# Saturday in the "Tomudka"



## Kemo (Jun 22, 2008)

This was basically the maiden voyage of “Who ‘Noe? II”, after all the changes were finally completed (except the fuel filter).  Had a good day in the Tomoka Basin.  Couldn’t find live shrimp, and my buddy was with me, and he doesn’t do well with artificials, plus I wanted something for the dinner table.  Went to Wynn Dixie and bought a pound of fresh shrimp.  They were so big we had to cut them up, as they weighed 3 or 4 ounces each, but it was all they had.  Spent the first hour checking out the rig and making adjustments.  Then started fishing.  All in all, we caught 3 snook, 5 mangroves, 2 rays and 2 catfish.  Only took one photo, as I needed a little bragging material.  A 26 inch snook.  Funny, but we were at one of my mangrove holes and they were hitting our baits the instant they hit the water.  All of a sudden, the bite stopped.  We were fishing for the mangroves with small pieces of cut shrimp.  I told my buddy that those mangroves don’t just stop like that, that there’s something large in there that spooked them.  So, I put on a large piece of shrimp and tossed it out.   I loosened the drag, and the next thing I knew, I had something on that ran 40 or 50 yards from the boat.  5 or 6 minutes later, I got this guy in the boat.














He jumped 6 or 7 times, and once when I had him close, he almost jumped into the boat.  When I got him along side and tried to pick him up with one hand underneath, he had more fight left in him.  I was trying to be gentle, but he had other ideas.  I now have a swollen finger where his fin got me right in the joint.  And he didn’t waste any time running away after I put him back in the water.  But I got the picture.  And got it while on the water, which was a first for me.  And by far the largest snook I ever caught.  Only went home with one keeper mangrove, but had great fun.  Back at the ramp, it started raining really hard just as we were strapping the boat down and we both got soaked.  BTW, I had separated half of the shrimp and stuffed them down in the ice in the cooler.  Made a real nice appetizer.  I had to thaw out another mangrove from the freezer to make a nice meal.  Yum, yum.



Kemo


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## choppercity47 (Jul 30, 2007)

Idk how some people catch snook on dead shrimp. If a live one doesn't flick from them they won't even consider it. I fish primarily for snook and have never caught one on dead bait yet I see them caught every year on it, has to be luck, nice one


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## Kemo (Jun 22, 2008)

Chopper, I've probably caught more fish than you can imagine on fresh shrimp, not live. Not frozen, as they are worthless. But go to the market and get fresh ones. Fish come into an area where other fish have been feeding on any kind of shrimp, where there's pieces and parts floating around, and they don't care if they're moving or not. It just seems to set them off. Probably half of all the reds I ever caught were on fresh, not live, shrimp. Same for drum, specs, bluefish, tripletail, cobia and mackerel. Give it a shot. I don't fish for any particular species, I just fish for fun and food, and I just happy to catch them. I have never eaten a snook, but if I ever catch a keeper during season, I will eat it. Just to see if it's as good as people say. I usually prefer a few mangroves when it comes to eating.

Kemo


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## Brett (Jul 16, 2008)

Yer' right Kemo, ya' can catch jest about anything on fresh dead shrimp.
And as a bit of trivia, when I was a kid, snook was a garbage fish.
The local name for snook was soapfish. If you cooked a snook whole,
the resultant meat has a strong taste of Ivory Soap.
It wasn't until filleting and skinning became the accepted method
of cleaning fish, that snook became a welcome addition to the dinner table.

http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2008/mar/06/snook-rare-seasonal-treat-s-worth-effort/


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## Kemo (Jun 22, 2008)

Thanks, Brett. I never cooked one, and I'd have been really disappointed if I'd cooked one with the skin on it like I would have with a red or spec. And also, thanks for the vote for fresh shrimp. But, you can't just throw one out there and expect results. But if you start out feeding the little ones, well, it's like chum. Frankly, I don't think the reds care. Fresh shrimp is fresh shrimp to them.

Kemo


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## Kemo (Jun 22, 2008)

BTW - Having had my mouth washed out a few(?) times as a kid with Ivory Soap, that soapfish would be even more disgusting.   

Kemo


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## Canoeman (Jul 23, 2008)

I'd take a trashy soapfish like that any day.


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## deerfly (Mar 10, 2007)

Many of the biggest snook I've ever caught were using half of a small ladyfish the bottom. Caught quite a few tarpon that way as well. We like to think of them as these majestic game fish but they can be caught with dead bait too.


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## htf2034 (Jul 10, 2009)

Hi Kemo,

I hit the basin Sat. morning also. Never caught a red or a snook before and I caught three reds and one snook. Biggest red was only 16" and snook was smaller than yours but it was a blast to catch. Bite seemed to turn off where I was at about 8a so I moved and then caught a stingray and a cat. Decided that was my hint to pack it in. I used live shrimp from Highbridge bait shop. Will have to take the camera next time. "Tomudka" is the perfect name, you don't know what you have until you bring it out of the muddy water.


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## choppercity47 (Jul 30, 2007)

Oh yeah I always use those big fresh ones. Thats the best drum and sheepshead bait around. I know they beat live sometimes but for Snook is what I was talking about, they are VERY finicky and picky on what they eat.


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## paint it black (Nov 3, 2007)

> Oh yeah I always use those big fresh ones. Thats the best drum and sheepshead bait around. I know they beat live sometimes but for Snook is what I was talking about, they are VERY finicky and picky on what they eat.


I have had a snook come up and crush an x-rap that I had sitting in the water next to the boat with the rod down. It came out from the center of the creek and crushed it. 
I don't now how it hit an extreme action twitch bait when it was at a dead stop....lol

He must have seen them before and always wanted to try one out, and saw one as easy prey for not moving....lol


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## Brett (Jul 16, 2008)

If we're gonna talk finicky snook...
I once spent a morning throwing everything in the boat at a pod of snook.
Had follows and looks but no hits.
The guy I was fishing with finally had enough so we packed up to shift location.
Just before he pulled anchor, he flipped his cigarette butt at the pod.
When it hit the water it sssss'ed
and disappeared in an explosive strike by one of the snook.
Go figure...


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## deerfly (Mar 10, 2007)

> If we're gonna talk finicky snook...
> I once spent a morning throwing everything in the boat at a pod of snook.
> Had follows and looks but no hits.
> The guy I was fishing with finally had enough so we packed up to shift location.
> ...


snook were probably just bums looking for a cigarette or some spare change to buy MD2020


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