The clock winds down on Spring 2007 snook season at midnight tonight. So… maybe… I’ll watch 24, then grab the sturdy equipment and head out. Hey, 90 minutes should be plenty of time… doncha’ think?

 

One more weekend to go…. And I plan to make the most of it. ‘Course, you already know how it’ll go. No snook to be had. Then, as soon as May 1 hits, they’ll be everywhere- and hungry.

Heard one of the employees at The Merry Pier in Pass-A-Grille managed to best a 42″ snook on Saturday. The snook, nicknamed ‘Scar’, was released unharmed. I saw a few small snook hiding under the dock, but they were’nt interested in either my shrimp nor my pinfish.

May is fast approaching- time to start thinking about a serious offshore trip. Not sure how things’ll work out, but I do plan to get out to the deep water for some American Red Snapper and some Blackfin Tuna action. Stay tuned.

There weren’t any. Plain and simple. The Spanish Mackeral were there, as were the big blue runners that kept attacking our slow trolled squid spoons… just no sign of the Kings.

I joined my friend Allen, who was in from Kentucky, along with his daughter Hannah for some ‘serious’ fishing on Saturday. Our plan for inshore redfish was a bust, so we booked the Getaway out of Pass-A-Grille for a 3/4 day charter. We probably trolled 3-4 hours with liitle to show for it. We made a couple of stops on some god bottom that was showing fish… but, all we managed was squirrelfish after squirrelfish. The flat line was untouched. We even found a huge flock of diving pelicans, and there were a bunch of dolphins busting fish on the surface. We worked the school for a half hour, with 1 spanish mackeral to show for it.

Despite the wind, the seas only built to 2-3 feet. The conditions were perfect, and we were pre-front. The Captain and Mate on the Getaway were, as always, outstanding. Everything was perfect… except for the fish biting. Maybe next time.

Just a quick note- I braved the crappy weather this weekend for a few hours in Pass-A-Grille. The wind was blowing hard, the water had dropped form crystal clear to… murky; and the bite was off. I did pick up a huge sheepshead for my efforts.

But the story of the day on Easter Sunday was snook. Just as I arrived at Merry Pier, a guy was tossing a 33″ beauty into the cooler. Said he nailed it on a smallis, tail hooked shrimp, with a 25 lb. test leader. Sorry I missed that fight! I saw another on hooked, and a smal redfish landed. Looks like things are just starting to get good. Stay tuned… won’t be long now!

Spent sunday morning fishing with Cap’t. Mike Homer- what a blast! We hit some grassy flats in Clearwater. My first cast yielded a nice trout. The next ten casts wen something like this:

Redfish
Redfish
Redfish
Missed one!
Redfish
Redfish
Redfish
Missed another!
Redfish
Redfish

You get the idea. They were fiesty little guys, ranging up to about 20″ or so. We caught a few dozen, then went in search of snook. Cap’t Homer knew exactly where they’d be, too. They just weren’t biting. Big ones were evident, though.

If you’re looking for a great day of fishing in Clearwater, I recommend Clearwater Fishing Guide Mike Homer at 727.418.5005.