Tag: snook

Snook poacher nabbed after an attempt to ‘slip away’

A Florida wildlife officer acting on a tip and vehicle description located a poaching suspect who was found in possession of 35 out-of-season and undersized snook.

A Florida wildlife officer acting on a tip and vehicle description located a poaching suspect who was found in possession of 35 out-of-season and undersized snook.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission stated Monday that the unidentified suspect also was cited for the illegal use of a cast net.

If it were open season on snook, only hook-and-line fishing would be allowed, and the bag limit would be one snook per day.

The FWC stated that the officer who responded to a tip arrived at the unidentified Lee County location to find that “the snook stealer [had] slipped away.”

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But after receiving a description of the suspect and vehicle, the officer located the “wet and sandy” suspect and discovered a cast net and 35 snook, plus a mangrove snapper, in the truck’s bed.

Snook fishing in the region, from Sarasota Bay through Gordon Pass in Collier County, is catch-and-release only through Aug. 31.

Poacher nabbed with illegal snook catch despite clever ploy

A Florida angler was cited for possession of illegally caught snook that were discovered hidden beneath a false cooler insert.

A Florida fisherman was cited for possession of illegally caught snook that were discovered hidden beneath a false cooler insert.

“Think you can outsmart our officers? Think again!” My Florida Fish and Wildlife wrote Tuesday in a statement.

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Law enforcement was tipped off by a concerned citizen, as anglers are required to release snook caught in Sarasota County through May 31.

“When the officer opened the lid to the cooler, all he could see were groceries,” Fish and Wildlife explained. “But, when a false insert sized to fit within the dimensions of the cooler lifted out, seven snook were in a sneaky hiding space.”

The person was issued multiple citations and “the fish were returned to the water to become food for other marine life.”

–Snook image courtesy of My Florida Fish and Wildlife

Nighttime catch of ‘monster’ snook a pending world record

After a recent day of fishing, in stormy surf and vanishing daylight, guide Wesley Brough tried one more cast and reeled in a massive snook that could shatter a 20-year-old world record.

After a recent day of fishing, in stormy surf and vanishing daylight, guide Wesley Brough tried one more cast and reeled in a “monster” snook that could shatter a 20-year-old world record.

“We were getting ready to leave when we saw mullet flying out of the water and decided on a last cast,” Brough, a surf-fishing guide in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, told For The Win Outdoors. “I figured it was another roosterfish. Knowing there was not enough light for a good picture, I decided to horse him in and get him released.

“The fish was on the beach in about six minutes and it was definitely not a rooster. To our surprise it was a monster snook like neither of us had ever seen before.”

The Pacific white snook, caught June 28, weighed 51 pounds, 4.8 ounces on a certified scale in town. The International Game Fish Assn. world record stands at 47 pounds, 8 ounces. That fish also was caught off Cabo San Lucas, on July 4, 2001.

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Snook catches are rare on Cabo San Lucas beaches. Brough, owner of Cabo Surfcaster guide service, was fishing for roosterfish with Matt Strehle on the Pacific side of Baja California’s tip, in surf generated by Hurricane Enrique far to the south.

“Winds were 25 to 30 mph and storm waves were stacked four to five waves deep,” Brough said. “The only things we had going for us is that the water was warm and there was bait in the area.”

Brough and Strehle were casting lures beyond the waves and retrieving them rapidly so they’d mimic fleeing baitfish. They were targeting roosterfish for catch-and-release photo opportunities.

“As the sun went down we started to see the bait get really nervous and we launched casts out over the waves into the bait,” Brough recalled. “I got hit right away on a big Savagegear stickbait and passed off the rod and it ended up being a 50- to 55-pound rooster.

“After pictures and a quick release we ended up repeating the process three casts later with a 45-pound rooster and a 25-pound jack crevalle.”

Brough’s next cast, in near darkness, produced the snook strike. He said he’d have released the fish but it was hooked deep in the throat and would not have survived.

On Instagram he described the snook, which measured 50 inches with a 30-inch girth, as a “sea monster.”

Brough said he fought the fish in accordance with IGFA rules and has submitted a record application. The IGFA typically makes a determination after several weeks.

–Images showing Wesley Brough with his giant snook are courtesy of Cabo Surfcaster

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