FLAMINGO & EVERGLADES NATIONAL PARK
Bob Stearns has been snook fishing the Everglades for more 30 years and offered the following information.

Snook are found in four distinct places in the vicinity of Flamingo: along the Gulf beaches, around potholes on the flats, along the mangrove shorelines and in channels. Each of these locations provides its individual challenges for anglers.

Along the Gulf beaches, the fish can be found anywhere, usually in three to eight feet of water. They particularly like to patrol dropoffs or hang around points. Jigs are excellent choices for baits, especially the soft-bodied variety in 1/4- to 1/2-ounce sizes. Any color may work, so keep trying different shades until you find what’s working on that day. The retrieve is important regardless of color because the action of the bait has to seem lively.

Sinking plugs of the rattling variety are also very effective. For flies, the traditional snook patterns with a medium to fast sink-tip line are the ticket.

The white sand potholes on the flats seem naturally to attract snook, but as a rule, you won’t see them in the pothole. They like to hang around the edges where they blend in with the vegetation.

Use light jigs of 1/4-ounce or less. Light slow-sinking plugs or flies fished on a floating line also work well. Bright colors and white are excellent hues for this action.

Big, bright mullet muds are also prime snook hangouts anywhere you find them, but should be fished carefully. Be careful about making any noise in or with the boat; these flats fish are extremely wary!

Along mangrove shorelines, look for places where the water is less than four feet deep. Moving water near points or creek mouths is often best, and the falling tide is often more productive. This fishing calls for precision casting -- if the lure or fly doesn’t land within at least three feet of the edge, you’re not snook fishing.

And even closer is better. Fish the lure all the way to the boat because snook sometimes follow a ways before striking.

Use soft-bodied trailers on jigs of 1/4 to 3/8 ounces, medium sink plugs with rattles or noisy topwater lures. If you prefer to fly-fish, poppers or big streamers on floating lines are good options.

In channels and along the edges of flats that border channels, the falling tide is by far the best phase to fish. Work the entire width of the channel carefully as you drift down it with the tide; the snook can be anywhere.

Unless the channel is very shallow, jigs in the 1/2- to 3/4-ounce range are best, especially with faster current. That’s because it’s important to get all the way to the bottom and stay there. Both traditional and soft-bodied jigs are good, and virtually any color may work. Fast-sinking rattling plugs are also effective. Flies can work here, if the channel is not too deep or the current too fast. But you probably need to tie on weighted flies with a fast-sinking tip fly line.

If the water is clear in any of these places, skip those hours of the day with bright sunlight. As a rule, snook fishing is always better during early morning hours anyway. But the water is seldom very clear in much of this area, so midday fishing can be very productive. And the tide is often more important than the time of day.