# 8-09 St Lucie inlet report



## TomFL (Oct 2, 2007)

Got a call from Sam at SaltyShores.com saying he'd be in town and had a morning to kill so we loaded up and hit the inlet in search of snook. 

After Sam fulfilled his personal vendetta with the greenies off the beach we hit the rocks at the inlet pitching live bait. Dirty water ,rough conditions and no bites had us looking for a plan B pretty quick so we ducked inside and hit some canals. 

We pitched some livies and some DOA baitbusters and had some action right away from decent jacks (Canal Tuna as Sam calls them!) and somehow I snagged what turned out to be a large ray. 

Sam had a nice blow up on the surface but the fish missed his bait and didn't come back. A few minutes later I had a hit from what we figured was the same fish and we wound up in a heck of a good fight with a nice snook. 










After a quick photo op we figured with the sun coming up and the heat we'd be hard pressed to improve on that catch with the conditions for the day so we bailed for some grub.

This turned out to be the last fish caught on the redfisher before I turned it over to the new owner so I guess this snook has a little more sentimental value to it than most.


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## deerfly (Mar 10, 2007)

very nice snook, great mojo for the new owner too.


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## Canoeman (Jul 23, 2008)

Cool angle-like it. Nice fish too.


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## HaMm3r (Dec 11, 2006)

I agree, that's a cool shot and makes the fish look even huge-er than it probably was. Congrat!


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## TomFL (Oct 2, 2007)

I have to give all the photo props to Sam. I learn a little more each time we fish together, and coming in as a point-and-shoot guy I'm a greenhorn for sure. 

The snook was not that big, maybe 23-25lbs. The shot does her justice. 

It's usually the snook in that size range that come out looking the largest in the lens for me for some reason. I think it's because it's a manageable size, and the truly big fish are just too darned big & strong to handle well enough to get a good shot and not hurt them or yourself.


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## Gramps (Nov 1, 2007)

Not that big!?!? That is a great fish Tom! Way to go.


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## mark_gardner (Mar 18, 2009)

nice catch  so your selling the redfisher now? ok, wait a minute maybe i have that confused with the pathfinder?? it's hard to keep track of all your boats


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## TomFL (Oct 2, 2007)

> nice catch   so your selling the redfisher now? ok, wait a minute maybe i have that confused with the pathfinder?? it's hard to keep track of all your boats


My wife would get amusement out of this comment..

I sold the redfisher but have the pathfinder tunnel still which is a really cool boat under the right conditions. 

-T


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## Gheenoe_Pirate (Aug 8, 2009)

Wow! That's the way to part with that boat in style!


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## rkmurphy (Nov 2, 2008)

> The snook was not that big, maybe 23-25lbs. The shot does her justice.


What?!?!?! That's a beautiful fish! Great job, Tom. I'm going to try to hit Mosquito Lagoon on Wednesday if you're available. I've never been and I'll _settle _for some reds that size... ;D

By the way...check your PMs


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## litlblusrn4bigred (Jan 8, 2007)

Nice snookie!!


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## nickgobrich (Aug 5, 2009)

That is one beautiful snook!! Thanks for sharing....


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## kershelbarfield (Aug 17, 2009)

I was at the inlet 2 days earlier drifting by Hole In the Wall and me and my friend in his J12 had a great snook bite on live mullet all from 27 to 33 inches. Was the you caught that day took from one of the seawalls in the Manatee Pocket? A huge snookasarus caught in north fork of st lucie by owner of crowder rods


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## TomFL (Oct 2, 2007)

Well first off that's no fair as you and I both know Rob's only 5' 2" with heels on so that makes the snook look big 

I know Rob and Matt well. They are good people and build a great rod. Printed his catalogs years ago and have spent some time on the water with Matt. Bought a bazillion rods from them back when I had the Seacraft. 

Actually yes that's getting to be a good one. You can tell by the tail width she's probably at her prime and pushing 30 which is getting to be a big snook in our area. I also know he took some real flack over that pic because of the way he's holding a large breeding female  . Personally I'd rather not see pics like that on the web though!

15-20 years ago a fish that size was hard to come by. I spent my 20's fishing strictly at night for big snook, using 2-3lb mullet for bait and it was a really good night if you were able to get one fish 25lbs or over. 

Stuart is ground zero for monster snook. The IGFA record books confirms it. 

Nowadays I see the immense positive impact the slot and bag limits have made on the fishery. If one is serious about snook fishing here, you can specifically target 25+ lb fish and score regularly. 

At certain times of the year here it's routine to sneak out for a lunchtime getaway and catch 3-4 fish that are over 25 with one good fish over 30 in that bunch. 

So yeah, I'm a believer in the slot and bag limits to say the least. I'm kind of a big snook fan and really want to see these big fish treated right. They are the ones with the genes we want to pass along! If you're going to be fishing the females, fish them with circle hooks & live bait or single-hook lures. I haven't kept a snook to eat in 15 years! 

I just really like releasing them. Flounder are another story altogether though 

-T


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## kershelbarfield (Aug 17, 2009)

> Well first off that's no fair as you and I both know Rob's only 5' 2" with heels on so that makes the snook look big
> 
> I know Rob and Matt well. They are good people and build a great rod. Printed his catalogs years ago and have spent some time on the water with Matt. Bought a bazillion rods from them back when I had the Seacraft.
> 
> ...


Haha robs a good dude but i heard the same thing about the slam he took from posting this picture. His rods are one of my favorite. John B helped him design the new fly rod that almost just came out. My dad was so siked he went and bought one for both of us. I really love the rod, I would recommend it for sure.

It's almost like the slot Snook around here know the seasons because its common in off season to catch 3-5 Snook in slot, but I like releasing snook more than I like eating them. I don't know what it is about Stuart but its just Snook haven. I dont know if anyone else heard this but this year the tarpon in the north fork are super stacked up  ;D


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## hardin083 (Nov 22, 2008)

WOW  now thats a snook...wish we had some of those in the lagoon!!


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## kershelbarfield (Aug 17, 2009)

Haha i wish we had the reds in stuart like you have in the lagoon


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