Late Start For Snook Season

Well, for me it was a late start for Snook season this year, but better late than not at all.

I heard that the redfish bite in the Indian River was pretty good so late this afternoon I finally decided to go down to the river and wet a line.

I packed up two spinning rods and decided that if I couldn't catch anything on a Chug Bug or a Johnson Sprite gold spoon, I wasn't going to catch anything at all.

When I passed the "beach" just past the Marine Patrol station it was evident that the fish had to be biting.  There were a lot of fishermen out there dunking finger mullet and generally having a good time.

I entered the Wildlife Refuge at East Gator Creek Road and decided to fish the first culverts when I saw how high the water levels were in the marsh.

I pulled out my Chug Bug and made three casts before a nice ladyfish nailed the bait.  It put up a good fight and jumped around the narrow shallows before I finally landed and released the fish.  I briefly thought about keeping it for bait but I didn't want to kill it for no reason.

I missed two more ladyfish on the plug in the same area as I slowly fished up the road.  As I was fishing the eastern most shallows, a Fish and Game officer pulled up to check out my license.

I told him I didn't need one because of my age and showed my drivers license to prove it.  We talked a bit about the fishing before he moved on.  He also confirmed that the reds were biting all along the "beach" area on the river.

As I slowly drove up towards Peacocks Pocket and sight fished several promising areas, I got a couple of follow ups from sea trout but no solid hits.

A fisherman pulled up to me and told me about some juvenile tarpon that he caught at Peacocks Pocket boat launch on live mullet.  He said he got tired of fooling with them and was out for redfish.

I thanked him for the info and continued fish the area.

I passed a guy in a kayak fishing in the middle of the river who looked like he was catching something but I couldn't be sure.

Anyway, I spooked a couple of reds in the marsh ponds and missed another sea trout before deciding to head for home and getting something to eat.

The water in the marsh and the river was almost dead calm, and the air temperature was in the low 90s.  Not a good prescription for topwater fishing!

As I got close to the culverts at Peacocks Pocket, I decided to take a couple of pics of the sunset and some dolphin I spotted swimming single file down the river.

I noticed some baitfish in the river swimming for their lives so I pulled out the Chug Bug, smeared on some Pro-Cure and started working the plug around the area.

On the second cast, a Snook blasted the Chug Bug and took off on a nice run into the river.

It jumped a couple of times and made two more short runs before I landed the fish.

I quickly took some pics, a quick measurement and released the Snook to fight another day.

  It came in at 26" exactly.

Anyway, after a couple more casts with no follows, I called Lil Ceasers to order a Pizza, took another pic of the awesome sunset, and headed for the hacienda.

It was a late start for Snook season this year, but better late than not at all.

Till next time, Tight Lines.