What is the Best Tackle for Snook Fishing Florida?
The best tackle for snook fishing is a 4000 series spinning reel coupled with a medium heavy 7 foot rod. You will want to spool the reel with 20 pound braided line with a 30 to 50 pound leader depending on whether you are fishing around structure or not.
That is the tackle set up that will work the best in just about any scenario.
The question, "What is the best tackle for snook fishing Florida?" has many different answers depending upon many factors. You will need different tackle if you are fishing bridge pilings versus off of the beach.
You will need different tackle fishing docks versus the grass flats. You will need different tackle depending upon the size of the snook that you are targeting. Hopefully, you will get the answers to all of these questions and more from the information below.
I am an INSHORE FISHING GUIDE on the Treasure Coast of Florida. I have been fishing the flats and mangroves around Florida for over 40 years.
The article below will teach you all that I know about the best tackle for snook fishing. Let's get started.
Watch the video below and catch more snook with one of my favorite snook lures.
The best tackle for snook fishing is a 4000 series spinning reel coupled with a medium heavy 7 foot rod. You will want to spool the reel with 20 pound braided line with a 30 to 50 pound leader depending on whether you are fishing around structure or not.
That is the tackle set up that will work the best in just about any scenario.
The question, "What is the best tackle for snook fishing Florida?" has many different answers depending upon many factors. You will need different tackle if you are fishing bridge pilings versus off of the beach.
You will need different tackle fishing docks versus the grass flats. You will need different tackle depending upon the size of the snook that you are targeting. Hopefully, you will get the answers to all of these questions and more from the information below.
I am an INSHORE FISHING GUIDE on the Treasure Coast of Florida. I have been fishing the flats and mangroves around Florida for over 40 years.
The article below will teach you all that I know about the best tackle for snook fishing. Let's get started.
Watch the video below and catch more snook with one of my favorite snook lures.
Best reels for snook fishing:
Flats Fishing--Deciding what reel is the right one for the fishing conditions you are in is very important. Most of the snook fishing that I do is from a kayak in and around the Indian River Lagoon. When I am out on the flats searching for snook to catch I can get away with my 2500 series Shimano or my 3500 series Penn Spinfisher loaded with 8 to 10 pound braid.
The leader that works best for me is scenario is 20 pound monofilament. The light braid allows for much longer casts which will help you sneak up on the snook better.
The great thing about fishing the flats for snook is that there are no places for them to cut you off. They are great at finding a way to cut the line when you are catching them near structure.
BEST ALL AROUND ROD AND REEL COMBO FOR SNOOK
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.
Dock Fishing--When you are fishing the docks for snook, I would suggest increasing the reel size to a 4500 series or more depending upon the size of the fish you are targeting. You should also beef up your fishing line to at least a 20 pound braid and your leader to at least a 40 pound test or more. This should be enough to get those under slot and slot sized snook out of the dock pilings.
If the dock snook that your are targeting are monster above slot sows then you may want to go up in reel size to a 5500. You may also want to move up to a 50 pound braid and a 60 pound leader.
Those big snook got that way from knowing how to not end up on somebody's dinner plate when they were smaller. They are professional dock piling wrappers and fishing line breakers.
Bridge Piling and Inlet Fishing-- The bigger snook that you catch will most likely be caught down deep around bridge pilings or the rocks and sea walls lining most Florida inlets. The best tackle for these scenarios is a 5500 sized reel loaded with 50 pound braided line and a 60 pound leader.
The leader strength all depends upon the size of the snook that you are catching. You may have to beef up your leader to 80 pound if the over slot monster sows are in the mood to bite. This line and reel combination works whether you are pitching flair hawk jig or sinking a croaker to the bottom.
Beach Fishing-- The great thing about catching snook off of the beach is that they usually do not have anywhere to run to and cut your line. This means that you can fish with a smaller reel and lighter lines. In my opinion, a 3500 or 4500 series reel loaded with a 20 pound braid and a 30 pound leader will work just fine when you are fishing for snook off of the beach.
If you have a lot of rocks or sharp reef nearby you may have to beef up your reel size and line strength.
Read this other article that I wrote to learn more about the best baits and lures for snook fishing.
Best rods for snook fishing:
The rods that I use for all of my different snook fishing scenarios range in size from 7 to 8 feet in length and are all medium or medium heavy action.
Watch the video below to learn more about the best tackle to catch snook in Florida.
I created a complete video fishing course to help you catch more snook. You will get it for FREE by getting on our email list. You will not be spammed.
Best gear for snook fishing:
If you are going to be snook fishing all day you will definitely need to protect your eyes and skin from the sun. A good pair of polarized sunglasses is a must. You can spend $250 on a high end pair of sunglasses or around $25 for a lower end pair that still has glass lenses. There are even some $5 pairs of polarized glasses with plastic lenses.
You decide what is best for you but you will DEFINITELY need a pair of polarized glasses to protect your eyes and to take the glare off of the surface of the water. Without the glare you will be able to sight fish snook that you won't see without polarized lenses.
There is nothing like spotting a monster snook under a dock or on a grass flat and stalking over to it and getting is on the end of your line. That is a bucket list item for sure. There is no sight fishing if you can't see the fish, right?
The best color lenses for inshore and dirtier water conditions are amber, rose and copper. If you are fishing clear water or offshore a blue or a gray lens will work the best.
You will also need to stock up on UV performance fishing shirts to protect your skin from the sun's harmful rays. The UV performance shirts and impregnated with sun screen to give you more protection than just a plain old shirt. They are also moisture wicking which means that they evaporate sweat more efficiently to help keep you cool on those hot days on that water.
Watch the video below and catch more snook.
Use smell to fish for and catch more snook.
In my opinion, smell is the most overlooked sense by fishermen in their fishing arsenal. What I mean by that is most fishermen think about the sight of the fish when buying a lure or using live bait. They are forgetting that a fish can feel vibrations/hear using their lateral lines and smell.
Think about your favorite snook lure. Whatever it is. Let's say it is a suspending mullet imitation. That bait triggers the snook's sense of sight and as you work it, the snook can feel/hear the lure. You are missing smell from this scenario.
Most of my big snook are caught on fresh dead bait on the bottom. There are no vibrations emanating from the bait. There is no flash to attract the snook by sight. There is just smell.
Read this article that I wrote about how to catch a snook to learn more details about maximizing your catch.
That is why GULP baits work so well with so many different species of fish. Those things stink to high heaven. But fish seem to love that smell.
The bottom line is add smell to your lures and you will get more bites. Pro Cure has a bunch of different odors like shrimp and mullet that you can add to your lures to incorporate smell into your presentation.
WANT TO CATCH SNOOK? BOOK YOUR FISHING CHARTER TODAY!
Watch the video below and catch more snook with live baits.
Best water temperature for snook fishing in Florida:
What is the best water temperature range to catch a 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. In the Winter you will have to find snook down deep until the shallow areas get warmed up my the sun. In the Summer you have to fish early before the shallow water gets too hot.
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?
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.
Conclusion:
Snook are one of the most popular fish species in southern and central Florida. They are great fighters and very good to eat. They are also heavily protected and monitored. So whatever you do, do not poach a snook. They will put you under the jail.
A lot of fishermen try and fail to catch snook in spite of them being so prevalent in our waters. I think this has a lot to do with tackle and the times these fishermen are fishing. The best time to catch a snook is the first two hours of light and the last two hours of light OR at night.
If you fish for snook during those times mentioned above, then you will hook up with a snook. Get comfortable with a soft bait like a DOA CAL or some hard bait like a walk-the-dog type of top water lure. If you perfect the techniques using those lures and fish during those times, then you will start to catch a ton of snook.
If you are ever down in the Treasure Coast of Florida book a flats boat charter with me. Our main target fish species are snook, spotted sea trout, snook and redfish but we catch all kind of different species.
I hope that this article helps you catch more snook or at the very least have more fun fishing for them. Let's get some lines wet Florida.
About the author: The author of this article insists that we refer to him as Big Daddy Snook Slayer of the World. BUT we all ignore him and just 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.