FSUFish Posted January 26, 2015 Posted January 26, 2015 Search didn't turn up much, so I thought having this topic would be nice for some discussion. Who here fishes for these? This weekend in north Florida I'll be tossing MirroLures and weightless flukes over hard bottom for reds and a jig and paddletail in creeks for trout. Ready for warmer weather! Quote
Catch 22 Posted January 26, 2015 Posted January 26, 2015 I never caught a snook ,but I love fishing reds & trout.A friend was down in Charleston,SC for the last two weeks. In ten days of fishing they caught only one red,even with a guide one day. The cold water has them shut down and the local salts have landed very few.. They saw lots of reds pushing but would take nothing.I was supposed to join him but declined the 9 hr drive to wait for better conditions. No expert status here but my favorite lure would be 3" paddle tails C22 Quote
Super User Chris at Tech Posted January 26, 2015 Super User Posted January 26, 2015 This guy right here! My folks are retired in Hilton Head SC so I fish the marshes for reds and trout every chance I get. Snook have eluded me so far on a few trips to Florida, one of which was after that freeze in FL, which took quite a toll on the snook population. It's killing me that I haven't knocked that one off my bucket list yet. Quote
FloridaFishinFool Posted January 26, 2015 Posted January 26, 2015 I grew up in Jacksonville and that area is not known for big snook. They are quite a bit further South. They do catch snook up there, but not as much or as large or as often as found further South. As I recall, Jacksonville was kingfish and redfish mostly. Go a couple hundred miles South of Jacksonville and this is what we catch down in South Florida. On this trip we caught about 30 plus all close to this size and missed hooking just as many more in less than 3 hours- on live bait though... I don't think I have ever heard of snook this size caught in Jacksonville area, but I am sure it is possible... 6 Quote
kikstand454 Posted January 26, 2015 Posted January 26, 2015 Alright! A thread I can contribute to! I live in N.Fla and I kayak fish reds/trout/flounder year around. Fsufish, I assume we live in the same area? I work at fsu. Lol. Are you a BBF member? FCKA? Quote
Helluva_Engineer Posted January 26, 2015 Posted January 26, 2015 All you need is mirrolures...vary the size/color, but mirrolure works well for both fish. Try to find the sand to grass transition. Quote
FSUFish Posted January 26, 2015 Author Posted January 26, 2015 Hell of a fish FloridaFishinFool! I don't fish for snook because theyre not around this area, but I figured theyre similar enough for the thread. Helluva_Engineer, can't beat a mirrolure...every single one catches fish kikstand...I just graduated from there, and now I'm living for a while down at Keaton beach. Are you a professor? No, I'm not a member of either but have been planning on joining NFGFC. Quote
kikstand454 Posted January 27, 2015 Posted January 27, 2015 No, I'm staff, not faculty. Keaton is an awesome area for trout! Never- EVER discount a topwater in our area. The fish will hit it all day, all year. 1 Quote
Super User SirSnookalot Posted January 27, 2015 Super User Posted January 27, 2015 We don't have redfish here but I've caught enough of them to be able to compare them to snook. There are quite a bit of similarities as far as lures go, just about anything works. The key is whether they are feeding or not, there can be a ton of snook around and it's easy to go hitless, or get a strike on nearly every cast. I've used every lure mentioned and some not, don't ever overlook a spoon. If I were to make a short list of lures this is what I'd be using, gold spoon redfish, silver spoon snook, bucktails, jerk shad on a jig head (might be my #1 pick), twitchbait like a mirrorlure and topwater. Biggest snook I ever saw was caught off the beach at Juno on a Yozuri magnum, every bit of 40# +, my biggest was 35# caught on the jettie at the Boynton inlet on a jerk shad, med redbone cardinal 802, have had jacks spool me on the same set up. 1 Quote
0119 Posted January 27, 2015 Posted January 27, 2015 Been a lousy year for snook here. Cold early in winter moved them to river mouths but then it got hot now for a month or more. They seemed to have moved half way back out towards near shore. Hard to find and not much size to them. Quote
FSUFish Posted January 28, 2015 Author Posted January 28, 2015 Its been real tough up this way too. Apart from an occasional kayak trip or some bass fishing with my brother, its been reel cleaning and boat maintenance season for me! What does everyone throw rods/reels/line wise? Quote
riverbasser13 Posted January 29, 2015 Posted January 29, 2015 Dayum that is a monster snook!! Good idea for a thread, I love catching all three of those kinds of fish. I grew up in central Florida fishing for bass inland,then heading to the saltwater on the weekends and holidays. Hooking into a big red or gator trout is awesome but snook are in a class of their own. My saltwater background is why I still bass fish with all spinning gear. My favorite three lures: DOA Shrimps, Mirrolure twitch baits, and a rattle float with a nice frisky finger mullet. I live in upstate South Carolina now, and am definitely jealous of my buddies who get to fish mosquito lagoon or N Indian river on the weekends. 1 Quote
kikstand454 Posted January 29, 2015 Posted January 29, 2015 Hahha. .. My bass background is why I fish inshore with baitcasters. I think I'm finally going to get out this weekend and chase some reds. .... Im going to a new area and there are rumors of small tarpon and stripers/hybrids. We shall see. ... I will report back for sure. Quote
Super User SirSnookalot Posted January 29, 2015 Super User Posted January 29, 2015 I think my inshore saltwater fishing has improved my bass fishing. I seem to be much more aware of what's going on me, I do less blind casting. 1 Quote
FSUFish Posted January 29, 2015 Author Posted January 29, 2015 I throw both types of tackle, but still mostly spinning. 7'6" med or medlight rods, 2500 reels, 4" yozuri or 10# braid. I've always felt that bass fishing is easier than flats fishing, but I'm not a very good bass fisherman, so I could be completely wrong haha. Quote
kikstand454 Posted January 29, 2015 Posted January 29, 2015 ^^^^^ see, I feel the exact opposite! 2 Quote
FSUFish Posted February 2, 2015 Author Posted February 2, 2015 Fished 5 creeks today, not much luck. But it was 20-25 mph winds and murky water, so we did what we could. Maybe next weekend! My new oil and grease came in, so this week I'll be servicing tackle for spring Quote
Super User SirSnookalot Posted February 2, 2015 Super User Posted February 2, 2015 I throw both types of tackle, but still mostly spinning. 7'6" med or medlight rods, 2500 reels, 4" yozuri or 10# braid. I've always felt that bass fishing is easier than flats fishing, but I'm not a very good bass fisherman, so I could be completely wrong haha. You're not wrong or right. With as much similarity with bass and inshore fishing there are big differences too. Many of the bass waters I fish are landlocked, the bass are always there, doesn't mean they are always striking. Without addressing variables like tide and baitfish, inshore fish just may not be in the area. Pretty hard to catch a fish when none are around. At certain times bass fishing is easier and at other times inshore fishing is easier. A little tip with inshore fishing, with some species of fish that are busting don't cast to where they are. By the time the lure hits the water they're gone, cast to where you think they will be. 1 Quote
0119 Posted February 3, 2015 Posted February 3, 2015 I've always felt that bass fishing is easier than flats fishing It is easier than flats fishing. The flats are mostly devoid of visible targets/structure to cast at. Much of the flats grass' is gone forever, destroyed by runoff and malicious boat operators. Its mostly sight oriented and completely reliant on tide. But flats fishing is only a very small part of saltwater fishing. Those creeks you just fished are the ticket this time of year. Look for dark bottom or brown tannin stained water that'll be warmer. 1 Quote
notevenanibble Posted February 3, 2015 Posted February 3, 2015 Dayum that is a monster snook!! Good idea for a thread, I love catching all three of those kinds of fish. I grew up in central Florida fishing for bass inland,then heading to the saltwater on the weekends and holidays. Hooking into a big red or gator trout is awesome but snook are in a class of their own. My saltwater background is why I still bass fish with all spinning gear. My favorite three lures: DOA Shrimps, Mirrolure twitch baits, and a rattle float with a nice frisky finger mullet. I live in upstate South Carolina now, and am definitely jealous of my buddies who get to fish mosquito lagoon or N Indian river on the weekends. I was in Mountain Rest just last week. There is a nice fly shop there. Missed a chance to go to Savannah and Buford a few times recently. Hoping to spend a few weekends out there this coming spring. dividing my priorities between, trout, bass, and inshore will not be easy. 1 Quote
FSUFish Posted February 4, 2015 Author Posted February 4, 2015 I have a friend, captain vince, from savannah. He comes down this way all the time and outfishes all the locals. Very meticulous. Id love to fish out of savannah for a weekend. Quote
heyitskirby Posted February 8, 2015 Posted February 8, 2015 I live in a freshwater world and because of that light tackle is my favorite thing. I hate a deep sea trip with big gear and only tolerate big gear when going out for rockfish in the Chesapeake Bay as that is what my friends tend to use. So from my various travels I have found that redfish are my absolute favorite to target and to be honest I hate bass fishing (am I in the wrong place or am I tired of spending money on it?). I have never had the chance to fish snook but it is probably on top of my bucket list of fish to catch. I've always wondered and I'm obviously in the right place for this question.....What's the comparison of fight for snook versus a redfish? 1 Quote
Super User SirSnookalot Posted February 8, 2015 Super User Posted February 8, 2015 I'd personally give the edge to snook over redfish and saltwater stripers. All 3 of those fish don't even come close to a jack, permit or tarpon, a totally different league. Quote
riverbasser13 Posted February 10, 2015 Posted February 10, 2015 I think I'd have agree with snooksalot, snook\reds\jacks all have different fighting styles and they are all fun as heck to catch. Whenever I fish inshore saltwater I'm pretty happy with whatever I catch. Except maybe too many catfish. @notevenanibble, I'm kinda in the same dilemma haha, I guess it's nice to be spoiled for choices. I'm trying to pull off a cape romaine trip once work slows down, I've heard they have great fishing out there. That fly shop is nice, the folks that run it are super nice. Quote
notevenanibble Posted February 11, 2015 Posted February 11, 2015 I think I'd have agree with snooksalot, snook\reds\jacks all have different fighting styles and they are all fun as heck to catch. Whenever I fish inshore saltwater I'm pretty happy with whatever I catch. Except maybe too many catfish. @notevenanibble, I'm kinda in the same dilemma haha, I guess it's nice to be spoiled for choices. I'm trying to pull off a cape romaine trip once work slows down, I've heard they have great fishing out there. That fly shop is nice, the folks that run it are super nice. Carl is a good guy. gives good info on those rivers. i've been flyfishing in western nc and soon in east tennessee, so I don't get to head that way much. Quote
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