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 (Click Image To Enlarge) New details can be seen with Navionics Fish N Chip

Fish N' Chip Changing the game for Inshore and Wade Fishing

When Navionics debuted its brand new Fish N Chip this spring, all anyone wanted to talk about was how you could see one-foot contours on the bottom of some of the fishiest estuaries in the state.

But it was talk that centered more on the novelty of the details the chip provided than anything else. That novelty quickly faded as anglers realized just how important seeing those contours really was.

For anglers, those contours are the most intriguing part of the chip. Suddenly, fishermen who have been plumbing the depths of a certain area for many years can see holes they never knew existed.

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Tracking Snook Recovery in Mosquito Creek Lagoon

Ravages

surviving snook
  A surviving snook showing some skin changes after the freeze.  Photo:  Guide Dee Kaminski fishes Indian and Banana Rivers,  Mosquito Lagoon and Sebastian Inlet.   ReelKayakFishing.com

It has been over 6 months since Floridians endured the relentless cold weather of this past winter.  The merciless arctic assault resulted in many nights of hard freeze and was responsible for the decimation of many forms of climate-sensitive aquatic life. One of the most popular game fish in Florida waters, the ( common ) Snook suffered extensive losses in the frigid waters. The FWC, by reported estimates, recorded thousands of casualties on the Atlantic side alone.

Indian River Lagoon National Estuary Program will host SnookWatch August 12th - read more click hereBeing a kayak fishing guide around the Sebastian Inlet area, I had to brave last January's cold weather regardless of the freeze, to scout fish for my next client as well as to quell my personal passion....

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  Jesus Lluis of Miami was one of the first anglers to get on board with Snook Watch

...are you onboard?

How to use tools - see video below

If you were wondering if you were an important piece of the snook fishery, think no more. Your participation is needed now more than ever. FWRI snook biologist Ron Taylor explains why:

"It's your fishery, so get involved, or put up with scientists taking up the slack using the limited information available...

"Right now we just don't know how many snook were killed this winter. Estimates run from 200,000 to 300,000, but that could mean as few as 75,000 or as many as 500,000, or more.

"Part of the problem, he explains, is much of the information they have received is anecdotal, meaning "word of mouth." That means the information is subject to the usual phenomenon of more, bigger fish each time the story is told. Further, much of the information has been second or third hand. (There's a reason the "telephone game" is a game...) 

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from Sportsman's Best: Snook

Today, Florida has about 500,000 acres of mangrove forest.

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It all looks 'snooky' but it's not. Picking  the best spots to spend your fishing time isn't all luck.
Nearly every coastal Florida backcountry has miles of red mangrove shoreline at the water's edge; it all looks "snooky" but it's not.  So how do you determine where to fish?  First, are there baitfish along the shoreline?  Are there birds? Birds of prey don't waste much time in a wasteland.  In the absence of birds, ar the mangrove leaves splotched with white?  That would be bird guano.  So at least birds do frequent the spot from time to time. 

Is there tidal current?  Finally, is there enough depth for snook at aleast during high tide?  Is there a sharp undercut mud bank? If all of these conditions are present, you may have found a snook spot.  And three out of four isn't bad!


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Guest Editorial by Dr. Grant Gilmore

We had been setting traps in thirty inch diameter culverts connecting the Indian River Lagoon to the impounded Jack Island State Park mangrove forest.  Each fall the culverts are opened to allow tides and fish to migrate from the forest to the Lagoon and back.  We set the traps for three hours on ebb, flood tides both during the day and at night.  On 27 Novermber 1085, 3,104 juvenile snook between 0.5 and 2 inches in length were captured moving against and with the tide in culvert traps around this imoundment. Over two thousand came from one trap. 

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Volunteers Celebrating World Ocean Day by cleaning up a section of coastline in Indian River Lagoon.

Thanks to West Marine for Caring about our Coastal Resources

World Ocean's Day Celebrated

About two dozen boaters took advantage of a free t-shirt and garbage bag to take part in the West Marine/Snook Foundation Waterway Clean-up in Melbourne while many more shopped the Melbourne West Marine stores to support the Snook Foundation in a West Marine 'Community Day' aimed at sponsoring worthy projects such as the Angler Action Plan: Snook Watch.

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titleThe year 2010 has so far proved to be the toughest year for fishing for me as a guide here is South Florida.  We started the year off with a terrible cold snap that left thousands of Snook, Tarpon, Bonefish, Grouper and numerous other species floating dead throughout the state.  The hardest hit seemed to be the Snook population and the proof was in the pictures coming in from around the state from other fellow fisherman.

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altphoto: Mad_snooker Dave PomerleauIt's that time of year when love is in the air, for snook lovers that is. The full moon in June brings back memories and stirs up hopes of great night time fishing trips.  With the hardships of a mighty cold winter, heavy storm water releases, and threatened oil contamination, what are the chances of rekindling a snook romance this summer?  While many choose to let  breeding stocks take a rest during the summer spawn, some will be practicing catch and release and checking in on the big gals. Here's a report from West Florida's Mad Snooker.

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