled at 6:30 on Saturday and we can't leave for our destination until after it's over.

This morning was awesome. A heavy fog blanketed Bishop Harbor as I paddled to the northeast side. I had a mullet imitation tied on my 8-weight and a Super Hair Clouser on the 6. My plan was to cast for redfish and snook, then hit the trout.

I found a good snook early. The fish hit about 30 feet out from a mangrove island in about 18 inches of water. I knew it was a formidable fish. First thing it did was run for the mangroves, pulling me and the kayak with it.

I back-paddled to get the fish away from the trees and had the snook under control in just a few minutes. Turned out to be a large snook than I first thought. I estimated it at 30 inches as I was getting ready to release it. I later caught a smaller snook on the same fly.

Before I got out of Bishop Harbor, I found plenty of small seatrout around grass patches. I caught and released 15 or so, then headed out into Tampa Bay where I hoped to find a few redfish on sand bars.

Redfish were scarce. I caught several more trout and saw a few snook. But the reds eluded me.

Seems to always be that way in this tournament. I won the Trout Division one year and won the Snook Division twice. One year I did managed a slam (snook, trout and redfish), but the red was tiny. It's the only redfish I've taken in this event.

Maybe tomorrow I'll find a few hungry reds?

Slam time in the backcountry

Fall is fabulous for local saltwater fishing. I just love it.

It's a time when fish are hungry and the water is uncrowded. Tourist season is still months away, so there's only a few locals on the water at any given time.

This time of year, I like to branch out and fish areas that I don't get to experience often. Lately, I've been fishing Bishop Harbor and southern Tampa Bay. And I've been doing well. Fishing the incoming tide, I have been getting snook to 28 inches, redfish to 25 and spotted seatrout to 16 on Rapala Skitter Walks and plastic-tailed jigs.

Most of the action has been taking place in the shallows along the northeast side of the harbor -- partiularly around the numerous mangrove islands. The fish are hanging out around mullet schools and off the tips of the islands.

When that action subsides, I like to paddle out into southern Tampa Bay and fish a couple of sand bars that offer fabulous sight-fishing for redfish, large jack crevalle and shark. On one outing, I caught and released three reds to 28 inches in just 10 minutes. I've also been catching spotted seatrout to 18 inches, bonnethead shark and pompano to 4 pounds.

I haven't seen any tarpon, but it wouldn't surprise me if I encounter one soon.

As the weather and water cool, this area is going to heat up.

Once-in-a-lifetime day

I've been sight-fishing the surf with fly rod for 25 years. I've done OK during that span, catching and releasing an average of 250 snook per season. Most of them are small, 20-22 inches. Every once in a while, I'll encounter a really big snook, but they rarely even look at the fly.
On Aug. 17, I had a day that I'll never forget. I caught six snook of better than 28 inches, including one that taped out at 38 inches. The big snook was fat, so I estimated it to weigh at least 20 pounds. That's a mighty fine fish on 6-weight.
In addition, I landed three redfish (not a usual surf catch here) to 32 inches, several small jack crevalle, a ladyfish, mangrove snapper and blue runner.
The highlight of the day came when I jumped three tarpon, another first for me. They were big fish, all going better than 100 pounds. I had one on for five jumps and a long run. When I looked at my spool, I had about two turns of backing left, so I grabbed the spool and broke the fish off. I figured it was better than losing an entire fly line.
I have no idea why the action was so good. The barometer was low and it was three days prior to the new moon. In addition, the tide was incoming.
The next day, Ken Taylor of North Port and I hit the same beach.
We caught one snook.
Conditions were virtually the same. I did notice that the baitfish were not thick like they had been the day prior.