How these two snook were caught on the same line by the writer is a tangled story. Read more below.
March 04, 2024
By Dave Tennian
My buddy Jordan also happens to be my favorite bartender at a tiki bar that I’m known to frequent on Indian Rocks Beach. I had been bragging to him (and anyone else at the bar who would listen) about the great snook bite happening on the beach right across the street for weeks, so when he had a rare day off from slinging drinks and telling bad jokes we decided to give it a shot.
By the time Jordan arrived at my house shortly after sunrise, I had all our gear packed and ready to go in my trusty beach cart and we were soon on our way across Gulf Boulevard. A few minutes later, our feet were in the sand, and we were greeted by clear skies and calm waters. As we were walking to an area that had been producing good numbers of fish for me, we passed a couple other anglers who had spotted a pod of snook and were fly-casting small minnow imitations at them. I commented to Jordan, “Man, those tippets look pretty light. If they hook one of those bigger fish, they’re gonna have a hard time keeping her from breaking them off!”
After exchanging pleasantries with the fly fishermen, Jordan and I continued down the beach searching for baitfish and a pod of our own snook. We soon spotted a school of whitebait (scaled sardines) dimpling the surface and with one throw of the cast net we had enough bait for the morning.
One of the snook took a baited hook; the above fly played a role in two fish being landed together. Minutes later, we found a nice school of snook hanging out in the swash channel, so Jordan pinned a frisky sardine to his circle hook and fired a well-placed cast ahead of the fish. His bait was inhaled almost immediately, and after a short but spirited battle, Jordan had caught and released a pretty 26-inch linesider.
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Jordan and I had each caught and released a few more snook in the 25- to 30-inch range and he was thoroughly enjoying his day away from the tiki bar when we began seeing the silver-gold flashes further out near the sandbar that indicated a school of pompano was cruising through. We quickly swapped out our snook rods for lighter spinning rods rigged with pompano jigs and before long we had four nice pomps iced down in the cooler. By this time, the sun was getting higher, and with it the temperature, so we decided to call it a day and head back to my house for a cold beverage.
On the way back, we passed the area where the fly fishermen had been earlier. The fishermen were gone but the snook were still there, so we decided to see if we could catch a couple more to top off what had already been a great morning. Moments later, I was hooked up and a nice snook took to the air in an attempt to throw my hook. Then, another snook leapt skyward about 10 yards away and the line started peeling off my reel. After my initial confusion, I soon realized that I had somehow hooked not one, but two snook on the same line!
After an intense 10-minute struggle, I was able to coax both fish onto the beach, although I still wasn’t sure how I had managed to hook two fish on one bait. Upon closer inspection I saw that one of the snook had a small fly in its jaw with a length of fly line tippet attached that had gotten wrapped up in my leader. Apparently one of the anglers we saw earlier had hooked the snook and it broke off. Smiling and shaking my head, I removed my hook from the first fish and the fly from the second fish. I decided to keep the fly as a souvenir of the unusual catch and put it in my pocket. As we watched both fish swim away, Jordan couldn’t help but crack, “Now that’s what I call a two-for-one special!”
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This story was featured in the Outdoor Happening section of the December/January 2024 issue of Florida Sportsman magazine. Learn how to subscribe . Send Us Your Story If you have had an interesting, exciting or funny experience in the outdoors, tell us about it and send us a picture: It might qualify as “An Outdoor Happening.” If your story is chosen, you’ll receive a Florida Sportsman gift pack worth over $100. Email your story and one or two photos to editor@floridasportsman.com . Or send your story by mail to Outdoor Happening, Florida Sportsman, 3725 SE Ocean Blvd, Suite 202, Stuart, FL 34996.
