When the snook season opens at 12:01 a.m. Friday, anglers need to remember two major rule changes that took effect over the summer.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission added an inch to the snook minimum size limit and changed the way snook are measured.
The FWC increased the minimum length to keep a snook to 27 inches. The maximum length to keep a snook remains 34 inches. Previously, the slot limit for keeper snook was 26-34 inches.
The rule was passed to complement a rule change that requires snook to be measured by determining the straight-line distance from the most forward point of the head with the mouth closed to the farthest tip of the tail with the tail squeezed together, while the fish is lying on its side.
The increased minimum size limit was requested by fishing guides and anglers at a snook symposium earlier this year to compensate for the slight increase in length the new measurement rule will produce. That increase would have made snook just under the old minimum size legal to keep.
FWC biologists said that upping the minimum size to 27 inches will decrease the number of snook kept by anglers by 22 percent in Gulf Coast waters and by 12 percent on the Atlantic Coast. Keeping the maximum size unchanged will protect more big breeder snook.
South Florida anglers looking to catch snook should concentrate their efforts at local inlets and beaches. According to snook expert Tom Greene of Custom Rod and Reel in Lighthouse Point, the lack of rain at the start of the summer delayed the movement of snook to the inlets to spawn.
“The rain was late this year. Normally we get it earlier,” Greene said. “The fish went out two to three weeks late at the inlets, so there’s more fish at the inlets and on the beach. Unless we get cold weather, I know we’ll definitely get a later bite along the beach.”
Greene said pilchards have been plentiful along the beaches and anglers fishing from the beach as well as from boats were catching and releasing snook using live bait, flies, crankbaits and Storm WildEye soft-plastic baitfish imitations.
Surf anglers have done well fishing by Pompano Beach Pier, which is closed. The waters around Deerfield Beach Pier also have been productive, as have inlets from Jupiter to Miami Beach.
“Every single night there are guys getting 10-15 fish at Government Cut,” said Greene, who released a bunch of snook over 20 pounds on a recent outing at Jupiter Inlet with Capt. Steve Anderson. “Lake Worth Inlet still has a tremendous pod of fish.
“If I had a place that I had to go opening day, I’d probably go to Lake Worth Inlet because there’s more fish, more area to fish and fewer people.”
Greene added that the dropoff along the south jetty at Port Everglades Inlet, where the bottom goes from 12 to 40 feet, has produced snook for anglers bouncing a jig or soft-plastic lure on the rocky bottom or drifting with live bait on the bottom.
Standard tackle for inlet fishing is a reel spooled with 20- or 30-pound monofilament or 30- to 50-pound braided line tied to a 40- to 80-pound fluorocarbon leader. Match the size of your hook to the size of your bait. And match your bait to what the snook are eating.
Snook at Jupiter Inlet were eating croakers, herring and sardines. Pilchards have been the primary bait at Boca, Hillsboro and Port Everglades inlets. Other baits that will work well at inlets and off the beaches, and that many snook anglers overlook, are French grunts and mullet.
Greene said the 5- to 7-inch grunts, which are gray with yellow stripes, are spawning around reefs in 20-30 feet of water. Snook also hang out on those reefs — divers have confirmed their presence to Greene — and the grunts are a favorite food.
“This time of year, the snook eat them very good,” Greene said. “You can catch the grunts on squid or a piece of shrimp. To fish with them for snook, just hook them through the nose.”
SNOOK SPECIFICS
Snook season opens at 12:01 a.m. Friday and runs through Dec. 14.
Size limits: Snook cannot be less than 27 inches long or more than 34 inches long (as measured from the most forward point of the lower jaw to the tip of the tail with the tail squeezed).
Bag limit: Two snook per person per day in all state waters of the Atlantic Ocean north and east of the Miami-Dade-Monroe county line, except in waters of Everglades National Park. One snook per person per day in all state waters of the Atlantic Ocean south and west of the Miami-Dade-Monroe county line, in all state waters of the Gulf of Mexico and in waters of Everglades National Park.
Other restrictions: It is unlawful to take snook by any means other than hook-and-line. Anglers cannot use live or dead natural bait in conjunction with a treble hook. Snook cannot be bought or sold.
Licenses: Any angler needing a saltwater fishing license must also have a $2 snook stamp to possess snook. No saltwater fishing license is needed for anglers under 16, Florida residents 65 and older, Florida residents fishing in saltwater from land or from a structure fixed to the land, anglers fishing from a licensed boat or pier and Florida residents fishing for snook in fresh water from land or from a structure fixed to the land.
