3 Tips To Catching Snook In The Summer (From The Beach)
- By: Joseph Simonds
- on
- Found In: Beach Fishing, Fishing Tips, Inshore Fishing, Snook Fishing Tips, Wade Fishing
It’s summertime and you know what that means…
Snook are out on the beaches!
This can be one of the best times to catch snook, especially without a boat.
But there are some key things to keep in mind while targeting snook from the beach if you want to have a successful day of catching.
Want to know what those key points are?
Watch the video below with Wader Dave, the master of wade fishing, for tips on how to catch snook from the beach.
Enjoy!
Summer Snook Fishing From The Beach [VIDEO]
Isn’t it crazy to see exactly where the snook are congregating along the beaches?
(P.S. If you want to see the full report from this trip, join our Insider Club)
How To Find Snook On The Beach
Like anytime you’re looking for fish, when you’re on the beach fishing for snook you want to see:
- Bait
- Current
- Structure
Although a beach may appear to be featureless from the surface, there are several underwater elements that you’ll typically find, and these are the features that hold fish:
- Dropoffs
- Swash channels
- Grass
- Sand bars
- Washouts
In addition to those underwater elements, fishing the points of barrier islands often hold fish as well.
Equipment For Beach Snooking
Wader Dave typically goes with a little heavier setup when he’s targeting snook on the beach than when he’s wading the flats.
Here’s his go-to setup:
- Medium action (He uses a 7′ 6″ St. Croix Avid Spinning Rod)
- 4000 series spinning reel
- 10 lb braid
- 4-5 feet of fluorocarbon leader
- 1/4 oz jighead
- His go-to bait is the Mirrolure Lil John in the Golden Bream color
- Another good option would be the Slam Shady paddletail
2 Biggest Mistakes When Beach Fishing For Snook
Wader Dave typically sees two main mistakes when fishing the beaches for snook, and they both have to do with casting direction.
The first mistake is casting down current, and retrieving your lure up current.
The snook are looking into the current in hopes that the current will bring them breakfast, so if your lure is going against the current, snook will either not see it, or see it and be suspicious of it because it’s not swimming in the direction they’re expecting breakfast to be swimming.
The other mistake is casting perpendicular to the beach.
The snook are usually hanging close to the beach in the swash channel, and if you cast your lure perpendicular to the beach, your lure is spending a very short amount of time in the strike zone.
Wader Dave has the most success in this scenario:
- Wading a few feet into the water (which gives you a lower profile and helps avoid detection by snook)
- Casting parallel to the beach (giving his lure the maximum time in the strike zone)
- Casting up current and retrieving his lure down with the current (because the snook are expecting bait to be swimming down current)
It’s important to note here that Wader Dave has caught some of his biggest snook right up on the beach, in just a few inches of water.
Conclusion
Have any questions about catching snook on the beach?
Let us know in the comments below.
And remember, if you want to catch snook from the beach, follow these steps:
- Look for structure (dropoffs, swash channels, points, grass, sandbars, washouts)
- Step up your tackle a bit to safely catch and release bigger snook
- Wade into the water to give yourself a lower profile and cast up current, parallel to the beach
A huge thank you and shoutout to Wader Dave for these tips.
If you want to book a wade fishing trip or learn more about wade fishing in general, check out his website at WadersGuide.com.
Know someone who wants to catch more snook from the beach this summer?
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Related articles:
- How To Catch More Redfish, Snook, & Grouper With Just ONE Lure
- Wade Fishing 101: How To Maximize Your Time & Strikes While Wading
- The Ultimate Wade Fishing Pre-Trip Planning Guide
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How do You find a Beach like that. Man that was Awesome. I am a Senior near the Villages and can go east or west. I need just one good surf fishing spot. Can I get some help please??? Thanks, Bob Hunt
Bob – there are beaches all along the gulf coast of Florida offering opportunities for snook. I fish the beaches of north Pinellas County primarily. Honeymoon Island and Caladesi Island are two of my favorite. Wader Dave
Wader Dave does it again ! Great tips. Don’t be afraid to beach your boat and walk and cover a lot shoreline. Lately it seems everyone of my “go to”
Spots already has a boat anchored down. So just beach a little bit away and walk, excuse me….WADE, the shoreline to target your favorite holes !
Thanks Thom! Great point. I use my boat to get me to many of my favorite beach spots to wade. Looks like you’re charter business is taking off – seeing a lot of you out on the water.
Wader Dave, Great information and ideas. Really enjoyed. You covered it all including tackle and knots, and retrieves. Thanks. Tom Watts, Naples, Fl.
Thanks Tom – I hope it helps you catch more fish.
Great info Wader Dave
Thanks Joe – I appreciate the positive feedback.
Dave, thank you, i’m always looking to learn something new.
Great job Dave. ????????
Thanks! Hope it brings you many snook.
Excelente video y recomendaciones, gracias por el aporte.
Denada!
Great information Dave. I’ll have to go out and try to get me some of them snooks.
You are the Snook Hunter after all. Good luck!
Out of curiosity, who is the manufacturer of your sling tackle bag please.
My wading bag is the H2O Mojave Waist Pack made by Outdoor Products and can be found at WalMart for less than $10. It also comes with two reusable plastic water bottles. I provide a detail of my usual wading gear in a previous SS post titled – 11 Things You Need for a Successful Wade Fishing Trip. You may want to check it out at – https://saltstrongdev.wpengine.com/articles/wade-fishing-gear/.
When just considering artificials, I have caught my PB snook, redfish, and trout on a lil john..such an awesome bait. Great video guys, thanks so much.
Hard to beat the Lil John. I consistently catch trout, redfish and snook on them all year round.
So it sounds like You keep a Lil John rigged all the time, Do You use live Shrimp as an alternative?
Lil John’s are one of my go to baits – usually in Golden Bream or Glow rigged on a 1/4 oz jig head. I also frequently use red and white or green and white bucktails jigs and gold weedless spoons when targeting snook along the beach. I don’t use live bait but it certainly can be effective even when artificials aren’t.
How did You rig the Lil John and what flavor. I use Root beer
If the beach area has no points, etc and the incoming tide current is straight in towards the beach wouldn’t you then cast straight out and fish in with the current?
While waves may be coming straight in, there is usually a current created by the incoming or outgoing tide that runs parallel to the beach.
Thanks
The incoming tide/current can’t come straight into the beach, it has nowhere to go. Think of it like a river. I’ve never seen a river just ‘dead end’, like into a mountain, and stop. A tidal ( or wind-caused ) current is water moving. If it encounters an object, it has to break to one direction or another, or both, like around an island. Just like a river, it has to go somewhere.
Thanks