Tom Rowland Podcast Episode 374 is my how-to conversation with Captain Ryan Nitz, a Jupiter, Florida guide famous for catching giant snook up to 48 inches. We go through snook fishing from A to Z: where to find smaller snook around docks, the lures and live baits that produce, the leader and circle-hook setup he trusts for big fish, why moving water and a dead low tide matter so much, and how to revive a snook properly so it survives the release.
Listen now: Apple Podcasts · Spotify · YouTube · Press play in the player above to watch.
Captain Ryan Nitz is a fishing guide based in Jupiter, Florida, known for catching giant snook up to 48 inches. He started snook fishing as a kid, catching 12-inch fish on crappie jigs, and even fished from a canoe with a trolling motor before becoming a full-time guide. Tom Rowland fished with him for an episode of Saltwater Experience.
Ryan targets big snook with live bait, especially mullet, on a 60-pound fluorocarbon leader and a 7/0 circle hook. He often trolls a live mullet about 30 feet behind the boat to locate fish, fishes moving water, and favors a dead low tide when snook are out hunting on sandbars and in the channels.
For big fish, Ryan uses 60-pound fluorocarbon leader, 7/0 Owner Mutu Light circle hooks, and a larger 6,000-size reel so he can land fish quickly. For smaller slot-sized snook he scales down to 30-to-40-pound leader and a 1/0 circle hook, matched to the bait, and uses lures like Yo-Zuris, X-Raps, paddle tails, and shrimp.
Ryan's favorite tide is a dead low, when snook lose half the water they hide in and concentrate on sandbars and in channels. He looks for bait and birds, especially ospreys and blue herons, because where there is mullet, there are snook. A snook sitting on a sandbar is hunting and will almost always eat.
Ryan stresses using gear heavy enough to land fish fast so they do not build up too much acid, then reviving them fully before release, especially in low-oxygen backcountry water and where bull sharks are present in Jupiter. Letting a snook gently hold your thumb until it kicks off on its own is a good gauge that it is ready to swim away.
Tom Rowland Podcast Episode 374 with Captain Ryan Nitz is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and iHeartRadio. The video version is embedded at the top of this page.
I followed Ryan on Instagram and could not believe the snook he was catching, especially when he was doing it out of a canoe. A big snook is a dream fish for so many people, and it was a dream fish for me. I went down to fish with him for Saltwater Experience and caught one of those giants myself, the photo I chose for the podcast artwork. I had to get him on to break down exactly how he does it. Press play in the YouTube player at the top of this page.
Ryan did not start out catching 40-inch fish. He started at 12, riding his bike to a side pond and catching little snook on crappie jigs, then worked his way up the food chain, including a stretch fishing from a canoe and trolling motor he put together for under five hundred dollars. He explains how a beginner can do the same thing today. Listen to that section in the player above.
Ryan describes snook as almost the same fish as a largemouth bass. They love structure, current, and bait, and a lot of bass tactics carry straight over. He breaks down dock skipping with shrimp and paddle tails, the lures he likes, and why moving water is everything. If you are coming from freshwater, this is the part to hear.
For giants, Ryan goes to live bait, especially mullet, on 60-pound fluorocarbon and a 7/0 circle hook, and he often trolls a mullet behind the boat to find them. He explains why leader choice makes or breaks a big-snook day and why circle hooks protect both the fish and the angler. Press play in the YouTube player above.
Ryan fishes a dead low tide, watches for ospreys and blue herons, and is passionate about reviving fish properly, especially with Jupiter's bull sharks waiting on a weak release. He gets specific about how to land a fish fast and send it off strong. Listen to how he frames it in the episode.
Listen to the full conversation: Apple Podcasts · Spotify · or watch in the YouTube player at the top of this page.
What I love about Ryan is that he earned every bit of this. He went from a kid on a bike with crappie jigs to one of the best big-snook guides in Florida, and he is generous with what he knows.
If you have ever wanted to catch a trophy snook, this episode is a clinic, and it might just talk you into a trip to Jupiter.
Press play in the player above, or grab Episode 374 on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
The Tom Rowland Podcast brings you long-form conversations with the most accomplished anglers, hunters, conservationists, and outdoor professionals in the game. Listen to every full-length Tom Rowland Podcast interview.
Captain Ryan Nitz · Jupiter, Florida · Saltwater Experience · Yo-Zuri · X-Rap · Owner Mutu Light circle hooks · snook · mullet
Captain Ryan Nitz is a Jupiter, Florida fishing guide who specializes in catching giant snook, with personal fish up to 48 inches. He started fishing as a kid and worked his way up from a canoe to a full guide operation, and is known for his deep knowledge of snook behavior, tackle, and conservation-minded release practices.
Full transcript of the Tom Rowland Podcast, Episode 374, Capt. Ryan Nitz on how to catch giant snook in Jupiter, Florida.
Tom Rowland: What's going on, everybody? It's How2Tuesday. Got another great one for you today with my friend Ryan Nitz. Ryan Nitz is known as a guy that catches a lot of big snook. I had to go see it for myself because I followed him on Instagram, and I saw all of these cool videos. He used to fish out of a canoe, which was really interesting to me — that he was catching these giant fish out of a canoe — and I had to go see it for myself. So I started talking to him. We got to be friends across the internet, and later got to meet and do an episode of Saltwater Experience. And even on the podcast, the picture I chose for the podcast artwork is me catching a snook with Ryan Nitz. It's just cool. The fish that he catches are larger than our typical fish in the Florida Keys. It was a dream fish for me to be able to go catch one of those, and Ryan just has a way of catching these large snook. So I wanted to get him on the podcast today and talk not only about large snook, but about how to target snook in general — that's kind of his fish, and he has an interesting perspective on it. So, Ryan, man, how are you doing today? First of all, it's good to see you, and I appreciate you doing this with us.
Ryan Nitz: Absolutely. It's good to see you again. Thanks for having me again.
Tom Rowland: Yeah, absolutely. I'll talk about that show that we did — it was one of my favorite shows. It was just so different, and you were awesome and shared your knowledge with us. So I'm hoping we can do the same with the podcast. We have a lot of people interested in snook, and catching a snook like what you catch is a dream fish for so many people. But let's talk about snook in your opinion, just kind of A to Z. The small ones — how do you target snook in general? And then, after we get through with that, if somebody wanted to go after a big one, what would your recommendations be?
Ryan Nitz: Well, absolutely. I mean, I didn't start out catching 40-inch snook — that wasn't the case. When I first started snook fishing, I started small. I used to ride my bike when I was 12 down to a little side pond off the main river, and I used to throw little baby crappie jigs, and I would catch 12-inch snook all day long. That's how I started. Sooner or later you work your way up the food chain, and now I'm here catching 48-inchers. But starting out snook fishing — a snook is just like a bass, they're almost the same exact fish. So if you're a bass fisherman, a lot of that applies to snook fishing. They like structure, they like current, they like a lot of bait, they like whatever they can get their hands on. So when you're targeting fish, I think the biggest thing is moving water. I like getting a lot of current, a lot of flow coming in and out. I've found you can catch snook in stagnant water, but not in the numbers you get in moving water.
Small Yo-Zuris and X-Raps are probably the best thing to start locating small snook. Where I live in Jupiter, it's a pretty unique area — it's not like the Everglades, there's not really too many mangroves where I live. It's a lot of docks. Docks are pretty much the key to small snook around here, and every dock has probably a few snook under it. The way you catch those is by skipping baits under there. You can't really skip a Yo-Zuri, so what I'd recommend is a paddle tail or a shrimp — there are a lot of new companies out there that make great shrimp baits, some with weights built in. You can whip them way under a dock and you can't hurt the thing. Not everyone has the luxury of buying a boat — I went out and got a canoe and a trolling motor, and I was out there for under $500. So you can get in a canoe and start skipping baby shrimp under these docks and start catching twenty, twenty-five inch fish on the regular.
Ryan Nitz: Now, when you work your way up the chart, live bait is key for me. Being a guide especially, live bait is going to be your best friend — mullet, in particular. When a snook gets to 40 inches, that fish is probably 20 years old, and he's been around and seen a few things, so having live bait is going to be your best friend. You can use ladyfish, mullet, pinfish, greenies — anything that wiggles, the snook will eat. I've caught them on needlefish. I've caught them on pretty much anything, so whatever live bait you can get your hands on, that's good.
When you're targeting big snook, leader is everything. Don't go targeting big snook on 30-pound leader — don't do it, you're not going to catch them. Sixty-pound fluorocarbon is what I use for the big fish. A 7/0 circle hook — I'm a big user of circle hooks, mostly because I'm a guide, and a lot of people don't know when they physically feel the hit. If you're using a live mullet and you're not paying attention, and you have a big J-hook, and a snook eats it and thirty seconds later you feel it, that J-hook is going to be gone into the snook's throat. So I'm a big user of circle hooks. I like to hook mullet in the face because a lot of times I'm trolling them — you can troll a mullet behind the boat, and it's super effective. Probably the number one effective way of finding snook is trolling a mullet 30 feet behind the boat. You just troll around for twenty minutes, you'll catch some, and then you can stop there and work your way from there.
Tom Rowland: When you're doing that trolling, do you do that with a big motor or the trolling motor?
Ryan Nitz: It doesn't matter — the snook do not care. They're not boat shy at all. They're not like a redfish. That motor could be an old two-stroke making as much noise, and I've seen them come up and eat right there at the propeller. Same with the tarpon we have around here — they're not bow shy either, they'll come and slap the boat eating a mullet. So, mangroves — if you do have mangroves around where you live, that is probably the best estuary for small snook, so I would start there. Like I said, I don't really have the luxury of that here — it's mostly docks and million-dollar houses and seawalls.
Ryan Nitz: Sandbars — when you see a snook on a sandbar, 100% he is going to eat. When a snook is on a sandbar, he is doing one thing and one thing only, and he is hunting. So what I like to do — my favorite tide is a dead low. When you're fishing a dead low tide, that's half the water they can hide in. All the mullet aren't up high, they're not in the mangroves, they're not around the docks — they're all out in the channel and on the sandbars. So if you're going out snook fishing for the first time, wait for a dead low, go out there, find the bait, find the birds. If you see an osprey or a blue heron, pay attention — those two birds are like a frigate bird out in the ocean. If you see a blue heron or an osprey, that means there's mullet, and if there's mullet, there's snook. That all goes hand in hand.
Tom Rowland: Let's go back to the setup real quick. You said a 7/0 circle hook — is there a particular brand that you like?
Ryan Nitz: Yeah, I like the Owner Mutu Light, or just the regular ones. I'm a pretty big fan of Owner. They all work, they all have their flaws — I've broken hooks on all of them, so there's not really one I like over the other, but probably Owner. I stick with them most over any of the others.
Tom Rowland: Okay. And then as you start targeting smaller snook — maybe you're not ready for the big snook yet, or you haven't quite made it that far in your fishing career, and you're targeting smaller snook with smaller live baits — how do you adjust the hook size and leader size for, let's say, twenty to twenty-five inch fish where you're catching lots of numbers?
Ryan Nitz: So basically it's the same setup, just smaller. If you're targeting slot-sized fish, twenty to thirty inch fish, I would use probably 30 to 40-pound leader — 40-pound probably being the best — with a 1/0 circle hook. It all depends on the bait you're using. If you're using a shrimp, you're going to want the smallest hook you can use, because a shrimp can't effectively carry anything much bigger than a 1/0 hook. A mullet is a hearty bait — you can throw a big hook on that thing and it'll carry it around pretty good, so I do like a 7/0 hook for mullet. It's relative to what you're using for bait, but don't be afraid to use a small hook. A lot of times you could throw a 1/0 hook in a decent-sized mullet and it still works, and it'll get the bite, because I've seen snook so many times come up to a live bait and just put their nose in it and look — they see the line, they see the hook, and they'll just veer off. So when that starts happening, that's when you're going to want to downsize.
I'm big on not using anything too light. If you're fishing for a big snook on a 3,000-size reel in the backcountry, you're going to kill that fish — don't do that. There's not a lot of oxygen back there in the backcountry, so I like to use a 6,000-size reel.
Tom Rowland: Just to be clear, when you say that about a 3,000-size reel, why would that kill the fish — just so people understand what you're talking about?
Ryan Nitz: When you've got a small reel and you hook into a giant fish, it's going to take a lot longer to catch him — it's going to take ten minutes. During that ten-minute battle, that fish is building up a lot of acid, and it's just beat. When you put him back into those low-oxygen backcountry areas and don't give him a proper revival, he's going to die. So what I like to do is beef up my gear a little bit, and you're going to get those fish in half the time, and they're still going to have some life in them — you're not fighting them to the death. Now, that switches if you're out there on the ocean. We get snook out on the ocean and on the beaches, and those fish are a whole other animal out there — they've got a lot of life in them. You can fish them on fly rods and they'll be fine. So just be careful with where you're at and pay attention.
Ryan Nitz: The big thing around here — I hate when you get people out here who just throw the snook back, and you'll see them belly up 30 feet behind the boat because they didn't revive them. Or you get these guys on the bridges who will bring a snook up in a bridge net and then just throw it off the bridge. I hate that — it drives me, it makes my blood boil. Do not do that if you're watching this.
Tom Rowland: Yeah, they do need — I mean, a snook is a pretty hardy fish, but any fish, even a big tarpon, if you let them go and they just sink to the bottom and no water is moving through their gills, they're not getting any oxygen, and they will just lay there and die. Sometimes it's as easy as pushing them with your rod tip just a little bit to get them moving. But those are good tips on reviving them. And snook are a really interesting fish — the old trick of letting them hold on to your thumb until they're ready to go is a really good one. They will literally just bite down gently on your thumb — I guess it depends on how big the ones you have are, I'm afraid to put my hand in their mouth, it's like an alligator — but they will still hold on to your hand or your thumb, and then when they get some strength back, they kind of go off on their own. That's a good rule of thumb, no pun intended, but it's a way you can gauge whether or not they're ready to swim off. Because if any fish just sinks to the bottom and doesn't get any air or oxygen going through its gills, it's not a very good release. So get them moving.
Ryan Nitz: And another big thing, especially in Jupiter in the last few years, is the sharks. We have a lot of bull sharks, so if you send a snook off on its way and it's not revived, that's shark food — I've seen it happen. A snook that's just barely revived, kind of sitting on top of the water, those sharks are ready to go. And even the pups, the two-to-three-foot bull sharks, can do damage — what sucks is those sharks will kill a 45-inch snook because they'll just come up and nibble on its tail, and it'll kill the fish just because it didn't have the energy to really get away from that little shark.
Tom Rowland: Alright, great tips, man. I know that you're doing a lot of guiding these days. If somebody wanted to go experience some of the snook fishing with you, how would they do it?
Ryan Nitz: Instagram, Ryan Nitz — R-Y-A-N-N-I-T-Z — or shoot me an email, RyanNitzPhotography@gmail.com. We can catch snook all year around here, but if you want to catch a giant, May through September is prime time. We're winding down on the back end of that now, but we've got the mullet run coming in and they're still around. So May through August, that's prime time — that's when there's 40 to 45-inch fish all over the place.
Tom Rowland: Right on, man. Well, I strongly encourage you to check Ryan out — check out what he does on Instagram, and if you have the ability and the time, go down there and fish with him yourself. It's a great experience. And Ryan, thanks for doing this with us, I really appreciate it. And I'm sure that you're wearing your camo, so I'm sure you're headed out to the woods right now.
Ryan Nitz: So lucky we caught you — I just got back from the woods.
Tom Rowland: And I'm heading back out. Alright, alright, okay, alright. Thanks, man.
Ryan Nitz: We'll see you guys next week.
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