A Very ‘Snooky’ Year

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SNOOK ARE AN ELUSIVE FISH especially here in the lone star state and only a select few anglers can say they are a part of the snook catching club. But with the recent trophy class and close to state record breaking snook being caught on the Lower Laguna Madre, the future looks promising for lunker linesiders.

Catching a snook is not an easy feat, especially when it comes to catching a large one. These fish are very temperamental and come down with lock jaw very often. Tidal movement and weather play a huge factor when targeting this fish and if the conditions are not right, they simply won’t eat. It is not uncommon to work your lure or bait directly in front of a snook and watch them show zero interest. Lots of time and frustration comes with targeting this species, but once hooked up you will experience a ferocious and explosive bite with some serious drag screaming tugs. “Snook are super picky, especially the big ones, but they pull hard, and they jump. They remind me of bass on steroids,” says Capt. Brian Barrera who has spent over a decade pursuing and learning about snook. “With a lot of persistence and a little bit of luck, you too can get this fish crossed off your bucket list.”

Places such as Florida or Costa Rica where the IGFA world record common snook was caught (53 lbs.) are known hot spots for larger fish over 40”, but fish of this caliber do inhabit Texas waters. The Texas State record common snook is 57.50 lbs. caught in 1937 beating the current world record, but the IGFA did not start documenting official world records until 2 years after the exceptional catch. Over the past few years, I personally have witnessed multiple 35-38” snook be caught and released on a variety of artificial lures and live baits. While fishing near an oyster bed with a steep drop-off, snook in the 34-38” range were showing off their true predator demeanor and exploding full body out of the water terrorizing baits. It was quite remarkable to watch, and even more so to see several be caught and released. After years of snook fishing on the Lower Laguna Madre, it’s always been said that there must be monsters looming amongst all the younger, smaller snook, they are just extremely choosey on when and what they eat. Every trip, the thought of the ‘big one’ has always been on the back of my brain. 

On a recent outing, I decided to throw a new topwater I had purchased, the MirrOlure C-Eye Pro Dog Jr. in hot pink with silver painted bones. There was a strong outgoing tide as we pulled up to the first fishing spot of the day. The goal was to catch snook and boy was I in for a real treat. I saw a cluster of bait on the surface getting chased and cast my lure right into the middle of the chaos. I saw the huge humpback of a snook come up and absolutely crush the topwater. The fish came blasting out of the water and appeared to be a solid 32-33”. This fish was making freight train runs in all directions. As I cautiously got the fish closer to the boat, we realized we had a true monster on the line. We safely netted and measured the fish and was blown away by what we saw; a 39” Texas snook. After a quick picture, I revived the fish until she strongly swam off. That’s when it hit me that I had just encountered a true fish of a lifetime. I was only 1” away from tying the catch and release Texas state record. 

Catching a common snook of this size is a remarkable achievement. Snook are classified as protandric hermaphrodites, meaning they switch sexes from male to female once they mature. The probability that my 39” was a female is high considering the length. These fish are also known for being long-lived and believed to reach 20-30 years of age. After deep diving into big snook and realizing that fish was possibly 10 years or older, my catch became a whole lot more special. 

2023 was a very ‘snooky’ year with multiple reports of both the common and fat snook being caught in places such as the mouth of the Colorado river in Matagorda and the jetties on North Padre Island. According to Texas Parks and Wildlife, snook numbers are at an all-time high and the future is bright for this unique species and for the anglers in pursuit of catching one.

 

Email Kelly Groce at ContactUs@fishgame.com

 

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