Catching Everglades snook comes down to finding bait, reading the tide, and presenting a natural offering to an ambush feeder that moves constantly with the water. Snook are a sneaky fish, and it is easy to sit in snook water and never catch one if you are doing a few small things wrong. In this How 2 Tuesday I bring in Captain Anthony Vargas, who runs our boat at Hawks Cay and has one of the best snook fisheries in the world right at his doorstep, to take us through it A to Z.
Listen now: press play in the player above and follow along.
Start with bait, because snook are ambush feeders and if you are not in an area with a lot of bait you probably will not find them. Captain Anthony Vargas likes live pinfish, pilchards, and shrimp, plus artificials like the white or new penny Berkley Gulp shrimp and a Rapala twitching mullet. On a high tide he pitches baits tight to the mangroves and tree debris where snook hide and ambush; on a low tide he works the troughs on the edges of islands and channels where bait gets pushed off the flats. The snook move with the tide, so you have to move with them.
On a high tide, snook tuck up under the mangroves, tree debris, and shorelines, using the extra water as cover to ambush bait, so you pitch right up against the structure. On a low tide, all the bait drains off the flats and out from under the mangroves, and the snook drop back into the troughs along the edges of islands and in the channels to wait for it. A spot loaded with snook on the high tide can be bone dry an hour later, which is why so many anglers strike out fishing the right place at the wrong stage of the tide.
Live pinfish, pilchards, and shrimp are Vargas's go-to live baits. For artificials he likes the Berkley Gulp shrimp in white and new penny, and a Rapala twitching mullet, a slow-suspending hard plastic that sinks, rattles, and shines as you twitch it, which the bigger snook love. He also throws paddle tails and jerk baits along the shorelines. The slow-sinking twitching mullet is better suited to experienced anglers, since a beginner can leave the bail open and get tangled; a jig and shrimp is more beginner-friendly.
For high-tide fishing tight to the trees, Vargas uses live pinfish or pilchards on twenty-four inches of thirty to forty pound fluorocarbon leader for a clear, natural presentation. He matches the hook to the bait size, running roughly a two-aught to four-aught circle, and has had great luck with Owner Mutu light circle hooks that pin the snook in the corner of the mouth almost every time. Match the hook to the bait: too big a hook on a small bait kills the natural swim, and too small a hook on a big bait gets buried.
Because snook are sneaky, and doing one little thing slightly wrong can shut down the whole bite. The two most common mistakes are fishing where there is no bait, since these ambush feeders follow the bait, and fishing the right spot at the wrong tide, after the fish have already moved out with the falling or rising water. Snook also demand a very natural presentation; they see well and they are smart, so an unnatural-looking bait or the wrong-sized hook will get refused. Find the bait, match the tide, and present naturally.
Most guides treat snook as a catch-and-release game fish, even though there is a regulated season and a tight twenty-eight to thirty-two inch slot. A bad cold front knocked the population down years ago and the stocks are still rebuilding, so with as many people fishing the Everglades as there are, it is good practice to release them. If you want to keep something to eat, there are plenty of snappers; you can stop by almost any mangrove on the way home and catch a couple of legal ones. Always check the current FWC regulations before you keep a fish.
Here are the steps Anthony and I walk through. We cover the details and stories behind each one in the episode.
We unpack each of these in the episode. Press play in the player above.
Anthony nails it right away: snook are ambush feeders, and if you are not in an area with a lot of bait, you probably will not find them. We get into exactly what to look for, mullet making muds, shrimp popping the surface, pilchards flipping along the shoreline, and how that bait tells you where the fish are. I walk through it with him in the episode, so press play in the player above.
The single biggest reason people strike out on snook is fishing the right spot at the wrong stage of the tide. A flat loaded with fish on the high can be dry an hour later, and those snook have already slid into the troughs to wait for the draining bait. Anthony explains how he times his spots in the episode, so press play in the player above.
Anthony has a jig-and-shrimp rig he will hand to a kid or a first-timer to keep the rod bent, and a slow-sinking Rapala twitching mullet he saves for experienced hands who will not leave the bail open. He breaks down his leaders, hooks, and lure choices in the episode, so press play in the player above.
The Everglades are full of snook, and you can find them almost anywhere if you find the bait, read the tide, and present naturally. Anthony just gave away a lot of hard-won knowledge here.
Most of us release our snook as a game fish while the stocks keep rebuilding, and there are plenty of snappers to keep if you want dinner. Check the current FWC regulations before you keep anything. Press play in the player above.
How 2 Tuesday is my weekly series where I break down one fishing skill at a time, from knots and casting to gear, tactics, and the habits that make you a better angler. Watch and listen to every How 2 Tuesday episode from Tom Rowland.
Captain Anthony Vargas · snook · Everglades · Hawks Cay · pinfish · pilchards · live shrimp · Berkley Gulp shrimp · Rapala twitching mullet · Owner Mutu circle hooks · fluorocarbon leader · FWC · How 2 Tuesday · Saltwater Experience
I'm Tom Rowland, a professional fishing guide based in the Florida Keys, host of the Tom Rowland Podcast, and the longtime host of the Saltwater Experience television show. On the podcast's How 2 Tuesday series I break down one practical skill or lesson at a time, from fishing technique and gear to the habits that make you a better angler, in short, focused episodes you can put to use right away.
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