Snook are a highly prized game fish due to it’s aggressive fighting ability and delicious white flesh. Snook are excellent eating and fun to catch but do have strict catch limits and closures. Snook can grow as large as 44 pounds and feed on small fish, shrimp and an occasional crab.
Where are snook fish found?
Common snook inhabit the coastline of the western Atlantic, from Florida south to Rio de Janiero, Brazil, and throughout the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico. Although specimens have been found as far north as New York, snook are not considered abundant north of Cape Canaveral, Florida.
What is snook fish similar to?
They’re easy to identify. Snook sport large gaping mouths similar to a largemouth bass, a protruding lower lip, and an elongated, neutral-colored body marked by a distinctive black lateral line.
What kind of fish is a snook?
snook, also called robalo, any of about eight species of marine fishes constituting the genus Centropomus and the family Centropomidae (order Perciformes). Snooks are long, silvery, pikelike fishes with two dorsal fins, a long head, and a rather large mouth with a projecting lower jaw.
Is snook a good eating fish? – Related Questions
What is the best eating fish in Florida?
Most freshwater fish caught in Florida can be eaten without harm. Bream (such as Bluegill, Redear sunfish, Redbreast sunfish or Spotted sunfish) and marine fish such as Mullet, Snappers, Pompano, Flounder and Dolphin are generally low in mercury.
Does snook taste like soap?
If an angler is lucky enough to reel a snook to shore, the large fish should be filleted so that their skin, covered in stunning silver scales, is removed from the flesh. If cooked with the skin on, the meat will develop an unpleasant soapy taste.
Why do restaurants not sell snook?
Because it’s illegal to buy or sell snook, you won’t find them on restaurant menus. You have to catch these yourself or make friends with someone who knows where to find them—and only during approved fishing season! It’s one of Florida’s most regulated fish.
Do snook bite humans?
“It’ll bite on your thumb and let you know it’s tired of you holding it,” Trotter said. “Just take your thumb out and she’ll get going.” Snook are hardy fish, which is why catching and releasing them during the closed season is OK.
What is the best bait for snook?
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 is snook favorite food?
Snook devour baitfish such as pinfish, small mullet, greenbacks and sardines. They also eat crustaceans such as shrimp and small crabs.
Do Snooks eat catfish?
In the late fall however when the river levels drop and floodplain species are depleted, snook seem to focus their attention on traditional channel species like our native catfish.
Are snook top or bottom feeders?
Snook are very efficient “up-feeders” but that underslung jaw is designed for pinning prey to the bottom, too. If you sight cast for snook on the flats or in the surf, how often do you see big specimens swimming right at the surface? Probably not often, unless there is a surface feeding frenzy.
Why do snook jump out of the water?
Some scientists believe they leap from the water when pursued by predators. Others say it is to shake off clinging parasites. Some experts believe they do it during spawning season to break open their egg sacks as they prepare to spawn.
Do snook have teeth?
Snook can be a dangerous fish to catch but fight and taste outweigh the danger. They do not have teeth so you can lip them like a freshwater bass. The danger comes from its razor-sharp gill plate.
What kind of rod should you use to fish for snook?
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.
What size hook is best for snook?
The best all around hook size for catching keeper size snook is a 4/0 circle or j hook. A 4/0 hook size is stout enough to bring in a slot sized snook without straightening out but is small enough to catch the smaller snook too.
What is the best time to fish for snook?
Snook, like most fish, feed mostly in the 2 hours surrounding dawn and dusk, so this is your best chance to catch them. Night fishing for snook is really popular, too, and Capt.
What is keeping size for snook?
The season remains open until midnight, December 15. During the open season, anglers possessing a Florida saltwater fishing license and snook stamp may keep one fish per day, as long as it is between 28 and 32 inches in length, measured from the chin to the tip of the tail (total length).
Do I need a permit to catch snook in Florida?
Unless exempt from license requirements, permits are necessary for the take of Snook and Spiny Lobster.
Are snook easy to catch?
JUPITER — — After we’d gotten three snook bites and had all three fish get away by breaking our 80-pound monofilament leaders, Capt. Ray Peterson was determined to get a snook to his boat.