Wade Fishing for Snook in Florida
To wade fish for snook effectively you will need a 3500 series reel filled with 15 pound braided line and a 30 pound leader. Master the 3 to 5 inch paddle tail shad type of lures with a 1/8 or 1/4 ounce jig head. If you can master those lures and you will catch snook as you wade fish for them.
Snook are one of the most popular inshore species of fish. There are a few different species of snook that can be caught in Florida.
There is the sword spine snook, the tarpon snook, the fat snook and the common snook. If you have a snook on the end of your line it is most likely a common snook.
If you want to learn everything about wade fishing for snook, then this is the article for you. You will learn the best baits, lures, tackle, tips and techniques to catch a ton of snook the next time that you go wade fishing.
Snook are known for their amazing initial first run. There first run is usually straight into any structure in the area so get ready. They are also a delicious fish to eat but make sure they are in season or you will pay a hefty price.
FUN FACT: Snook all start out life as males and once they get to a certain size they change genders. If you have ever caught a snook smaller than about 21 inches, then you caught a male snook. Once they get bigger than about 21 inches they will switch gender to live the rest of their lives as females.
I am an INSHORE FISHING GUIDE on the Treasure Coast of Florida. I have been fishing the grass flats and mangroves all over Florida for more than 40 years.
The article below will teach you all of the simple wade fishing tips and techniques to catch a ton of snook. Okay. Let's get started.
Watch the video below and catch more snook with paddle tails.
To wade fish for snook effectively you will need a 3500 series reel filled with 15 pound braided line and a 30 pound leader. Master the 3 to 5 inch paddle tail shad type of lures with a 1/8 or 1/4 ounce jig head. If you can master those lures and you will catch snook as you wade fish for them.
Snook are one of the most popular inshore species of fish. There are a few different species of snook that can be caught in Florida.
There is the sword spine snook, the tarpon snook, the fat snook and the common snook. If you have a snook on the end of your line it is most likely a common snook.
If you want to learn everything about wade fishing for snook, then this is the article for you. You will learn the best baits, lures, tackle, tips and techniques to catch a ton of snook the next time that you go wade fishing.
Snook are known for their amazing initial first run. There first run is usually straight into any structure in the area so get ready. They are also a delicious fish to eat but make sure they are in season or you will pay a hefty price.
FUN FACT: Snook all start out life as males and once they get to a certain size they change genders. If you have ever caught a snook smaller than about 21 inches, then you caught a male snook. Once they get bigger than about 21 inches they will switch gender to live the rest of their lives as females.
I am an INSHORE FISHING GUIDE on the Treasure Coast of Florida. I have been fishing the grass flats and mangroves all over Florida for more than 40 years.
The article below will teach you all of the simple wade fishing tips and techniques to catch a ton of snook. Okay. Let's get started.
Watch the video below and catch more snook with paddle tails.
Wade fishing for snook--GEAR
Waders-- You may or may not need waders depending upon if you care about getting wet or not. A decent pair of bib waders will run you about $200 to 300. You can spend more if you want to but around $200 is about as cheap as they come.
My waders are a pair of board shorts and some old sneakers. Like I said before it depends on if you care about getting wet or not.
Sunglasses-- You will definitely need a good pare of polarized sunglasses. This is not an option. You will need them to protect your eyes and to see into the water. You can't sight fish for giant common snook if you can't see into the water.
Polarized sunglasses eliminate the glare on the surface of the water allowing you to see what is underneath. A high end pair will cost you about $250 and a cheap pair with glass lenses will cost about $25. .
The best lens colors for inshore murky water conditions are amber, rose and copper. The best colors for offshore or clean and clear water are blue and gray.
I recently got a pair of $250 polarized sunglasses for my birthday and their is definitely a difference in performance and better construction between them and the cheaper ones. My problem is that I am afraid to wear them because they cost so much.
I have never paid more than $25 in my entire life for sunglasses because I am a cheap son of a son of a sailor. BUT now that I have seen for myself the difference I will probably spend the money whenever I break or lose my expensive ones.
Performance Apparel-- You will definitely need to stock up on UV performance fishing apparel. The new technology in microfibers is amazing. Performance UV fishing apparel is treated with sunscreen that is impregnated into the material to help protect you from the sun's harmful rays.
They are also moisture wicking which means that they evaporate your sweat efficiently to keep you cool on the hot days chasing snook around the docks and grass flats.
Watch the video below and get more simple snook fishing tips.
Wade fishing for snook--GRASS FLATS
Wade fishing for snook on the grass flats is extremely fun. Just catching a snook any old way is fun but their is something about seeing a snook and stalking over to it and presenting your bait just well enough and then SLAM!!! SNOOK ON!!! If that is not on you bucket list, then it should be.
Let's talk about the tackle that you will need to wade fish for snook on the flats. This is the one time that you can get away with lighter rods and reels because the snook have no where to run and cut you off. I like to fish with a 2500 or a 3500 series reel filled with 8 lb. braided line when fishing the grass flats for snook and redfish.
The rod that you will want to get is a 7 to 8 ft. medium/heavy action rod. The extra length gives you extra casting distance. This is especially important when fishing with lures. The longer the casts that you make the more water you can cover.
I wrote another article on this website that covers in much more detail how to catch a snook. You can read this article by clicking right here.
When I am wade fishing for snook with lures I like to start down current and fish into the current the whole time. Snook ALWAYS face into the current.
This means that you must present your lure from the direction of the current or it will come up behind them. If you do this it will probably spook them and give them a serious case of lock jaw for a while.
I like to target the sandy pot holes in the grass flats. Quite often a snook will wait in the grass right next to a sandy pot hole for an unsuspecting fish or shrimp to swim into its kill zone.
When I see a pot hole I like to cast a few yards past it and work my lure or bait through it slowly. I usually give each pot hole 3 or 4 casts before moving on.
WANT TO CATCH SNOOK? BOOK YOUR FISHING CHARTER TODAY!
The video below will show you the best tackle for snook fishing.
The best live baits for wade fishing for snook are definitely finger mullet. A free lined finger mullet is deadly on the grass flats. Just hook it towards its tail and it will often swim against the current on the surface of the water. As long as the water is not deeper than 4 feet or so it will be in the snook's strike zone.
A close second best bait is a live pin fish under a popping cork. A pin fish will always try to swim straight down into the grass. Your job is to have a leader just a foot or so short of the grass so the struggling pin fish will be right in the strike zone. Learn more pro fishing tips and techniques.
This is a great way to catch redfish too. It's a good day when you cast for a snook and get a big redfish instead.
My favorite lure for snook on the grass flats is a white soft plastic shad with a paddle tail on a 1/8 ounce jig head. This is my go to with just about every fish but it works especially well for snook. I buy the DOA CAL white or pearl but there are other brands that are basically the same. The DOAs work for me.
If it is sunrise or sunset I like a walk-the-dog style of mullet imitation. My favorites are the Zara Super Spooks and the MirroLure Top Dog. This only works in 4 feet of water or less. Anything deeper than that is out of the strike zone for a snook.
I like the white ones the best and a natural color combination. When I say natural color combination I mean a green, blue or black back with a white belly. Those are the colors that work best for me but some snook fishermen swear by colors like chartreuse, pink and orange. Whatever floats your boat.
The video below will show you the correct way to catch more snook wade fishing with topwater lures.
Wade fishing for snook--DOCKS
Snook and docks go together like hot dogs and baseball. The best place to target snook are docks and bridges for most of the year. Inlets are the best for the spawn in June and July but the rest of the year it is docks and bridges.
I wrote another article on this website that covers the best baits and lures for snook fishing in more detail. You can read that article by clicking right here.
There are not too many bridges that you can wade fish around so we will talk about docks. I like to target older docks with big boats. The reason that I like older docks is because the pilings will acquire all kinds of oysters, barnacles, sponges and all kinds of other creatures. Those creatures attract shrimp and bait fish which attracts snook.
Docks with bigger boats usually have bigger bottom contours that the snook like to use a ambush points. Those big engines tend to dredge out deep cuts with the water that they move coming into and out of their mooring spots along the dock.
Here are the rules for wade fishing other people's docks:
- Don't touch the docks or anything moored to them.
- Don't walk anywhere above the high tide line.
- Don't be a douche and fish a dock with people on it.
The best live bait for wade fishing the docks are finger mullet. I like to come from up current and cast a few feet from the dock pilings and let the mullet get taken the rest of the way by the current. If the mullet are not cooperating, then I will attach a popping cork to control them better.
A live pin fish is another great bait but you have to cast from up current for best results. This makes it much less likely that you will spook the snook under the docks.
The best lure for dock fishing is the white DOA CAL with the red jig head again. Hey, if it works keep using it until it doesn't, right?
Weedless silver spoons, spinner baits and Gulps are also great lures for dock fishing. Just bounce off of the bottom or swim them within a foot of the bottom slowly for best results. The spinner baits and spoons work best when the snook are feeding on glass minnows and small pilchards and scaled sardines.
Watch the how to catch a snook video below to learn more.
Wade fishing for snook--MANGROVES
The mangroves are another great place to wade fish for snook. The key to fishing the mangroves is bait placement. You have to get your bait or lure right at or into the roots of the Red Mangrove Tree. The snook rarely venture too far from those roots.
My favorite way to catch snook in the mangroves is a dead bait right at the roots. A mullet head or a lady fish head work the best. A pin fish with its tail cut off is another good one.
Most wade fishermen do not use this technique because it is a cast and wait technique. BUT you can catch some huge snook this way if you are patient. You can just stalk carefully trying to find where the snook are. Once you see them just cast you dead bait 8 or 10 feet up current from them.
That is usually a far enough distance not to spook them when your bait hits the water. Within a few minutes they will smell your dead bait and come to investigate it.
The best live bait for wade fishing the mangroves is finger mullet under a popping cork. The cork not only slows the mullet so the snook is less apt to miss when it strikes, it also helps you control the mullet and stop it from tangling your line in the mangrove roots.
At first and last light a walk-the-dog type of lure cast parallel to the mangrove line is amazingly effective for getting snook strikes.
The DOA CALs, silver spoons, spinner baits and the other lures will also work very well as long as they are presented no further than a couple of feet from the mangrove roots.
Wade fishing for snook--BEST WATER TEMPERATURES
Snook are cold blooded just like an alligator or a snake. This means that they cannot regulate their own body temperatures like a mammal can. They have to use the surrounding waters to keep from getting too hot or too cold.
You have to know where to find these optimal water temperatures or you won't catch snook very effectively. If the water you are fishing is too hot or cold for snook you are wasting your time.
To catch a bunch of snook you will need to find feeding fish, current, and the right water temperatures. If any of these criteria are missing then you will have a hard time catching any fish.
You can get a cheap waterproof thermometer and keep it in your wade fishing tackle bag. You can tie a string to it if you are fishing near a deep ledge and toss it in the deep part to know the water temperatures where you can't wade. AND of course you can test the waters where you can wade too.
The bottom line is: Get a thermometer and you will catch more fish.
The video below will teach you the optimal temperatures for snook fishing.
About the author: The author of this article insists that everyone refer to him as The Royal Snook Slayer of the World. BUT we all ignore him and call him Mike, the co-owner of FYAO Saltwater Media Group, Inc.
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Bonus Video: Wade fishing for snook around docks with live bait.