Snook Lures

A preferred manner into which we can explain some of that best snook lures for Southwest Florida sufficiently is to think about a top-down philosophy. An old saying goes something like this “you fish on top for show and smack it on the bottom for dough”. What that is in reference to is that the larger female snook are more commonly found hugging the bottom where the big prey item action can be obtained. With this in mind it is important to match the artificial lure or the live bait presentation with this bottom feeding larger snook and their preferences that day or night. It all boils down to what it is that you are searching for today and your snook fishing experience?

Slot Sized Snook

We have said goodbye to the days that a neighborhood angler could be seen walking back from the beach at Naples with a slot-sized snook dangling by his leg. Environmental conservation has done a great job in Southwest Florida and has allowed most trips out for snook fishing to be successful. There was a point in time, in the not to-recent past, where it was hit or miss on whether a snook fisherman, even a seasoned professional, could produce a 10 pound SW Florida snook. Our hats go off to the Florida Fish and Game Department and also local residents that stood up and said no way, no more netting to the gill netters. These were the main reasons, the only reasons, for the decimating snook population in the Gulf of Mexico.

Beaches of Naples

During the 1960’s, all along the beaches of Naples, anglers would cast custom built buck tailed jigs along the walls of the surf break. Just about a block from Vanderbilt Beach and a few miles from Wiggins Pass is Trader Zeke’s Bait Store. Why is this important to mention especially in this review of snook lures. It is important because this was once the point of reference in the beginning for the creation of some of the most popular snook lures in existence today.

Bucktail Jigs Strung on Fishing Line

What can be recalled, was seeing a wide array of custom tied buck tail jigs that were on display on fishing line all over the store.. Certainly there were some very colorful and quite unique topwater plugs and silver and gold spoons also on display, but for the most part it was the jigs.

Upperman Style & Bullet Shaped Jigheads

These earlier jigs were full of colors and styles and variations. Upperman style and bullet shaped jigheads were the predominate style. Local snook fisherman would swear by these jigs. These first jigs in the classification of snook only fishing would later set the stage for a revolution of sorts in the game fishing world.

Spring Time Snook Fishing

Snook Fishing Spring Time Glory

When spring comes it is a great time to be in Southwest Florida, and also to be fishing for one of the top game fish of the area, the elusive snook. The snook of this area of the Sunshine State will spring to life with the increasingly rising temperatures of spring, and will turn a relatively docile waterway into a veritable snook feeding frenzy! The reason for this sudden feeding frenzy can be attributed to the snook’s internal drive to replenish their depleted energy stores and fat reserves. It was the winter that sapped the energy stores to the very brink and now the snook are hungry. Because of this, the snook will be tempted to recklessly smash any bait or lure offering that even resembles a pilchard or a pinfish or even any other form of inshore prey item.

Snook Feeding Top Priority in Spring

Snook in Southwest Florida during the spring are concerned with two things, feeding and feeding. They must first of all replenish their energy levels from a long and hard, bitter-cold winter. In fact many of these fish almost entirely shut down and die. The winter dictates so many activities in the spring for the snook and a hard winter will mean that there will be more voracious feeding frenzies sooner and in more frequent episodes than a mild winter. The reasons for this are simple, as the snook must not only stock their depleted energy stores and fat storage areas within their bodies, but they also must prepare for the oncoming summer migrating breeding season which is the spawn. Stuck between a rock and a hard place the snook will have to take any bait that is presented to them and this affords a great snook fishing opportunity while in Southwest Florida for anglers.

Piers and Bridges-Lurking in the Shadows of Night

Some great spots to find snook in the springtime will be at night in their favorite haunts around piers and bridges-lurking in the shadow lines waiting to fill up on baitfish like menhaden, pilchard, pinfish and mullet. Look for snook in the early spring to move into the mouth of creeks, rivers and bays and even canals coming out of the shallow warm waters in preparation for the summer spawn. Snook will prefer to be in schools and this is where you’ll have the best opportunity to catch a few if not a good half dozen 5 to 10 to maybe even 15 pound snook!

Annual Mullet Run

While in Southwest Florida another good point to mention is that the annual mullet run starts to crank out during the spring and if you happen to find yourself fishing in a sea of boiling mullet hang on and watch. The bigger snook will let you know exactly where they are and then the game is on with a simple toss of the live pilchard! That is an old technique for catching bog snook in the middle of a snook feeding frenzy in mullet. Give them something a little different and the competitive survival instincts of the snook will take over.