Beaches Best For Summer Snook
by Capt. Bill Miller

Summer finds big snook like this one along Gulf Coast beaches, usually close to the passes. ( Photo by David A. Brown)

Snook are Florida's premier inshore species and summer is a great time to fish for them. You have options for where to find these hard-fighting fish but it comes down to this: Do you want pretty pictures or memorable action? If you want the latter, you'll want to look for your summer snook along beaches and passes.

All along the Gulf Coast this time of year, snook will cruise the beaches - sometimes literally at your feet. Walk - not boat, walk - along the shore as the sun first rises with a fly rod or a light spinning rod and your chances of hooking a snook are good. The snook will be so close to the water's edge that they're almost too shallow for most boats. This, however, puts them within easy range of land-based anglers.

In most cases, you'll do best by casting parallel to the beach because the snook will mostly cruise this lane. If you can see the fish, cast in front of them; if you can't, start with parallel casts and work outward toward the sandbar. If you don’t get bit, keep moving down the beach and use this same casting strategy.

When to Fish: After about 10 a.m. the action slows down due to boat and wading traffic, so I like fishing early mornings. However, if the wind is calm, the fishing can be good all day. Snook will bite on incoming tides, but the outgoing cycle is usually better. For big snook, the best time period is a hard outgoing tide on the evening of a new or full moon.

Where to Fish: Most of the beach snook are smaller fish, but you'll find the bigger ones closer to the passes where you can wade to the beach points or approach by boat. Top areas for the Central Gulf Coast include Hurricane Pass, the swash on either end of Anclote Key and Honeymoon Island, the Clearwater Pass jetties, Johns Pass, Blind Pass, Pass-A-Grille Pass, and Longboat Pass. These areas are where the big spawners congregate, so your chances of encountering a giant fish are highest. Passes with some type of hard structure such as a pier, bridge or rocks present prime snook habitat.

What to Throw: With spinning gear, I'll throw a white buck tail, a DOA TerrorEyz in green and silver, MirrOlure ‘Lil John (silver) on a 1/16-ounce head, MirrOlure MirrOdine Mini, or anything else that resembles a small baitfish. My favorite fly is a chartreuse and white clouser minnow. Clousers come in different weights and I like the lightest one in this shallow environment. Near the passes, my top live baits are big grass grunts, threadfin herring and horse minnows (large pilchards).

Strategy Points: Breeding schools can be sight fished along the edges of the passes. If you see the school, anchor away and make long casts upcurrent of their position and let the bait drift back to them. If you're live baiting, a few chummers might help.

If you can't see the fish, anchor along the pass edges and fish for awhile. If you don’t have any luck, move down the beach and beach and again until you find them. Remember to use heavy enough tackle to capture your snook with a short fight. You don't want to stress these fish during their spawning season, so catch them quickly, revive them if needed and release them to fight again.

For weekly fishing reports, hot tips, catch photos and lots of angling resources, visit www.billmiller.com. For fishing charters in the Tampa Bay area, call (813) 363-9927.