Seasonal Transition

It would seem the weather is changing to a more summer like pattern. The warmer temperatures have begun to bring the baitfish and shrimp back to the area. During the colder months, there was a lack of any schools of greenbacks or skip jacks.  Ballyhoo and shrimp were not around. And as most fish do, the snook and sea trout seem to follow wherever they go – which is certainly still a mystery to me on where the bait fish can disappear to so suddenly. So with the return of the bait, there is a return of the fishing intensity.  It is always exciting to hear a big snook eat a shrimp or small fish they have chased to the top of the water with a big sucking “pop” sound. And to add to the excitement, there are hundreds of ladyfish just outside the range of the dock lights crashing bait for hours at a time on the surface as the tide brings along the flotilla of food for them to chase. Even the sea birds, some that look like white herons, glide down to the ocean surface and pick up a ballyhoo which is swimming too close to the surface.

Now with the influx of bait the big female snook are setting up in the water around the docks, positioned strategically pointed into the tide waiting for some unsuspecting dinner to be washed their way. Along with those big battleships are a number of smaller males who also set up in their lane in the food conveyor.  So with all of these fish around, you would think catching snook is a breeze and chunking any kind of lure out there would bring immediate success.  Ahhh, no. Snook seem to be related to the finicky river trout I used to chase. Many times you can see them, but they are just not feeding, sunk down near the bottom and nearly motionless.  Oh they are right where they are supposed to be, and occasionally will make a small move to eat something floating by, but pass any lure or bait by them, and they simply move out of the way. And then all at once, some switch goes on and the show is on.  The trick is being around when that happens.

So this week, we caught some bigger “mama” snook, and had some really long feeding times where we caught a good number of both large sea trout and snook. We also had a night or two of pure frustration, and one particularly nasty night of no wind, weeds floating in the tide to clutter our lures, lots of mosquitoes, no-see-ums, and no snook-ums. We also had the great pleasure to meet a family from Kentucky vacationing on the island. This family had two daughters that were interested in fishing, so Jason gave them lures for their rented poles and showed them how to cast an open faced reel. Both were “hooked” and were casting effectively in no-time at all. And to make it even better, there was catching involved, so that sealed the deal – hooked on fishing. Pictures were taken and the parents were excited that their girls had a chance to experience island fishing.