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After some bitter cold weather, Southwest Florida's sub-tropical snook are happy to hear that we'll be back in the 80s and that they will survive. With this cold snap they've been having nightmares about the prolonged "big freeze" of 2010 that took out nearly half million of their distant cousins statewide.
With some nice warm afternoons ahead these fish will thankfully warm up on dark, sun-attracting mud flats, especially upriver and along shallow sandy shorelines, in cold wind-protected, bays and creeks. If you're casting a shoreline, move slowly and watch carefully and you just might get lucky and see a long as your leg giant sitting belly on the bottom, getting a solar recharge in water so shallow its dorsal fin almost breaks the surface.
Most anglers have never actually seen a snook over 40 inches up close and many will think it to be a log in the shallow water ahead, and may even try casting around it, thinking that it may be hiding a snook or redfish. Suddenly, the log sprouts fins and jets off, leaving the angler in shock at what they just witnessed.
Hardcore snook anglers have mixed opinions about even trying to fish for these big females that are already thermally stressed and are also the future of snook fishing. A long battle could easily use up what energy reserves the fish might have left and even though eventually released, might later die anyway from the stress taking a lot of eggs or future snook with her. It's your call whether to bother these bathing beauties with a cast, or to just stop and enjoy a sight that many will never witness.
One thing that really stood out after the "big freeze" and subsequent huge snook kill was in the creeks and canals I observed, where dead snook lined the waterways from bank to bank, was that the cold killed mostly all large adult specimens, meaning big females, with very few fish under 30 inches dead. Another thing that really hit me was just how many quality and lifetime trophy-sized fish had been swimming in our local waters before the big freeze, and how few of these giants were actually caught each year, by the army of anglers pursuing them. The practice of catch-and-release not only preserves fish stocks but obviously makes snook smarter as well.
If you are lucky enough to land a big female that must be released, by all means do not hang it vertically for a picture. Grip tightly by the jaw and support the fish horizontally under the belly area for a quick pic and return to the water.
Cold weather and trout fishing go hand-in-hand. Break out the bobbers and hang a live shrimp, baitfish or one of a ton of artificial grubs, paddle tails, Mister Twisters, plastic shrimp, Gulp Shrimp, artificial flies or even tiny MirrOdine hard baits below it.
Pick a 4 to 6-foot grass flat and let the breeze drift you along till you connect with a school. Loud boat noise scares trout away from you so stay quiet using the trolling motor sparingly to correct your course as you drift along.
As with the snook or any fish destined for release, careful handling, actually non-handling, is the key to survival, especially for delicate fish like trout. I watched three anglers catch quite a few trout the other day with each one wrapped in a dry towel, unhooked, then released, which is one of the worst things you can do to a fine scaled fish like trout. Wet hands only when handling trout!
Bending down your hook barbs will allow you to simply grip the hook with needlenose pliers, flip your wrist and the trout falls free without touching it.
Pompano fishing is very good and sheepshead are looking to steal the crabs, shrimp and clams from your hook.
Capt. George Tunison is a Cape Coral resident fishing guide. Contact him at 239-282-9434 or captgeorget3@aol.com.