One of the most preferred techniques for slamming snook in the surf of SW Florida is to use a fly rod. The fly rod has been used for snook fishing for quite some time now with the best angling occurring right as the fish make their annual migration to the beach. Linesiders love to inhale a saltwater fly and it is hard to match the excitement of witnessing this firsthand. A great way to fly fish the surf in Southwest Florida is to sight fish along the edge of the water.
Feeder Creeks
Before we slip over to the beach to pick a fight with a few huge surfing snook, let’s take a peek over in the feeder creeks that will be the next stop along the migratory routes for this great gamefish species. We’ve all seen the guys out there all battened-down snugly into their one-man canoes, fly rod in hand, looking like the ultimate snook fishing machine! What isn’t known, or at least is not known as much as it should be, is that the canoed fly fisherman has been rowing and searching for hours to set up for just one sighted snook fishing shot. That’s the sacrifice that fly fishermen who are sighting for snook must do in order to be successful.
Best Snook Fishing Ever
The fly fisherman that is targeting snook from a canoe, or even from the shore, compares it to some of the best snook fishing they have ever experienced. It is hard to argue that fact if you have ever hooked up with an oversized-snook on a picture postcard day on the coastline of Southwest Florida. It is akin to fishing inside of an aquarium as a younger angler, so wisely told this aged fisherman.
Canoe Sight Fishing
A great method for fly fishing for snook in Southwest Florida, other than the canoe or standing along the coastline, is to explore the mangrove stands that line this beautiful coastline. Depending upon the time of year, the mangrove stands will be your gateway to hungry snook looking for a break from the open, colder weather and also to use a mangrove swamp as ambush spots.
‘Sweet’ Groves for Huge Snook
Utilizing the mangrove swamps as both cover and a wind break it is a good technique to wade as close as one can and start making the forward fly fishing cast. A great saltwater fly will be the very popular White Muddler Minnow. This wet fly mimics a struggling live finger mullet on the surface and is virtually irresistible to the hungry snook lined up along the mangrove roots.
Bait Presentation
All fly fishermen who find themselves in Southwest Florida know that the success or failure of the fly fishing for snook expedition relies on bait presentation. This case presentation of the wet or saltwater fly is in response to what the snook are currently feeding on. Sometimes snook just like to snack around and will smash into a lighter than normally used wet fly, just from the inherent response that is built into these wonderful game fish. As with the beauty of fly fishing, you just never know what the snook will be turned on to unless you try a few flies.
In the Mangroves
As mentioned earlier, the fly rod has long been a favorite tool for first-class Southwest Florida’s snook fishermen especially in mangrove country. A fly rod setup allows you to place your little bug where you want to as long as you are proficient in the fly casting methods and techniques. If new to fly fishing it is recommended that a few nights in the backyard casting in a hoop is completed before attempting to fish for such a qualified and wily quarry such as the Southwest Florida snook.
Root Issue and How to Beat It
There is one technique that we can leave you with that may or may not be a well-known fact of saltwater Southwest Florida snook fishing, especially with a fly rod, but we will address. Many snook fishermen only cast to the far exterior of the mangrove swamp. The reason for this is two-fold. The first reason is from experience that dictates that if you cast too close to a present snag or cut-off danger, you are just taking a very slim shot on landing that fish.
Coercing a Big Snook Out
Instead of losing out on where most of the larger snook are located, why not try this technique? Start tossing closer and closer to the existing partly submerged mangrove roots until you become confident that you can place your cast in between the root sections. This will produce some very large snook yet will take some practice in getting used to, especially when you finally coerce a big snook out of the groves! The issue is that these snook only have to turn their head 6 inches in either direction and the hook-up is over. Good luck snook fishing in SW Florida!