Snook trolling

Every once in a while, I just want to get nasty with a fish,
 come on, hey lets fight, You pull, I'll pull, who-ever pulls the hardest wins,
 Add in some jumping thrashing, splashing action,
 OK that's the mood I am in. as a final mood enhancement
 I want to feel the bang, the hit, the slam of that fish hitting a lure,
 and the Snook trying to rip the rod out of my grasp,
 Yes I am in the mood for battle.

 The only problem is these fish I am looking for are
BIG Snook, Who like to lay up right next to the piling of bridges
and it is real tough to cast right along the pilings.
 and what if they are not on that piling,
but are hanging out at the next one,
 the cooler one,
Maybe the oysters have a much better
bunching on that cool piling.
Much more so cool than the one I am casting at.
The only hard part is trying to guess which piling
the Snook think is the coolest place to hang out, So what do you do?
Fish them all! And guess what, it is not hard to do,
If you have a boat of course.
Sorry I should have mentioned you need a boat to do this. 
Almost any boat will work, we are going to go trolling,
 Start with a med Heavy to heavy rod,
at least 15 pound test more is better, more gooder,
 Keep in mind we are going to troll a lure
 yes a bomber 15 or 16 chartreuse or SIG pattern, 30 or 40 pound leader,

 

Start your boat at a slow speed, about 900 rpm, then cast the lure a short way away from the boat. maybe 10 feet,
 hold it and check to see if the lure is tracking straight, not swimming off to one side or the other.
If the lure is trying to go way to the left or right you can bend the nose loop,
not the split ring but the loop attached to the front of the lure, if the lure is going to the right bend the nose ring/loop 1/64th of an inch to the left,
Yes just a little tiny bit.  OK let’s say it is all good the lure is tracking straight, I reel in the lure, then set it out 4 feet from the boat with an open bail,
with the boat moving forward I speeded up to about 1100 rpm, then I count to 30 then close the bail.
Now I know my lure is 30 seconds behind me,
so when I go around something when the boat passes the obstruction
I know the lure will be passing in 30 seconds and I can correct my course again. 
 Now you can do 15 seconds or what-ever works for you.
Or when working cross ways like by the bumpers of a bridge I know when my lure has cleared the end of the bumper,
 and I know when I can make a turn to start again.

 

I start moving the boat get my lure in position and begin to
 start trolling along the length of the bridge,
 now it is too hard to maneuver your boat 1 foot off the pilings,
 So hold the rod out at a 90 degree angle from the boat and
 that should get your lure is 7 feet away from the side of the boat, 
so you want to be about 8 feet away with the boat,
 letting your lure travel with-in a foot of the pilings.
 Just idle along until you get hit, then it is on, first thing set the hook,
second thing the driver of the boat, at the same instant,
Backs the boat away from the pilings, you are at idle speed,
So go to reverse and get the back of the boat out and away,
This makes it easier so you can pull the fish away from the pilings.
 If you try to turn away going forward the line crosses the boat
and it is too hard to control the fish and you will lose that Snook,
 as it wraps around the pilings. 3-rd thing well forget that, fight the fish.
 By now that Snook has jumped, swam for the bottom did a couple of loop de loops
 and you should be getting a handle on it, or it broke you off and is at the surface shaking off your lure trying to throw it back at you. either way that was too cool.
Now what do you do? Well don't just sit there do it again!

 

 

Terry and I trolled by the Bridges she missed 2
then hooked up lost a nice one had it come to the surface and throw the lure back at us.
 I really believe that Snook had a disgusted look on it's face.
Then Missed a monster when it jumped and threw the hook,
 and on the next pass land this Snook.
Start to finish about an hour total time,
 So this can be a lot of fun good action, and very frustrating,
But I am going with fun and exciting.





I hope you too have a great time trolling, Once you have caught one, Take a minute to bend the barbs of the treble hook down, If you keep tension on the Snook you will not lose it, and when the time comes to get the hooks out it is way simpler & easier.

Be safe out there and enjoy yourselves