It's Sunday, the 23rd of June 2002 at 6:30 in the afternoon.
The forecast called for cloudy skies and hit and miss heavy downpours. We had a ripping outgoing tide. Winds were out of the SE 5-15mph for the late evening.
After the day we had before, I was completely addicted. I just couldn't stop thinking about all of those monster fish we had on. We caught a net full of threadfins on just one cast with the Baitbuster cast net. Off we went to the harbor. When we arrived someone was fishing our favorite spot so we decided to try for some grouper on a nearby wreck. We saw tons of fish on the wreck but no action. After 20 minutes or so we decided it was time to try for the giants again. When we got back to the harbor another boat had moved into our spot. We watched him get broken off at least 6 times. We told him he would get real good at tying leaders before the day was over.
Next we decided to fish the slip right past the boat that was in our favorite hole. I already had my rod rigged for some major fish fighting. I was a little worried the snook wouldn't eat my bait because of the 150lb leader I was using. We lined up parallel to the pilings with in 4 or 5 feet of each one. Nelson ran the trolling motor while I fished off of the back of the boat. At first I threw my bait on the outside of the structure and after about 5 minutes of no fish on I decided to throw my bait as far in the back as I could. Slam!!! Fish On!! He hit me in the very back of the boardwalk and took me straight down into the pilings while pulling my boat into the pilings. I was not going to give up though and I started pulling on him as hard as he pulled on me. I pulled him from around three sets of pilings and out of his lair to the side of the boat. He looked to be in the 33 to 34 inch range and he was nowhere near being tired out but since I was using that 150lb test leader I was able to horse him to the side of the boat. I had him at the side of the boat for 15 seconds or so and Nelson just wasn't able to Boga him before he shook the hook while Nelson was holding the leader. I don't carry nets on the boat because the fishes slime is severely degraded during the netting and unhooking process. The Boga Grip allows me to weigh the fish and release him without much stress being placed on him. I rebaited and tossed my bait back into the hole and as soon as it hit the water Snook On!! I put it on him however and kept him out of the pilings and after a good 30 seconds or so I put him to the side of the boat and Nelson attempted to Boga him. The same thing happened again. Nelson grabbed the leader and the hook popped right out of the fishes mouth. Oh Well, no slime off my back. It worked two times in a row so why not try it again. I nose hooked another fat threadfin and Pow!!! Snook On!! After a 15 or 20 second fight I had him at the side of the boat and once again Nelson went to boga him. Sure enough Fish Off!!! I went 3 for 3 in that hole. 3 fish to the side of the boat and ready to land only to have each one to shake the hook loose at the last second.
Not long after my last narrow escape the guy that was occupying our favorite hole decided he was going to beat the rain storm in. When he moved we moved in right behind him. The first two times I tossed my bait in the hole, I got smoked. The drag was locked down and I had 150lb test leader with 65lb test braid. Nelson then took his turn and received the same punishment as me. HA HA!! I told him to switch to the larger leader but he is stubborn. I tossed my bait in the hole again and nearly got pulled in the water I pumped and the snook tugged down for the pilings. I turned him this time and I knew he was a monster. I managed to get him to the top and when Nelson tried to Boga him he made another dash. He shot towards the other side of the docks and I burried the rod down towards the water. The fish turned at the second the rod reached its breaking point. I was determined not to loosed the fish however and grabbed the Braid with my hands and began to pull the fish towards Nelson. Except this time when Nelson reached for the fish, he managed to get the Boga in at the moment the hook fell out. The Fish weighed out at a whopping ??? I will leave it up to your imagination but he was the largest one I have ever caught.
Not long after landing that huge fish, I tossed my bait into the same hole that was only 8 feet away at best. Guess what? Fish On!!! Another huge snook was on my line. I was still tired from the last snook and he was just as tough. I just knew when I went to turn him with the drag on lock down my 15-30lb class rod was going to break. Fortunately for me it didn't and I was able to turn him and get him to the side of the boat. He went 15lbs. I couldn't believe the size of the two fish I just caught back to back. What a day, it was my best ever by far.
Although I had just boated some of the nicest snook I have ever caught, I couldn't stop and rest on my laurels. I baited back up with a nose hooked threadfin and Wham!! The biggest snook of the day and maybe the biggest snook I have ever had on. I pulled him out I thought. Now that I think about it he probaly just swam out. I pumped him about 3 times and he just increased his speed and Zoomed off about 15 yards of drag and busted me off on the bottom of the boat. The two previous fish couldn't even pull drag an this fish treated me like I was fishing with 6lb test. I guess you can't win them all. By this time Nelson had become slightly jealous. He tossed his bait in the same hole and Fish On!! Another nice linesider. We managed to get a Boga on him. He went a hefty 9lbs.
Not long after Nelson landed the 9lber. he had another fish bust his bait. He pumped and pulled and out came a fat 8lb snook. We usually call anything less than 10 in there a small one.
Soon the bite began to slow in that hole so we moved over to the next slip. The bite was on again. Nelson hooked up with a nice linesider and quickly began pumping the fish out of the cover. While trying to pump the fish out and keep his head on top of the water Nelson's 20-40lb class G-loomis broke in half. When the rod broke it was all the snook needed to get away. Nelson shook his head and smiled while picking up his 20 to 50lb class Key Largo. He baited up again and before too long he was hooked up with an estimated 13lb snook. Nelson was trying to keep the snook from taking him back into the pilings when the Key Largo rod snapped into three pieces. Once again that was all the snook needed to get away.
Nelson was nice and distraught about breaking the two rods he brought with him to fish with for the day. I loaned him one of my outfits so he could get even. Can you believe the next fish he got on he landed and brought him right to the side of the boat for me to boga him. The snook ended up weighing 11bs. She was a fairly large female and if she hadn't spawned already she would have easily went 13 or 14lbs.
The bite soon slowed in that slip so we decided to move on over and fish some of the other slips that were a little further away. I tossed my bait deep into a hole and there she was, the last snook of the day. I thought she was a 6 or 7lber at first but after a good second pull, I realized she was quite a bit larger. Once I got her to the top Nelson Boga Gripped her and she went a solid 11lbs.
To conclude, the 23rd of June on a Sunday evening turned out to be the best day of snook fishing in my life. Those fish were hungry and not affraid to eat what I had to offer. Other than the 2 or 3 other extra large fish that broke me off, I had a perfect day. If you are urning for some rod busting leader fraying excitement then give Captain Chancey a call @ (239)540-7529
Until next time may you have line singing, leader fraying, and
drag screaming action!!!!
