Bassn Blvd

I'll give you my favorite ICW snapper hole. Travel north in the ICW from Blue Heron bridge. Go to the mouth of the Irman River (I think it's the Irman). There is a BIG hole just inside the channel(west side of channel) that holds magrove snapper from small to 4 pounds. The spot also holds grouper. I believe it gets around 25+' deep around high tide. I haven't fished that area in many years but I use to tear'em up there on cut sardines.

I bass fish all year. In addition to bass fishing, I concentrate on snook fishing from Sept through December and again in March/April. As a treat,haha, I will occasionaly drive to the Indian River for trout and snook between now and April, more specifically when the air temp stays below 85 all day. S.Florida offers such a wide variety of different species all year that you can easily fish yourself sick, haha. The only two times during the year that I absolutely "target" or plan a mini vacation for myself is when the mullet run takes place along our beaches. The mullet run offers a ton of excitement and is a blast to watch the fish blow'em up. The other time is from Jan-March during the bass spawn.

Dock fishing a canal that leads to the ICW can and will produce Snook. That situation will be productive if the docks are lighted. As mentioned earlier, Snook ambush their bait. Snook hide just inside the shadow and wait for bait to float by. This is why lights and moving water are important. I would fish the dock during the time /tide period I mentioned in the last post. Use live shrimp, mullet or and assortment of artificial that SirSnook mentioned. Mirror lures would be my first choice.

White or white/yellow skirt and silver blades

River side. I look forward to a "change of scenery" and haven't been to the river in a couple years. Hopefully it's still holding grass. I used get up there 3-4 times a year for trout and snook. Is the Snook Nook bait and tackle still around?

You might use your bonus or whatever you save to pay off your debt, but chances are that you're just going to run your debt up again. I'd choose time with my kids over time with the wife. It's cold to say but kids are important. Wives come and go, but kids need their parent(s). How is your relationship with the wife? Remember, you can't predict the future or the feelings of another. You might bust your behind over seas to make the extra money, but half belongs to your wife who might pack her things and bail when you get back, leaving you with half the debt and only half your bonus. The only sure bet is your kids. I'm not in the military or your situation, but I'd probably reinlist if I was single and no kids. I'd more than likely stay home and not reinlist if I had kids, especially young ones.

^ You're exactly right. The Capt'n aint sittin' back sipping martinins when you're targeting big fish on small gear. I'm anxious about us going to the power plant up in Jenson Beach. Wading is fun but we'll take my boat.

THE single most important thing is that you having moving water. Some anglers like out going tide while others like incoming tide. Either case, fish moving water. I plan my trips the last hour to hour and a hlaf of the incoming tide and first hour to hour and a half of the outgoing tide. I'll stay home if I can't fish those times. Some people fish the entire outgoing tide. Me personally, I have to be in a certain location to continue fishing beyond four hours of the outgoing tide, usually the inlet or beach.

Croakers are caught on little pieces of fresh cut shrimp or squid and a little hook. They make a "croaking" sound when you catch'em. Snook will will go out of their way to eat a croaker. Make sure you use live shrimp if you use shrimp for Snook.

Kent, Miami is NOT part of Florida. Flordia stops being Florida when you reach Miami and starts up again once you hit the Keys,

I would never buy live mullet. Mullet are plentiful and very easy to catch with a castnet. The only live bait I buy for Snook is shrimp, and that's only when the mullet and sandperch aren't around. To answer your question, yes, mullet are good for snook. Both silver and black mullet. IMO, the best live bait for big snook on the beaches and inlets are live Croakers. Pinfish come in 2nd, then Mullet and Sandperch.

Bro, That's not a bad day, it's a fricking hilarious day. Atleast to us, anyway

Stu, Great morning. The walk back and forth from the rock had to suck, thank goodness for the adrenaline(sp) rush, haha. Might be a good idea to carry that extra spool we talked about. Trust me, I have the proper equipment to handle any type of Snook and inshore fishing there is, but using lightweight tackle is an art, which I'm very confident in. One of the biggest problems is that you never know what you're going to catch, even when you target a specific species, haha. I was on the boat slaughtering the Spanish Mack's with #6 and #8 mono when all of sudden my SM started stripping me. I was like "what the heck, this can't be." We chased the fish down with the boat, hoping I had an IGFA record kingfish on light line, only to find about a 250 pound porpoise had eatin the SM that I had been reeling in.

but didn't stay long, haha. SirSnook and I met at the beach this morning about a half hour before daybreak to have a little fun in the surf. This morning's action was just a drop in the bucket compared to what it's going to be like in a month from now, give or take a week. We were amongst a half dozen other fishermen who lined the shore excitingly anticipating the rising of the sun and arrival of the bait fish. Experience has proven that retrieving your lure through the surf before the sun broke the horizon would be fruitless so we boasted about last week’s catch to help pass the time. Other than the small waves smashing against the beach, the ocean appeared lifeless. Then, like clockwork, the bait appeared just as the sun's rays lit up the horizon. The bait being ambushed against the shore by its predators gave the illusion that the water was boiling. I merely opened the bail to my 2500 Stradic and allowed my lure to free fall straight into the chaos. My lure was engulfed by a juvenile Jack Crevalle before I could close the bail. The screaming of my drag and the squawking of the pelicans overhead was music to my ears. My mind easily slipped away from life's little worries and into a world of bliss as a hundred yards of twenty pound braid instantly peeled off of my reel. My adversary was about five pounds shy of giving me a solid workout . Another ten pounds and I would have been completely at her mercy with the gear I was using. But, being the professional angler that I am , I had her conquered and in my hands within a couple of minutes. Sadly, the action was over just as fast as it arrived, but the memory of the morning and good company of a friend lasted all day. Thank you, SirSnook. Doug

The Abu Veritas compared to St Croix or Loomis as having top components is a joke.

I don't think you took me this way, but I didn't mean to sound snooty, haha. If you ever get a chance to fish the NRX or high end Croix then take the chance. They are very nice rods, but not necesarry to catch fish.

Best advice

The rods you fish aren't even close to being in the same ballpark as St. Croix's top line of rod or the NRX, GLX.

I've fished both and have built both. Loomis and St. Croix both make a nice, quality rod, but you have to purchase from the top of their line, IMX and above.Gl2, Gl3, Mojo, Rage, etc, are money pits in my opinion. For a few more dollars you could have a much finer rod.

I think you're taking the wrong approach. You're not studying for finals, you're going fishing. Take your rods and gear and have fun. Unless you have inside information on what's been hot lately, then experiment and try different techniques. You can almost never go wrong with a sotf plastic of some sort between purple and black, a 3-6' depth crank bait in shad to chartreuse color,

That's why you need to use Skin So Soft. SSS doesnt stink, repels mosquitos as good as Off and is probably better for you than that acid OFF.

The rods are easy, I'd go with all custom. I'd probably build my own after investing in top building equipment, or build my own wrapping machine. The problem with custonm is finding the blanks that you like. I fish NRX, but can I buy the NRX blank? If not, then what blank can I buy that is on par with the NRX? Dobyns makes a very nice looking rod. I don't have any Dobyns, but I think I like their look more than the NRX. I'm not saying they fish better, just look nice. I almost bought a couple Megabass rods but I just couldn't do it without seeing their rods in person. Another problem with custom is finding someone who REALLY knows how to properly assemble a rod. Pretty colors and nice components won't make the rod fish right if it's not built correctly. I would concentrate on reels. I'd like to get a couple tricked out Calcuttas, Megabass and few others that would easily be in the 1k range, or close to it. I couldn't imagine pairing one of those reels with a factory, boring looking rod, regardless of the maufacturer.

I've caught more bass on original Rattle Traps (chrome/black or blue back 1/4-1/2 ounce) than any other hard bait, and that's ALOT. That was until the company went and changed their hook style a few years ago. I still buy R-traps but change out the hooks, which I think is BS. The new hooks are the blame for TONS of misses, the hooks flat out SUCK! R-traps are also a good bait for Snook and Spotted Sea Trout.

I might be wrong but that looks like a strawberry grouper, which don't get any bigger than the one you caught. Super, super delicious.

X2, without holding back. haha