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Snook were decimated in the Tampa region by a cold winter several years ago. My guide, Neil Taylor of Strike Three Kayak Fishing, told me that he has not seen many snook recently and could no longer plan trips to target them. Today proved to be a different story.
We launched at sun-up in the southern part of Tampa Bay. We fished shallow flats and mangrove shorelines casting 12 Fathoms lures 3" Fat Sam mullets on 1/16-oz and 1/8-oz jigheads. Neil was confident that we would catch a bunch of redfish early, then switch over to catching flounder, jacks, and ladyfish later as the sun rose higher. He had no serious thoughts of nailing snook. Those predictions were completely turned around. Neil caught 1 small redfish, and I caught none. We caught no flounder, jacks, or ladyfish. But we found snook in numbers. Over 90 minutes, I caught 8 snook up to 20". They hit hard and swim around aggressively before coming to the boat. All were released. Neil caught several others. He said that was his best day catching snook with clients in 4 years.
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We each caught two specs and a few hardhead catfish. Catching so many snook was a lot of fun -- I was disappointed not to catch any reds, but the day was very enjoyable.
We launched at sun-up in the southern part of Tampa Bay. We fished shallow flats and mangrove shorelines casting 12 Fathoms lures 3" Fat Sam mullets on 1/16-oz and 1/8-oz jigheads. Neil was confident that we would catch a bunch of redfish early, then switch over to catching flounder, jacks, and ladyfish later as the sun rose higher. He had no serious thoughts of nailing snook. Those predictions were completely turned around. Neil caught 1 small redfish, and I caught none. We caught no flounder, jacks, or ladyfish. But we found snook in numbers. Over 90 minutes, I caught 8 snook up to 20". They hit hard and swim around aggressively before coming to the boat. All were released. Neil caught several others. He said that was his best day catching snook with clients in 4 years.
002.jpg IMAG1720.jpg IMAG1727.jpg IMAG1729.jpg
We each caught two specs and a few hardhead catfish. Catching so many snook was a lot of fun -- I was disappointed not to catch any reds, but the day was very enjoyable.
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