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13 March 2010
Posted in
General
First Snook caught and recorded.
Seasoned anglers know you don’t have to catch a lot of fish to have a successful fishing trip. There is the joy of simply being outside, of exploring new water and of the camaraderie between kindred spirits. Sometimes you can even get a little business done.
The Snook Foundation Meet-and-Greet March 5-7 in Port Isabel, Texas, arrived on the heels of a slump in catching for the normally-bounteous Lower Laguna Madre at the southern tip of Texas. And while attendees enjoyed good catch-and-release sport on ladyfish, trout and redfish with local guides, White Sands Marina showed that only 11 spotted seatrout and one redfish were brought to the cleaning table there over the weekend.
Snook Foundation Executive Director Rick Roberts caught the first snook of the weekend when he flipped a Nite Glow Tiny TerrorEyz into a school of frenzied ladyfish along they Brownsville Ship Channel shoreline Friday night.
“Landed right in his mouth,” Roberts exclaimed with delight as he brought the fish to boat. Measured, confirmed as a common snook and released, the 15-inch linesider would later in the week become the first entry in the Snook Foundation’s Angler Action Program.
Snook Foundation member and Texas A&M University-Galveston graduate student Chris Chapa would hook two more robalo on live shrimp the next day with local guide Captain Gencho Buitureira Jr.
“The fishing was slow, for sure,” said Snook Foundation Lower Laguna Madre Regional Director Capt. Danno Wise. “It’s been tough for weeks now, really ever since our big cold snap. It’s a positive sign, though, that we’re seeing small snook actively feeding. The big girls should be right behind them.”
Four snook anglers
In a meeting with representatives from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and local officials, Snook Foundation members outlined agreements to co-sponsor two paddling trails that provide low-impact angling access to critical snook habitat, and set the stage for some serious research efforts later in the year.
“We’re really just getting started in understanding our snook fishery here,” said Texas State Director Aaron Reed. “We will be talking more with scientists at the Harte Research Institute about extending their passive acoustic tracking study into the Lower Laguna and to snook, and we were able to get 200 fin clip kits into the hands of local anglers to help Chris (Chapa) with his genetic analysis of Texas snook.”
During cold-water periods in Texas, snook fishermen need look in only one place: the Brownsville Ship Channel
Brownsville Ship Channel - Where the Snook Are
The following is provided by Capt. Danno Wise, courtesy of Cabela's: When the water temperature begins to dip in southern Texas, Snook quickly scurry to the protective insulation of deep water. At the south end of the Texas coast, deep water is relatively scarce. The lack of deep water takes the guesswork out of locating snook during the cold-water period.
Although there is a smattering of other deep-water channels and pockets, the densest concentration of snook is in the ship channel when the water temperature dips. When the fish move into the ship channel, they remain there until late spring.
For the most part, the Brownsville Ship Channel is a textbook deep-water fishery. Docks and pilings provide plenty of vertical structure stretching from the bottom to the surface. During periods of cold weather, snook will hang tight to this structure, usually suspending just off the bottom. To reach them, anglers should employ quick-sinking lures such as D.O.A. TerrorEyz, or half-ounce Blakemore Road Runners.
Because extreme South Texas is a subtropical region, warm weather is the dominant characteristic, even in winter. Typically, a few days after a front passes, the air temperature bounces back up into the 80s and stays there until the next front pushes through. During these warm, between-front periods, snook take advantage of the shallow water fringes of the Brownsville Ship Channel to feed actively.
Click here for more about fishing the Brownsville Snook Channel
Reed reported that City and Chamber of Commerce officials in Port Isabel were enthusiastic about a snook tournament and benefit slated for the area in October.
“The folks in Port Isabel have a long-running, very successful event called the Texas International Fishing Tournament, which was started 70 years ago specifically to let the world know about the great sport to be had there,” he said. “They told us they welcome the opportunity to get the word out about a snook fishery that is returning to its historical, world-class level.”
The snook event, slated for the weekend of October 15-17, will include a research component as well as prizes for anglers and an evening benefit for the Snook Foundation.
