Snook fishing in The Everglades

In The Everglades, snook peak March–November and are around year-round, spawning in May–August, according to Fish Scouter's month-by-month season calendar. March: Fish leave the backcountry for the outside points and passes.

1. JanuaryAroundDry season: deep creek bends and the river holes; cold fronts drain the backcountry and push fish into the open — best sight fishing of the year on the calm days after.
2. FebruaryAroundPeak dry-season sight fishing; reds school in Florida Bay. Redfish schools on the Florida Bay flats and the outside bars; snook on the sun-warmed mangrove points by afternoon.
3. MarchPeakFish leave the backcountry for the outside points and passes.
4. AprilPeakTarpon on the outside; snook stage on the beaches and passes. Tarpon along the outside beaches and in the big bays; snook staging at the passes for the spawn (harvest closes the 30th). Permit on the outside wrecks.
5. MaySpawningSpawning at the outside passes and beaches from Marco to Cape Sable. Park rules plus state seasons — check MyFWC.
6. JuneSpawningBeach snook at dawn.
7. JulySpawningWet season: dawn on the outside, snapper in the creeks. Beach snook and late tarpon at first light; mangrove snapper thick in the creek mouths; the backcountry is bugs and heat after ten.
8. AugustSpawningHot, wet, buggy — and the reds start to school. Reds gather on the outside bars and Florida Bay flats; snook under the mangrove shade on the strong tide; fish the outgoing at dawn.
9. SeptemberPeakBack in the creeks and on the outside points with the mullet.
10. OctoberPeakSnook reopens; reds, snook and tarpon on the fall bait. Snook harvest reopens the 1st. The outside beaches and passes are alive with mullet; reds schooled on the bars; trout back on the flats.
11. NovemberPeakThe first fronts drain the backcountry — sight fishing begins. The dry-season pattern starts: low water, clear water, fish on the open flats and in the creek bends. Snook closes the 30th.
12. DecemberAroundDry season proper: clear water, low tides, fish in the open. Sight-fish the outside flats and the creek mouths on calm days; deep creek bends after each front.

Mangrove islands, tidal creeks, oyster bars and the outside beaches from Marco south to Cape Sable, then Florida Bay's shallow basins and banks. Almost none of it developed. The most tide-driven water in the state.

Fish Scouter charts 1,165 mangrove shoreline, 42 dock / pilings, 40 pass / inlet, 30 beach / surf, 5 channel edge spots in the The Ten Thousand Islands & Everglades map area — the kinds snook hold on.

• Pilchards (whitebait)Free-lined or under a cork, hooked through the nose on a #1 to 2/0 circle hook. The one bait that catches everything inshore.
• PinfishHooked through the back ahead of the dorsal on a 2/0 to 4/0 circle hook; the small ones free-lined, the big ones on a fish-finder rig.
• Finger mulletLip-hooked on a 2/0 to 4/0 circle hook and free-lined, or on a fish-finder rig in the surf. Cut mullet on the bottom for redfish and drum.
• Live shrimpUnder a popping cork or free-lined, hooked under the horn on a #1 to 2/0 circle hook; on a jig head for the bottom. The universal inshore bait.
• CroakersHooked through the back on a 2/0 to 3/0 circle hook, free-lined or on a Carolina rig — big trout and redfish can't leave them alone.

• Leader30–50 lb fluorocarbon
• Hook1/0–5/0
• Jig head1/4–1/2 oz
• Braid15–30 lb

Feeds in 68–90°F water, best at 74–86°F.

All about snook · The Ten Thousand Islands & Everglades, the whole year