Camille Snook

Tampa fishing for snook can take fishermen to a broad range of environments during the spring and early summer. When spring’s warmth first arrives, fish that have wintered in coastal rivers, canals and bayous move to inshore points, protected, east facing mangrove shorelines and river mouths where baitfish might be available. As spring progresses, these fish will move closer to the beaches, posting up on near shore spoil islands and bays inside of inter-coastal islands. When temperatures move into the low seventies, snook will make their final push to the beaches, where Tampa fishing for snook reaches its crescendo.

During mid-summer, when water temperatures reach the high eighties, snook become much more nocturnal. Chances of hooking fish are much better early or late in the day.

The fish pictured above was one of several hooked first thing in the morning off a rock jetty protruding out into the Gulf of Mexico. As there is typically good current flow along this jetty, un-weighted on lightly weighted in to the large boulders in the hopes of ambushing baitfish that stray to far out. Strikes along this wall often feel like a tap followed by a heavy weight on your line as fish move up in the water column, eat you bait and then sink back down to the base of the Jetty. The hook set typically triggers a significant initial run. Tampa fishing for snook after about mid July slows considerably although large fish can still be caught with some consistency on evenings with good tidal movement.

In the heat of summer, charter times can be shifted this time of year to make your Tampa fishing experience both more comfortable and productive. Not only will the angler be fishing during a much cooler part of the day, it may be the fishiest part of the day as well. On a late day incoming tide, some excellent redfishing can occur on the late afternoon high tide. Once the tide peaks, turns and the sun sets, finding a hungry snook again becomes a real possibility.