Snook and Tarpon!!

Hi everyone! Summer is approaching fast and the fishing is fantastic! It’s been a great year so far! If you have fished with me in the past, please visit my TripAdvisor link available near the top of my website. I would really appreciate some feedback if you have time to post a review! I am ready to fill the few holes I have in the next couple of months so give me a call or an email. Here is the latest…

Snook are on the move in Clearwater and North Pinellas. Most of the springtime transition points have been vacated and the snook are staging around the passes and along the jetties and beach troughs. They are few in numbers so far, but once more of the larger females arrive, the smaller males will accompany them in greater numbers. Spawning takes place through the summer months creating a healthy appetite for the linesiders. Also the reason for the season closure on May 1st through September 1st for the west coast of Florida. If holding a snook for a picture, always support them under the belly, horizontally. This puts less pressure on their sensitive jaw and helps to release them as healthy as possible. Several baits can entice a snook to eat in the summer months such as sardines, threadfin herring and pinfish. Grunts are a very attractive source of protein for large snook. Fish the drop offs along the edges of the beach, especially in eddies and vortexes created by strong moving tides. Tarpon are making a slight showing from Clearwater Pass north to Three Rooker Bar. Mid to late May will see an increase in numbers of tarpon as they migrate from the south. Fishing with cut baits also known as “dead sticking” in known migration paths along the beach is an effective way to get an early season hook up, especially if the fish aren’t showing well. As they become more obvious, leading a group of fish with a bait under a cork is a very productive method to hook one of the strongest fish in Florida waters.