What are the Best Baits and Lures for Snook Fishing?
The best baits for snook fishing are shrimp, finger mullet and pin fish for any water depths. The best lures for snook are 3 inch and 5 inch white paddle tails with an 1/8 ounce jig head in shallow water and a 1 1/2 ounce flair hawk jig for deeper water fishing scenarios.
What are the best baits and lures for snook fishing around Florida? This subject is one of those that snook fishermen will argue about all of the time.
I think that the reason different fishermen think their bait is better is because they have perfected the presentation of their favorite bait with lots of practice. Therefore, they have lots of confidence in their ability to use that particular bait or lure.
Let's face the fact that fish are not brain surgeons and can be enticed to hit just about any bait or lure if the conditions are right. I was talking to a guy that ran out of mullet chunks and put a cube of cheese on his hook. A snook came over, smelled it and eventually ate it and ended up on the guy's dinner plate. This highlights my point that just about any bait or lure can work if the conditions are right and you learn how to present it correctly.
I am an INSHORE FISHING GUIDE on the Treasure Coast of Florida and have been fishing the mangroves and grass flats for over 40 years. Snook are one of my favorites and you will love to catch them too.
The article below will teach you simple tips and techniques to help you catch more snook. Let's get started.
Watch the video below and catch more snook with live baits.
The best baits for snook fishing are shrimp, finger mullet and pin fish for any water depths. The best lures for snook are 3 inch and 5 inch white paddle tails with an 1/8 ounce jig head in shallow water and a 1 1/2 ounce flair hawk jig for deeper water fishing scenarios.
What are the best baits and lures for snook fishing around Florida? This subject is one of those that snook fishermen will argue about all of the time.
I think that the reason different fishermen think their bait is better is because they have perfected the presentation of their favorite bait with lots of practice. Therefore, they have lots of confidence in their ability to use that particular bait or lure.
Let's face the fact that fish are not brain surgeons and can be enticed to hit just about any bait or lure if the conditions are right. I was talking to a guy that ran out of mullet chunks and put a cube of cheese on his hook. A snook came over, smelled it and eventually ate it and ended up on the guy's dinner plate. This highlights my point that just about any bait or lure can work if the conditions are right and you learn how to present it correctly.
I am an INSHORE FISHING GUIDE on the Treasure Coast of Florida and have been fishing the mangroves and grass flats for over 40 years. Snook are one of my favorites and you will love to catch them too.
The article below will teach you simple tips and techniques to help you catch more snook. Let's get started.
Watch the video below and catch more snook with live baits.
Best baits and lures for snook fishing--DOCKS
Docks are one of the better places to find snook to catch. Snook are very structure oriented and love to hunt around dock pilings. Older dock pilings tend to collect lots of sponges, grasses, barnacles and oysters on them. These are an excellent place for small shrimp, crabs and fish to live and hide from predators.
Snook know this and love to face into the current and wait for unsuspecting fish and shrimp to swim their way. Snook will be facing into the current so you bait should come from up current for best results.
Best dead baits around docks are lady fish chunks and mullet chunks. I prefer the heads. For whatever reason snook like the heads the best. Send a mullet head up under a dock with snook around and they will most likely pick it up once they smell it.
Then you just have to have the right tackle to horse them out of the pilings before you get cut off on those barnacles and oysters that I mentioned earlier. A dead pin fish works really well too with this technique.
Best live baits around docks are pin fish, mullet and white baits (sardines, pilchards, greenies......). I like to use a popping cork to slow the bait and control it when I am using a pin fish or a mullet. When I am using a white bait, I will usually just free line it back to the dock pilings with the current.
The best lures for dock fishing are any 3 inch soft plastic shad bait with a paddle tail on a red jig head if you are fishing the bottom and middle parts of the water column. This only applies to deep water docks. My favorite is the DOA CAL 3 inch shad with a paddle tail.
Read the article that I wrote called snook fishing with lures to learn more detailed information about choosing the right size and color of lure based on the conditions.
This lure catches just about every fish in the sea and is what I use 80% of the time. Scented ones work the best. I like to use a slow retrieve and bounce it on the bottom. Vary your retrieve speed and style if you are not getting bites.
The next best lure for fishing the top part of the water column or in water 4 feet deep or less is a walk-the-dog type of mullet imitation lure. I am completely agnostic when it comes to brand name lures but mirro lure and zara spook make excellent walk-the-dog type of lures. I like to keep a white one and a natural colored one in my tackle box for top water snook.
Best Snook Rods and Reels (Structure)
In my opinion, the perfect rod and reel combo for snook around docks is a 4500 or 5500 (if you are targeting monster over slot snook) series reel and a 7 foot medium/heavy strength, fast action rod. Fill the spool with 20 pound braided line and use a 30 or 40 pound leader.
I have used many different rods and reels over the last 40 years of fishing like Diawa, Shimano and Penn.
My favorite line of reels that are out now is the Penn Spinfisher series reels. They are smooth, tough; have great drag systems; and best of all a sealed body so sand and water don't get inside the reels.
Check out the video below to learn more about walking the dog to catch more snook.
Best baits and lures for snook fishing--SEA WALLS
Sea walls are another great hunting ground for snook. Snook like to pin their prey against sea walls so that they have one less direction to escape from them. You must again keep in mind that the best presentation for sea walls if coming from up current because your snook quarry will most likely be facing the current.
The best dead baits to use around sea walls are the same as mentioned above. Just get yourself a nice juicy mullet head or lady fish head and bounce it right off of the sea wall. If there are snook around they will come to investigate.
The best live baits are mullet, pin fish and white baits again. I almost exclusively fish sea walls with a popping cork. I like to have the bait within about a foot of the bottom as it floats with the current through the strike zone.
I am not saying that a free lined mullet won't catch tons of snook in this scenario but I like to slow down the bait with the popping cork. The snook will miss a free lined bait more than one under a popping cork.
Read this article that I wrote to learn in more detail how to catch more snook using live baits.
The same lures mentioned above will work in this environment too. Another trick that I like to use is a DOA Terror Eyz or a Big One Terror Eyz lure suspended from a popping cork and presented just like you would a live bait. I will pitch this rig up current and let it float past the sea wall with the current.
The current combined with the surface waves moving the lure up and down with often be enough action to get a snook strike. I like chartreuse, white and root beer colors for this technique.
WANT TO CATCH SNOOK? BOOK YOUR FISHING CHARTER TODAY!
Best baits and lures for snook fishing--BRIDGES AND INLETS
A lot of snook fishermen are forced to become bridge and inlet specialists because they don't have a boat or kayak to get to snook in other places. The good news is that bridges and inlets are the best places to catch HUGE snook.
The best dead baits for bridges and inlets are the same as above but you will have to contend with more current and deeper water in these spots so a sinker is a must. In my opinion, the best way to fish these spots with dead bait is to send your bait up current and let it come back to you and then do it again.
The best live bait for bridges and inlets is the same as above and you will have to use a sinker to get the bait down to the fish. In my opinion, a JUPITER RIG works best for this technique.
See the video below to learn more about how to properly use a Jupiter Rig for fishing inlets.
The best lures for bridge and inlet fishing are flair hawk styled jigs. The flair hawk styled jig is the undisputed champion of bridge and inlet fishing. This jig style features a bump in the mold right before the hook exits the lead. This makes the nylon material flair outwards increasing the perceived thickness of the lure. A snub nosed head is also a feature of this quintessential snook jig.
The best way to fish this jig is slowly. I like to cast up current and bounce it back to me about as quickly and the current is flowing. There is no need for a speedy retrieve with this lure. I think that you will only need 3 different colors of jig.
They are; white, pink and chartreuse. White seems to work best in clear water and the other two in murky water. You probably only need 3 sizes of jig and they are 1 oz., 1 1/2 oz. and 2 oz. You might want to have a 3 oz. if you are somewhere with a ridiculously fast and strong current but 90% of the time 1 to 2 oz. is all that you need.
Read the article that I wrote covering the best tips and techniques for using a flair hawk style of snook jig here.
Best bait and lures for snook fishing--THE BEACH
Another great spot to catch a snook is at the beach. Snook love to run up and down the beach within a few feet of shore seeking croakers, whiting and any other fish schooling in the shallows. The best dead baits for this scenario are the ones mentioned above with the addition of a croaker. SNOOK LOVE CROAKERS!!!
The presentation that works best for me is an egg singer above the hook. Send it out with a chunk of delicious snook bait and wait for the hit. There is no need to have the bait more than 20-30 from shore. Less is usually better in this scenario.
Learn more about getting the right tackle to maximize your snook fishing fun.
The best live bait are the normal ones again with the addition of a croaker. Use the same exact set up as the dead bait and wait for the hit.
The best lures for the beach are a top water mullet imitation like a Zara Super Spook or a MirroLure Top Dog. A soft plastic shad with a paddle tail like a DOA CAL is another great choice for beach snook fishermen. AND lastly, a flair hawk styled jig is a lure that has been catching snook for decades and they still produce.
PRO TIP: Your casts should be up current; parallel to the beach and no more than 5 feet from shore.
BEST Rods and Reels for Beach Snook
In my opinion, the perfect rod and reel combo for snook off of the beach is a 3500 series reel and a 7 foot medium or medium/heavy strength, fast action rod. Fill the spool with 15 pound braided line and use a 30 pound leader. Beach snook usually don't have any structure to cut you off on.
I have used many different rods and reels over the last 40 years of fishing like Diawa, Shimano and Penn.
My favorite line of reels that are out now is the Penn Spinfisher series reels. They are smooth, tough; have great drag systems; and best of all a sealed body so sand and water don't get inside the reels.
They are perfect for surf fishing, wade fishing and kayak fishing. (Any fishing technique that makes it likely for water or sand to get in them)
You can expect to pay $150 plus for these reels. BUT they are worth it.
My second favorite non-sealed reels are the Diawa BG reels.
They are the reels that I use on my flats boat because I know that they are unlikely to get dunked in the water or to get beach sand in them.
You can expect to pay $100 plus for these reels. They are a great bargain in my opinion.
Watch the video below and catch more snook with paddle tails.
Best bait and lures for snook fishing--MANGROVES/CREEK MOUTHS
I am an inshore kayak fishing guide and most of my snook are caught around docks or mangroves and creek mouths. Mangroves are an excellent place to hunt snook at higher tides. Combine high tides with mangroves and a creek mouth and you have the perfect environment to catch a snook. The snook will cruise in and out with the tide all day.
The snook like to cruise just under the mangroves branches that hang out over the water as they hunt for shrimp and fish. The key to mangrove fishing is to get your bait right at or under the mangroves. Because of this fact I don't ever have to buy top water lures. I get 100% of them from the mangrove branches and roots because of errant casts of snook fishermen.
The best dead baits are again a mullet head, lady fish head and a pin fish. They key is to put this bait right at or under the mangrove branches. If the bait is 3 feet away from the mangroves you may not get any takers. Dead bait fishing mangroves requires precision bait placement.
The best live bait is a finger mullet, pin fish or a white bait presented no more than 3 feet from the mangroves. When using larger mullet and pin fish I will usually have a popping cork attached with about 3 feet of leader.
The best lures for this environment are a weedless soft plastic of some sort that you can skip up under the mangrove branches. The DOA CAL shad with the paddle tails are a good one. A fluke styled soft plastic also works very well in this environment. White and natural colors work best for me.
If you can position yourself to cast up current and parallel to the mangroves, a walk the dog styled lure or a lipped jerk bait can be deadly for snook. Another one of my favorite lures for this scenario is a bass spinner bait. The spinner bait works exceptionally well is the snook are feeding on small white baits or glass minnows. This is one of my favorite ways to catch snook from my kayak when fishing mangrove lined tidal creeks.
Watch the video below and catch more snook with soft plastic jerk baits.
Best baits and lures for snook fishing-- Spillways
One of the best places to catch snook is around spillways during the rainy months in Florida. During the rainy months the local authorities will open up the spillways so that the rivers and canals around Florida do not hit a flood stage.
When this happens, there are thousands of bluegills, shiners, freshwater shrimp and other freshwater species that are swept into a brackish or saltwater environment. They have a hard time with this and the snook are there to gobble up all of these creatures.
One of the best lures for catching spillway snook is the flair hawk snook jig. This lure works so well because it is heavy and can get to the bottom in spite of the current caused by the opened spillway.
Your technique is very simple. You will want to cast up into the water torrents and swim your jig just off of the bottom. If the bottom is not riddled with things to hang up on, then you can bounce your jig on the bottom.
Big snook will be holding in an eddy somewhere on the bottom waiting for the current to bring them some food. You can catch the snook all day but night time is the best if the spillway is well lit. You best bet is to focus on the well lit spillways at night.
Best gear for snook fishing:
If you are going to be fishing for snook all day you will definitely need to protect your eyes and skin from the sun's harmful rays. Polarized sunglasses are a must for snook fishing. A high end pair of sunglasses will run about $250 and a lower end pair will run you about $25 with glass lenses. You can find them with plastic lenses for about $5 at Walmart.
Whatever price range you decide to go with you must wear polarized sunglasses or you can not sight fish for trout on the flats. The polarized lenses eliminate the glare on the surface of the water so that you can see under the surface.
Sight fishing a huge snook under a dock or out on the grass flats should be on everyone's bucket list. You can't do it without the right polarized glasses.
The best color lenses for inshore and dirtier water scenarios are amber, rose and copper. If you are fishing super clean and clear water or you are fishing offshore a blue or a gray lens is best.
You will also want to stock up on UV performance fishing shirts to protect your skin from the sun's harmful rays. These shirts have built in sunscreen and are moisture wicking which means they evaporate your perspiration more efficiently keeping you cool on those hot days on the water.
My company has a large selection of sun protection performance fishing shirts. We have hats too. You can see them by clicking on the visit our store link below.
Best water temperatures for snook fishing:
What is the best water temperature for catching snook. Snook are cold blooded just like a snake or a gator. This means that they have to find the optimal water temperature to cool or heat their bodies to live.
Your job is to find these optimal temperatures for snook because if it is too hot or too cold where you are, you ain't catchin' any snook.
The problem with boat and kayak thermometers is that they only measure the water temperature on the surface. What is the temperature 15 feet down? What is the best place to find the optimal temperature for a snook early or late?
The cheapest and best way to remedy this issue is to buy a waterproof thermometer and tie it to a long string. Then you can just lower it in the water column and know exactly what temperature the water is a various depths.
These are the types of questions that you need to answer to get really good a catching snook during the different seasons.
The video below will teach you the optimal water temperatures for snook fishing.
Use smell to fish for and catch more snook.
In my opinion, too many fishermen forget to incorporate a snook's olfactory system into their lures. Snook have an excellent sense of smell. In fact, most of my huge snook are caught on dead bait. Stinky bait works for BIG SNOOK.
Let's think about that. They bait wasn't moving so they couldn't use their lateral line to feel/hear it. They weren't attracted to it by their eyes because it is just a nondescript piece of stuff laying on the bottom. They found it by tracking down the scent molecules in the current.
I wrote another article on this website all about the best and worst smells for catching fish. You can read that article by clicking right here.
So here you are with your favorite snook lure. Let's assume it is a suspending mullet imitation. You have your presentation down pat but the water is very dirty and murky. This means that the snook can only track down your bait using its lateral line. It can't really see the lure well and it can't smell it for sure.
Add some stink to that lure and you will catch more snook. Pro Cure has a product that is a sticky liquid that you can add to your lures to incorporate the snook's olfactory system. This means that you will catch more snook.
Pro Cure comes in lots of delicious smells but the ones that I will recommend to you are shrimp and mullet scents. You can dab them on your flair hawk jigs, hard baits and unscented soft plastics to increase your snook count.
I am not sponsored by Pro Cure, Mirro Lure, Berkely Gulp or any other brand that I talk about in my fishing articles. I only tell you those names because they will help you catch more fish.
Watch the video below and use smell to catch more snook.
Conclusion:
Snook are one of the most sought after fish species along the beaches and inshore waters all over central and south Florida. They are extremely abundant but many fishermen just can't seem to catch them.
Snook can be finicky so if you are one of those fishermen that struggles to catch snook, then fish early or late in the day. The first two hours after sunrise and the last two hours before sunset are the best fishing times for snook. (Unless you like to fish at night.) Night time snook fishing is awesome.
Bring two types of lures with you. Bring a walk-the-dog style of topwater for first and last light. The rest of the time fish a DOA CAL or something similar near structure of some kind and you will catch snook.
If you are ever in the Treasure Coast area of Florida, then book a Flats Boat Charter with me. Our main target species are snook, redfish, spotted sea trout and tarpon. Believe me. Catching a big snook from a kayak is a blast.
I hope that this article helps you catch more snook or at the very least helps you have more fun trying. Let's get some lines wet Florida.
About the author: The author of this article says that we should all refer to him a the Samurai Slot Snook Slayer of the World. However, everyone just ignores him and call him Mike, the co-owner of FYAO Saltwater Media Group, Inc.
I also created a Free Online Snook Fishing Course. You can get it below.