# Dock Light Snookin



## skinny_water (Jun 11, 2008)

This is going to be a 2 part post. I am going out tomorrow to get on some night snook action with the fly rod. I need sugestions on flies so know I will be prepaired!

Second part will be the report, and the props to how picks out the best fly!


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## Brett (Jul 16, 2008)

Chartruese and white bendback
A little more forgiving than a clouser around pilings and docklines.


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## skinny_water (Jun 11, 2008)

> Chartruese and white bendback
> A little more forgiving than a clouser around pilings and docklines.


Makin me sound like a bad caster or something... :

2 more hours and I am headed to the shop...any more takers to challenge Brett?


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## deerfly (Mar 10, 2007)

Good advise there on the colors and snag potential. 

I would only add that dock snook tend go for much smaller flies than what they might hit around the mangroves or potholes on the flats. Really sparse and translucent flies tend to work well. Think glass minnows, small sardine/pilchard looking things, small shrimp and so forth. I've seen cases where a deceiver or chartruse and white clouser tied on a #4 was too much. Dropping to a #6 or #8 of the same pattern drew strikes. Along these lines leader material can't be too heavy either and the clearer the better. If you're getting hits you'll loose plenty of fish regardless of the leader size, so make sure you have a handful of extra flies too.  

Match the hatch is key, look at what kinds of bait are hanging around the lights or drifting by in the current. Which is another thing, you generally need current otherwise you probably won't see much action. Approach from down current and cast the fly ahead of the light ring and work the fly down current or so it sweeps through the lighted area. The snook can be down deep too, so having some weighted alternatives is worth a try if you're not drawing strikes with subsurface stuff. 

One last thing, the fish will be in the shadows and can be easy to spook with the line because you probably won't see them, so don't go too short on the leader or at least try cast so that your line doesn't end up in the light ring before the fly get there. 

Good luck, dock fishing is a lot of fun. Looking forward to the report. - eric


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## HaMm3r (Dec 11, 2006)

Yeah, I'm looking forward to this report as well.  Let us know what flies worked, would ya? I've only ever had snook strike my mylar minnow fly, but never manged to land one.


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## aaronshore (Aug 24, 2007)

> I've only ever had snook strike my mylar minnow fly, but never manged to land one.


Just out of curiosity, why not? User error, or is there a problem getting the hook to grab. I was having a problem with a topwater fly I tie, until I went to the Owner Mosquito hooks. Problem solved. What say you Hammer?


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## skinny_water (Jun 11, 2008)

> > I've only ever had snook strike my mylar minnow fly, but never manged to land one.
> 
> 
> Just out of curiosity, why not? User error, or is there a problem getting the hook to grab. I was having a problem with a topwater fly I tie, until I went to the Owner Mosquito hooks. Problem solved. What say you Hammer?


I used to use a schminnow alot, kinda like your mylar minnow. The snook would hit it like no tomorrow, but would never get the hook set.


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## HaMm3r (Dec 11, 2006)

> > I've only ever had snook strike my mylar minnow fly, but never manged to land one.
> 
> 
> Just out of curiosity, why not? User error, or is there a problem getting the hook to grab. I was having a problem with a topwater fly I tie, until I went to the Owner Mosquito hooks. Problem solved. What say you Hammer?


Broke off on pilings.


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## deerfly (Mar 10, 2007)

They're getting harder to find but I like these Tiemco's


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## lemaymiami (Feb 9, 2007)

I do a fair amount of night time dock fishing down south (the Miami Beach area). We probably use a bit larger fly than your area, mine are on 1/0 hooks. The one difference that I see with snook is just how aware they are if you get close. I have my anglers work from a distance (as far away as we can still reach the spot) and tell them that we should get bit in the first two or three shots -- after that you're busted as far as those racing mullet are concerned. We do without shock tippets if possible using straight 20lb fluoro (at least the last four feet, maybe more). I use any color as long as it's white. Not for the fish, but so we can see it and make adjustments in retrieve, etc.

If you're lucky enough to fish an area with lots of docklights on every night and little pressure, you're probably a lot better off than we are down here. When I first started fishing them with flies in 1976 they behaved a lot differently here than they do now.

For Deerfly, don't know if you can find them in small enough sizes but the new Tiemco 600sp is a great replacement for those 800s hooks..


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## deerfly (Mar 10, 2007)

thanks Bob, I have about 50 or so of these 800's left in #4-#8, but I'll have a look at those 600's too. 

As for my comment about fly sizes, the average snook around the west central area here is a bit smaller than the S. Fl variety I grew up around too. You'll see more bigger ones the closer the docks are to gulf passes and bigger water, especially come breeding season in a month or so. But generally they're on the smaller side in relation to the E/SE coast. I'd say mid slot and smaller is more typical around these parts. At least in my experience they do seem to prefer smaller flies though, even the larger fish.

Funny you mention 1976 tho, right around that time, actually a couple years before because I was still in HighSchool, my first real exposure to "dock light" fishing for snook was after running out of live mullet one night while fishing around Isle of Capri over by Marco. We had tried to net more mullet but they were really hard to find so we broke out the zara spooks and started throwing them around the lights. We ended up catching a few decent fish and of course loved the blow ups even when they missed. Sorta became the de-facto pattern for us after that, live bait the deeper holes and passes and then hit the docks with spooks after the bait ran out.  

Whats kind of funny about it is we'd been fishing the shadow lines around all the N and S Miami bridges for years before that but never really made the private dock light connection until then.


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## skinny_water (Jun 11, 2008)

No luck on the Snook with the fly rod. When I post the fishing report you will see why, lol. But all the casting practic is paying off. Casting in a 15-20 mph side wind with Monic Clear at night is not as intimidating anymore.


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## deerfly (Mar 10, 2007)

> No luck on the Snook with the fly rod.  When I post the fishing report you will see why, lol.  But all the casting practic is paying off.  Casting in a 15-20 mph side wind with Monic Clear at night is not as intimidating anymore.


fly casting at night can be fun, especially for the innocent bystanders in the boat with you.  ;D

I think it's Lefty that is most often quoted "there's no downside to being able to cast far". Hard to argue with that when you have stiff breezes to contend with. Having the ability to get extra distance in good whether will enable you to get fishable casts in bad winds. Could be the difference between being able to fly fish at all in certain conditions.


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