Snook: The perfect saltwater starter fish

I just want to get this out of the way.  I'm totally addicted  to salt water fishing.  I made the transition twenty years ago, and love it for so many reasons.  I'm not saying it's superior to other forms of fly fishing, because that would be making an ironclad statement about something that is completely subjective.  In the end, it's all about fun.  But here are three things saltwater fishing has going for it.

One of the best battles I've ever had from a snook...

First, the fish, as a rule, just pull harder, and battle more spectacularly than freshwater fish.  There are exceptions.  A hot chrome steelhead is a more exciting battler than a speckled trout, for example.  But just watch a tarpon video.  Or talk to someone that has watched a false albacore sizzle off a couple hundred yards of backing. 

Second, the places saltwater fish are found speak to me.  Some people love the mountains, I understand it.  But when I step on to the beach early in the morning, and watch the sunrise over the ocean, and smell the salt, and hear the pounding of the surf.....I just can never get enough of it. 

Third, the ocean is such a mysterious place, you never know exactly what is going to happen.  For the most part, on my local lakes, ponds, and trout streams, I know how  things are going to play out.  But on the ocean...it's another story.  You may see a shark the size of a small car, in fact,  said shark may relieve you of the fish you are battling.  Sea turtles, dolphins, whales may pay a visit.  Like variety?  So far, I've landed over sixty species of saltwater fish on fly...with so many more to go!

I hear a lot of fly fishers talk about venturing to the salt...someday.  Some of them have been talking about it for decades.  For my friends that talk about it and don't make it, I see a few barriers.  One is expense.  Saltwater fishing can be expensive.  The gear can be expensive, and the trips can be expensive, especially if you are staying at a lodge, or booking a guide for a week.   Second,  many people don't where to start, and often make mistakes about where to begin.  Hint....a Keys permit trip is probably not the ideal way to wet a line in the ocean for the first time.  Third, some people are concerned if their skills meet the demands of the salt. 

So, the ideal target for saltwater fishing would be a fish that encompasses all that is intriguing about the saltwater game, but also, could be pursued on the cheap, maybe fished for with equipment that many freshwater anglers already possess,  and maybe, might even be caught by the angler that can't put a fly on a paper plate at eighty feet.  (And yes, I totally understand that the more competant you are, the more fish you will catch and the better your experience will be).

Introducing the snook!  I have to remember, this is a blog post, not a book   But, I must say it, they are pretty much the perfect gamefish.  They're gorgeous.  Silver, with that jet black line down the side, and yellow fins, not gaudy, like a brook trout, or a dolphin, but beautiful,  in kind of an understated, classical way.  They get BIG!  My best on fly is 42 inches, probably between 25-27 pounds, and they get considerably bigger than that.   The way they fight is everything you could want from a gamefish.  Most of the time, you get a jump or two, they pull hard, and make you battle for every inch of line.  Some fish run further, some fish jump higher, some fish pull harder, but the snook does a little bit of everything.  They are also very inclined, unlike some species, to take flies.  I've had days when I've fished a long, hard day without a hookup, but I've had plenty of days when I've hooked double digit numbers of fish, and years ago, a friend and I had day when we landed over fifty in a morning between the two of us.

Caught this one blinding casting over a big bait pod.

They can also be fished for at minimal expense.  Have an eight weight, and a reel with a decent disk drag?  You are off to great start.  Don't have one?  A reasonable outfit can be purchased for $300 or so.  And you don't need a ticket to the Seychelles.  The best place in the world to catch snook on fly is Florida.  If you are an international reader, this may not be the case, but I can often find round trip tickets to Florida for under $200.  If I fish totally DIY, splitting a hotel with a friend,and rental car, I can fish for a week, lodging, plane ticket, rental car, meals, for under $1000, and I spend a chunk of my summer each year doing just that.

The best part?  If you have even rudimentary skills, you can catch snook on fly.  The summer, in Florida, is snook spawning season.  They spawn in the inlets, in heavy flowing water, but they don't spawn all at once, and for months, a significant number of fish are cruising the beach, hunting.  And when I say cruising the beach, they are literally a few feet off the sand, in fact, they are often right in the surge of the waves, chasing baitfish in the skinny water, moving forward and retreating with the waves.  Imagine, walking the beach, in a swimsuit, carrying your fly rod, standing about ten feet back from the water, watching intensley.  About a hundred feet away, you spot them, several large, silvery fish, casting shadows on the bottom, right in the trough, literally just a few feet off the beach.  When they are about fifty feet away, you drop a small baitfish pattern just ahead of then and beyond them, so that as you retrieve, the baitfish will pass

Sanibel Island:  The place I really learned to snook fish, and still amazing.

The view the snook fisherman gets every morning.  

a couple feet in front of them, directly in their line of sight.  As you strip, one surges forward and follows slowly, until it's almost at your feet, and then with a rush, it flares it's gills and sucks in your fly.  You strip set and the fish immediatly runs twenty feet, and then flies from the water, and your fly comes out....but it's OK, because just down the beach, you can already see your next target.  That scenario will be replayed thousands of times by fly fishers this summer.

You can have the mountains...give me this!

There are many other ways to catch snook.  In the mangroves, on the dock lights, even in the inlets with a full sinking line.  There is way more that could be said about this, and many have.  But this is just a blog.  I want you to know that saltwater fly fishing is amazing.  I want you to believe that you can be successful at it.  And I think snook are a perfect starter fish for so many reasons.  If your interest is piqued, I'd suggest  you reserach further.  There are many excellant books, Norm Zeiglers book, "Snook on the fly" is a good one to start with.  The Facebook group, Snook on the Fly, is also a great place to learn, as is the Facebook group, Snook Club, even though that group is mostly conventional guys.   Do your research, grab an eight weight, and your stripping basket, and once travel is safe again, head to Florida and give it a try.  If you do, feel free to contact me with any questions, and definitely let me know how you do!