SNOOK!
Here at Signs of Reilly we like most Floridans not only love admiring beautiful yachts, going to yacht parties or any other flashy Florida activities!
But we love to fish! Yes…thats probably our favorite hobby. See with fishing you can do it off of any vessel even a paddle board, or maybe off your dock in the backyard! This week one of our team members went out to her high and dry with her boyfriend to fix a couple items on their Mako – while he was working she grabbed her fishing rod and tossed out her gold spoon off the end of the dock towards a pile of rocks. She heard about the famous snook and always wanted to catch one, but has heard stories on how hard they were to catch (her boyfriend who has been fishing way longer then her never caught one!) So the wind was strong, she was worried she was going to get the gold spoon stuck in the shallow rocky area but she kept trying! BOOM she felt the bite! Second guessing herself she thought she snagged the bottom but there she felt the head shake and she started to reel while screaming to her boyfriend to come help! He screamed back and all she could yelp out was “FISH ON!” and then she saw she caught a snook!
Now it might not be the biggest snook but hey its a snook! All the stories and the conversations she will now be included, it is not a myth to her anymore. Someone said “first you catch your first snook then they keep getting bigger and bigger and thats the way it goes”
Snook are very tricky and what we have gathered is that they love anything with structure around them, they are in the middle of the food chain they like the structure to protect them from dolphins and such – the chill and attack their pray its a little lazy but we do the same thing when we decide to go for fast food haha! You can use any bait! Like we said earlier she used a gold spoon but you can use pin fish, sardines and artificial crab lures.
Hope you enjoy fishing as much as we do here at Signs of Reilly. We love to hear fishing stories and get any cool tips and tricks! We also love sharing our stories and tips and tricks! Fish on folks! Until the next adventure!
Here are some facts about Snooks:
Large mouth with a protruding lower jaw
Jaw reaches below the rear portion of the eye
Sloping forehead
High dorsal fin that is divided
Black lateral line extends onto tail
Pelvic fin yellow in color
Up to 48 inches (50 pounds)
Inshore in coastal waters, including mangrove shorelines, seagrass beds, beaches and around structure.
Begin life as males, but between 18 and 22 inches long some become females. Form schools during spawning season.
Feed on fish and large crustaceans.
Cannot tolerate water temperatures below 60° F.
Can tolerate freshwater.
44 lb 3 oz, caught near Ft. Myers
They orient themselves to face moving water and wait for prey to be carried down the current. Snook jump clear of the water, and burst into long runs. Use live pinfish, small mullet, shrimp, or sardines free-lined or fished off the bottom with a fish finder rig. They take a large variety of lures based on water conditions. Beware of the snook’s razor-sharp gill covers! Snook make excellent table fare.
