Published in Onshore-Offshore Magazine, a great local publication.    This is an article by Captain Jason Prieto who is concerned about the future of the species.   Set to re-open September 2013, Jason is one of the majority of guides who opposes the decision to allow the harvest of snook again this soon.

So Many Great Fish To fish and Keep. Let’s Release The SNOOK!

 

The month of September marks the start of so many things in terms of fishing. Opens up the beginning of fall fishing, some of the best Red fishing of the year, Great Grouper fishing inside Tampa Bay, and sometimes the start of some cooler weather. And then the not so great:  The start of Snook season opening for harvest for the first time since the 2010 when we nearly lost all on our Snook since 2010. This has been ruled and approve by the FWC and others that help set our legal sizes and bag limits for all species and typically do a great job but myself and many others in the marine industry seem to think they have made a mistake.

After sending emails stressing my frustration to the FWC with this decision and battling on what I can do, I came to the conclusion that just educating people through media the media outlets on what myself and other guides see every day on the water. With that being said I can tell you this: Yes Snook is making a great comeback and every year we are catching and releasing more fish. Are the Snook numbers even close to what they were in 2009 before kill? Not even close.  I can’t speak for any other area but Tampa Bay and St Petersburg but this area can use at least another year of closure. I’m on the water on the South End of Tampa Bay 280 days a year and most of them days I’m spending them on the flats. While I don’t have a college degree and I can’t tell you an exact count on the number of Snook on Tampa Bay, I can promise you the Snook population needs some more help and opening the season is the help they need.

Now that we got the bad out of the way let’s talk about the good which has been Redfish.  September offers some great Red fishing as big schools move into Tampa Bay for the next couple of months you can expect to catch plenty of reds. The good thing about Redfish is there are a number of very successful ways to catch fish, from throwing artificial to live sardines. A few good techniques to use are greenbacks free lined to a # 1 Daiichi wide gap circle hook or submerged underneath a Cajun Thunder Back Bay cork. Both techniques mixed a few chum baits to get the interest will make for some good red fishing. Since there are plenty of fish in big schools you will probably find yourself sight fishing more often than not so having a good set of polarized glasses will make a big difference. Last but not least make sure that you downsize your leader for more hook ups for the days when the fish will not coroporate. I like to go all the way down to 20 lb. Ohero fluorocarbon. Tie this to the Ohero Adrenaline for a great braid to give you added distance on your cast. There are plenty of reds roaming the flats of Tampa Bay and make for a great table fare. Remember the slot for Red is 18 to 27 inches and its 1 per person.

While there are so many species that are good for September another that sticks out is Grouper. When people think Grouper many think offshore but Tampa Bay plays host to some great shallow water Grouper fishing.  Most artificial reefs and wreck are holding grouper from small to large finding the ones that hold the big ones is the key. With electronics nowadays fishing for Grouper has definitely gotten easier. My HDS touch with the built in charts has the latest and greatest when it comes to wrecks and reef Tampa Bay and the Structure Scan side imaging makes reading the bottom a breeze. When it comes to finding out which wrecks hold big fish and which ones don’t you just have to put your time in. I can tell you there is nothing more rewarding than finding a big Grouper hole inside Tampa Bay.

I hope that some of you that read this will ask yourself if it’s worth eating a Snook. While fish are very good eating (especially Snook) I would like to take every precaution to preserve a very important species to the west coast of Florida. I have a daughter that has caught Snook at a very young age and I would like to think she will have the opportunity to do the same years down the road. They are good to eat but GREAT to catch. Tight lines!

Captain Jason Prieto is a native resident of Tampa and has fished Tampa Bay and its surrounding waters for the past 20 years. He is owner and operator of Steady Action Fishing Charters which is based out of lower Tampa Bay. To book a charter, you can reach him at 813-727-9890 or www.steadyactionfishingcharters.com. If you would like to catch him on the radio tune into Tampa Fishing Outfitters Radio Show on Thursday evenings from 7 to 8 PM 1040 Sports Talk the Team. Tight lines!!!!

Neil Taylor
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