Snook from the beach in the keys

[Ken Tidy]

We are heading to Florida's south west coast in June to fish the beaches for snook and a couple of trips for tarpon. We have been asked to come down to the key for a few days by some friends. Can anyone tell me if the beaches in the keys hold snook?

[Al B]

Ken - there's not many beaches... and most are man-made. There ARE wade-able flats/mangroves that''ll hold'em. There's also several places you can rent boats to target snook.

Maybe Capt. BOB will post the link to "Boatless Fishing"... a GREAT site for shore fishing in the keys.

[Ken Tidy]

Al,

We were in Islamorada this spring and the beaches are more of a hard coral worn smooth. We talked to a guy from Michigan that winters down there he said that most bridges held snook, tarpon among other fish. I know most of the upper coast holds snook in the summer months. I m just trying to confirm that snook hold along the Keys beaches, or shoreline flats!

[rbr]

Like the others said, the "Beaches " in the Keys are different. They pretty much are all adjacent to extensive flats. Some like Bahia Honda are near bridge passes. You are more likely (very likely in June) to encounter tarpon , bonefish and permit around these areas than you are snook.

The snook will most likely be found in the deeper mangrove channels.

Don't forget to check the regs. I believe snook is catch and release only from June 1- Sept 1.

Bert

[Capt Bob]

Boatless Fishing Florida fishing Piers Bridges Jetties Beaches

lots of options on it


Up to date regs can be gotten from Welcome to Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

[Water_boy]

I've found beaches on the west coast of FL where you can catch snook, the water over there is cloudy so they feel safe hugging the beach. Down in the keys the water on the few public beaches they have is normally very clear so snook won't hang there, they tend to hang near some kind of structure or in the deeper channels. There are places where you can find shallow water that's murky down there which will hold snook but it tends to be muddy bottom, near mangroves and almost impossible to wade or fish from shore or without a boat. At least that's what I've found, haven't given up looking .

The only place in the keys I've caught any snook from shore has been from the bridges, Long Key being my favorite. There's Snook, Tarpon, and lots of other stuff there too.

Another place I've found is just outside the bubbler at the entrance to the marina for Big Pine Fishing Camp. At night it's all lit up from their road sign billboard (hard to miss), wait until later at night after the boat traffic dies down. Not sure where you can park, I guess on the access road to the campground. I haven't caught any there but I've seen them in the lights for sure and large tarpon too. Good luck