Rocking Florida Jetty Snook

By Nick Honachefsky

Forty knot southeast winds drove torrential rains into our faces, soaking us to the bone a 2 AM in themiddle of the night. Crazy Alberto Knie and I were working one of Florida’s inlet jetties, punching 1-ounce bucktails through the spitting snot, fully realizing nobody with any sense of sanity would be out on the jetty rocks targeting snook at this ungodly hour and conditions. The casts barely made it past the rod tip, plunking only 20 feet from the rocks into whitecapped froth. Once the slack line was reeled up, the bucktail only lie 10 feet from the jetty rocks. A quick twitch, a little lift of the rod, and the magic happened – every time. In a three hour span, Crazy Alberto and I landed 17 snook, all between 8 to 36 pounds, one cast after another.  Was this just a lucky strike? Or are there serious snook secrets on Florida’s inlet jetty rocks?

ST. LUCIE SUCCESS 

Captain Ed Zyak’s snook playground is the St. Lucie Inlet jetty rocks. “The prime run of big snook in St. Lucie is during the spawn, mainly from June through August, but really stretching from May to September, though you can find fish as early as February,” said Zyak. “They are moving through the inlet during the spawn, and that’s when you can really play catch and release with the spawning fish in the 20 to 40-pound class.” St. Lucie Inlet’s north jetty rocks are a jumbled jigsaw puzzle, many of which have crumbled down into the inlet channel and along the oceanside waters to provide new submarine structure. “I tend to fish the incoming tides on the outside of the jetties on the oceanside, but on outgoing tides, as the water turns and dumps out, they lay more on the inside notches inside the corners of the jetty rocks.” Zyak will cast artificial baits off the rocks such as the 3 inch DOA CAL in Bayou Tiger or Purple/Gold, fixed on a ½ ounce jighead which he says resembles a sand perch or croaker. “When there is a lot of boat traffic at the mouth of the inlet rocks, that’s when I go to artificials, as those snook are hunkered down deeper. Cast toward the rock, drift with the tide and give it quick snaps, like a 1 foot hops off the bottom,” says Zyak. “Pressured fish will tend to go for smaller baits like the 4-inch DOA shrimp too. You want to be bombing the bottom with the baits. Sling the bait uptide, and give it an aggressive hop with slow sharp twitches.”

SEBASTIAN’S BOUNTY

Captain Glyn Austin of Going Coastal Charters works the Sebastian Inlet rocks for his snook success. “I’ll work the outer jetties via boat July through October, casting bucktails, Rapala X Raps 14 or TA Subdarters toward the tip of the north jetty on the outgoing tide,” says Austin. “During the summer months, snook will spread out along the beach as they hang around the pier north tip feeding on glass minnows as they spill out with the tide.” Austin notes the average size of summer snook run in the 28 to 35-inch range, with larger model fish pushing the 40-inch plus mark. Snook will feed aggressively when water temps are anywhere from the low 70’s to high 80’s and can be a year round bite. “This past winter, the water never got below 70, so we had snook along the jetty rocks all winter long. It was pretty amazing.” Austin will also opt to go on the troll when the conditions are right. “I’ll drag Rapala Super Shad Raps in Firetiger and Yellow perch color patterns around the tip of the north jetty and along the oceanfront to find snook lying close to the rocks.”

LIVE BAITS

“Live bait hands down really works best when there is minimal boat traffic and less pressure,” says Zyak. “When drifting the inlet with live bait, I like to get up high on the boat to get a visual of the snook as you can see their shadows lying on the bottom behind rocks and off the jetty,” he adds. “Don’t be afraid to check out the dock pilings right inside the inlet areas just steps from the rocks. When fishing around docks or when the water is dirty in the inlet I use the Hummingbird side scan imaging, its truly amazing that I can look under the docks and see the snook stacking up under the boathouses.” For live baiting, Zyak usually goes with threadfin herring, pilchards or live croakers, but notes croakers are best as they seem to be genetically programmed to swim straight to the bottom. Zyak’s drift rig consists of a double uni knot from the 30-pound running line braid to a 48-inch section of 50-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon, then a loop knot to a size 4/0 to 6/0 Eagle Claw Trokar hook. Zyak hooks the bait right under the bridge of the nose or underneath the belly just in front of the tail and simply freelines the bait without any weight. “Usually we are fishing 6 to 12 feet of water, and the bait swims straight down.” Average size snook are 10 to 25-pound and in St. Lucie, the late afternoon bite is better as there is less boat traffic, with Zyak recommending you concentrate your efforts around the approaching new moon for best results. “I will also look for structure around inlet areas,” adds Zyak. “Those fish will come off the inlet rocks and explore the immediate area. When I find a nice piece like a fallen tree or submerged rocks or washouts by the docks, I spot lock it in with my Minnkota, get about the tide and pitch baits back to it.”

AND DREAMIN

Captain Austin also likes to drift livies inside the inlet waters when the conditions are right. “Snook stack up along the bridge fenders and outgoing tides are best to fish with live bait,” says Austin. Live pinfish or pigfish are his preferred baits, with the rig consisting of 30-pound braid running line, surgeon knotted to a 24 to 36-inch section of 40 to 50-pound fluorocarbon leader, then a size 5/0 to 6/0 VMC 7385 circle hook loop knotted on.  He will pinch a ½ ounce to 1-ounce split shot about a foot above the bait to get it down into the zone. “Sebastian has about 12 to 15 foot depths in the middle of the channel, so I will motor up about 2/3 of the way back into the inlet, up to the bridge, then make the drift.  The bottom structure is very sticky inside the inlet with plenty of rock hang ups, but the key is to drift into the holes between rock boulders hard thing to do is find the right balance between bouncing over the rocks while still letting the bait be on the bottom without snagging up.” Though morning and afternoon hours are prime times, Austin suggests not to overlook drifting live baits during the night hours. “Those night time shifts are also real solid for guys fishing around the south Jetty with both live baits and bucktails. You’d be surprised how hot that action can get in the middle of the night.”

That magical night casting bucktails on the rocks opened up a whole new world of snook fishing for me. Mangroves, fallen trees and docks are notorious snook haunts, but next time you’re milling around any one of the various inlet jetties that line Florida’s East and Gulf coasts, start thinking about rockin’ some snook.

SWS TACKLE BOX:

Rod: Loomis E6X Inshore 7 foot, St. Croix Tidemaster 7 foot, rated 10 to 20-pound

Reel: 5000 Shimano Stradic, Okuma Azores Z55S

Lures: 3-inch DOA CAL, 4-inch DOA shrimp, ½ to 1 ounce leadheads or bucktails, Rapala XRap 14, Rapala Supershad Rap, TA Subdarter

Line: 30-lb braided line, 40 to 50-lb Seaguar or Yo-Zuri TopKnot fluorocarbon leader

Terminal Tackle: 4/0 to 6/0 Trokar or Gamakatsu Octopus hooks, 5/0 to 6/0 VMC 7563 Circle Hooks

SWS PLANNER:

What: Snook

Who:

Captain Ed Zyak, Pt. St. Lucie, Florida, www.captedzyakfishing.com

Captain Glyn Austin, Goin’ Coastal Charters, Sebastian, Florida, www.goingcoastalcharters.com 321-863-8085

Where: Florida’s East and Gulf Coast jetties

When: Prime May through October, but good all year round