Big snook hang around the Crystal River Power Plant, where warm, deep water is available all winter. (Photo courtesy of Mario Costello)
October 29, 2024
By Frank Sargeant
Snook are not fans of cold weather. When fall water temperature drops below 70 degrees, they start easing toward winter haunts where instinct tells them they will better survive the chilly months. How they know where these locations are is a bit of a mystery, but apparently they’re able to follow slight variations in water temperature to track down areas that will remain warmer as what passes for winter in Florida arrives in earnest.
Most of Florida’s rivers are warmer in winter than the coastal bays and estuarine areas. This is most likely because many of them have numerous springs with ground water flowing at 70 to 75 degrees according to the U.S.G.S. Some springs in the southern part of the state average closer to 75-77.
So when water in the bays drops into the 60’s, the snook quickly vacate and move to their winter haunts.
Monster snook settle into dredge holes, shipping basins and powerplant outflows in winter, and are easiest to catch on cut bait or live baits like pinfish or grunts, but also take artificials. (Photo courtesy of L&S Lures) Which West Coast Rivers Hold Snook in Winter? Just about any coastal river might hold snook after mid-November and on through February, but some are noted for producing lots of them. (Note that Florida’s snook fishing rules are many and varied, and differ for each zone of the state so if you have hopes of catching and cooking a linesider, check the rules carefully first. The entire west coast is closed to harvest Dec. 1 to the end of February.) Some of the best known west coast winter snook rivers include:
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All the salt rivers flowing out of the 10,000 Islands and Everglades National Park Gordon River at Naples Caloosahatchee at Fort Myers Myakka and Peace Rivers feeding Charlotte Harbor Manatee, Little Manatee and Hillsborough Rivers feeding Tampa Bay Anclote River at Tarpon Springs Pithlachascotee at New Port Ritchie Weeki-Wachee River at Bayport Chassahowitzka, Homosassa and Crystal Rivers in Citrus County Cross Florida Barge Canal/Withlacoochee Ri verIn the past decade, snook have also been pushing farther north due to warmer winters, and researchers with the FWC report a substantial winter population in the Suwannee River, as well, with some traveling over 50 miles upriver.
Snook prowl sunny bays on warm days in winter, and can be caught on an assortment of lures, but head back to deeper water on cold, cloudy days. (Photo courtesy of Capt. Ray Markham) Where to Find River Snook Snook might be anywhere in a coastal river, but they tend to school directly at spring outflows, at deep, rocky bends, and at the mouths of marsh creeks that flow into the larger rivers.
They can be very hard to catch in clear spring water like that in the headwaters of the Citrus County spring rivers. The live shiners sold to largemouth bass anglers are one of the few sure things for fooling them.
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Finding a spring in “dark” water, on the other hand, is a ticket to success—these springs often are only revealed by your boat’s temperature gauge, but find one and it’s almost sure to hold fish.
As with rivers everywhere, a sharp bend in a water course usually means deep water on the outside of the bend—and these are often gathering spots for snook as well as other winter refugees like seatrout and redfish. Just like largemouth bass, winter snook also stack up under docks and shoreline debris.
Nearly all coastal rivers are fed by numerous blackwater tidal creeks, and these are thick with all sorts of snook edibles. When the tide falls—and tidal influence goes miles up some of these rivers—snook gang up at the creek mouths to feed.
Other Winter Snook Hideouts Not all snook head to the rivers in winter, obviously. Many larger fish go a short distance offshore and settle on reefs and wrecks to wait out cold weather.
And many bay fish simply move into backcountry potholes, marina and shipping basins and residential canals. Anywhere with water over 6 feet deep is possible, over 10 feet is almost a sure thing. The many shipping basins around upper Tampa Bay, for example, produce really big snook all winter long for specialists who hunt them.
If you’ve invested in scanning sonar, you can often scope out schools of winter snook in these holes, so you know you’re fishing in the right spot.
Winter snook can also be caught on sinking lures fished very slow and very deep. (Photo courtesy of L&S Lures) Live bait rules in winter because snook are usually lethargic and have to be coaxed into eating. Live pinfish about 4 inches long, live pigfish, and live freshwater shiners to 6 inches long are all very good, as are live jumbo shrimp if you can get them.
Winter snook will also track down and eat cut bait like redfish—a chunk of fresh mullet or ladyfish about 3” long resting on bottom has accounted for many a giant linesider in cold weather.
Use circle hooks in the 5/0-7/0 range on all this stuff, because the fish you’re likely to catch are going to be well over the slot limit most of the time, and you don’t want to kill them.
If you’re a purist, they also take artificials, although the biggest fish are very hard to fool. Lures that can be fished slowly near bottom are the best bet—the DOA 4-inch Shrimp among others. Mirrolure makes lots of lures that work well including the Heavy Dine. Z-Man’s Line-Through Mulletron and the Savage Gear Pulse Tail Mullet soft plastics are also good. Or use a boot-tail soft plastic like the DOA CAL Shad on a ¼ ounce jig head with an oversized 3x strong hook.
The idea is to fish a lure that gets deep, but is not so heavy that it will constantly snag bottom—best action is to twitch it very slowly just inches off the rocks or debris.
There’s also a limited opportunity for some topwater action at times, particularly around the creek mouths on sunny afternoons—on falling tides, a floating jerkbait like the Rapala Skitter V sometimes turns on the bite.
Tackling Up for Winter Snook Some places you’ll find schools of 20-inch snook that you can readily whip on your standard trout/redfish tackle, a 7-foot medium action spinning rod, 2500 reel and 15-pound-test braid.
But if you’re serious about tangling with a big winter snook, you’ll probably want to gear up. A 7- to 7.5-foot medium-heavy or heavy action spinning rod, 4000 reel and 30-pound braid or heavier will give you the needed authority.
Whatever tackle you fish, you need a length of fluorocarbon leader—25-pound-test if you expect “snooklets”, 40-pound or heavier if you’re looking for the big mammas. Fluoro is harder than monofilament, so though it’s more expensive, it’s a better choice for this duty—big snook have very rough jaws.
When you’re fishing artificials, it’s important to tie an end-loop knot in this heavier leader—otherwise it cuts the action of the lure.
Give the Snook a Break While exercising snook during the winter closed season is a whole lot more fun than toasting marshmallows by the fireplace, we owe it to the fishery to handle these fish with care, get them unhooked quickly and back into the water. A 30-degree morning that seems nippy to us is lethal to a snook out of water, so send them back to their winter refuge quickly and they’ll be there to greet you when you head out on the flats come spring.