The popularity of snook is now coming back again, even when its season is considered more closed than it is open. You are still able to catch and release these kinds of trophy fish. What’s more, it can be done without doing much work, using special techniques and looking for secret spots. Provided below are methods to find and catch those snook in the Everglades National Park.
Navigate to the East Cape Canal
The East Cape Canal flows through Florida Bay north then west straight into the Lake Ingraham. During the early 20th century, this particular canal and a lot like it had been dug in an attempt to empty the swamp. In the 1920s, the great land boom in Florida got many people from anywhere around the world attempting to claim what they believed was the swamp land, by means of cutting waterways to the bay in order to drain the water.
Lake Ingraham is a lake that is a natural body of water with tidal creeks on every end, allowing water in and out of it. However, it also has the East Cape and Middle Cape canals that are man-made, where the majority of the water flows. Nevertheless, this is not about traveling to Lake Ingraham, because we are heading to East Cape Canal via Flamingo.
With an incoming half high wave, it is possible to proceed near the coast of the mainland from Flamingo, at the back of Bradley Key, basically outside the Curry Key moving west. It is much better if the wind is coming from the north, as the whole coastline would be secured. I usually stay about a hundred yard out of the shore and have no trouble. I occasionally find a tree limb that is on the bottom, but no corals or rocks, in case the lower unit drag when you get way too close.
First Stop is Slagle’s Ditch
I honestly cannot count how many snook I caught through the years at the center of Slagle’s Ditch. A fish house was built there owned by a man called “old man Slagle” from the 1930s to the 40s. He rented skiffs to those brave fishermen who were willing to travel the long, dirt road from Homestead. The ditch goes inland approximately a mile, which is then blocked by a dam. But water being itself, the runoff around the prairie area created some sorts of creeks that supply the canal and we continue to have a tidal flow into and out of the canal.
A channel runs out of the canal and proceeds to the east. You can actually see how it flows on a Google map. I smoothly travel through a casting distance at the mouth and also to the side of this channel. After that, I position my boat or release an anchor to help keep me there. Then, I sit and wait quietly for several minutes, in search of any activity. You will know if fish are there, the moment your presence is negated.
The tackle I bring is a light rotating gear, a red bucktail jig and a fluorocarbon leader. My jig is red all over – not red, not red and white or any other color, just simply red. Its lead head that is shaped butter-bean is red, its wrapping thread is also red, as well as its bucktail hair, which was died red. And this lure contains more bucktail hair onto it compared to many ready-made jigs. Obviously, I make my own. I go fishing with this particular bucktail plus a live shrimp that is hooked through its head. The larger the shrimp, so much the better.
I prefer to cast this combination of jig and shrimp up to the mouth area of the canal and then work my way back out of it. I work with a pattern that is like a reel-lift-lift-lift- reel.This means I turn the pattern of the reel one time and then move up the jig three times from the bottom, and then I reel it again. This causes the jig return to the boat slowly with plenty of up and down motion. Every time I raise the rod, the hair gets smooth on the jig. The hair grows creating a wider target for the fish, as I let it drop.
At Slagle’s Ditch, I am able to capture snook on an incoming and an outgoing tide. I have also captured a number of the biggest redfish that I have ever caught over the years at the mouth of such canal.
Next is the Third Ditch
We go head to the western side again in the direction of the East Cape, which is another canal that runs off north to the marl prairie. It is called the Third Ditch. Although some old timers and maps refer to it as the House Ditch, mainly because a long time ago there was a house in its mouth. This particular ditch is not as large as the Slagle’s Ditch and there is also a lesser tidal flow and little of a channel being released. In spite of this, you can still find a couple of snooks swimming at the mouth.
From Here On, You Can Fish the Shoreline
Starting from this area on the shoreline up to the East Cape canal, the shoreline is full of mangrove tree limbs, both dead and alive. During high tide, the water flows back to those mangroves, keeping watch the whole shoreline, thriving on the bait fish running the area. It is possible to fish from the Third Ditch up to the center of East Cape Canal by making use of the same live shrimps and bucktail jigs.
Now, the East Cape Canal
The tidal current that is leaving out of the East Cape canal or running on an incoming tide, is extremely powerful. The channel from this current runs quite some distance out to the Florida Bay. I prefer to anchor across the edge of this channel, outside the mouth and use my tackle. My other option is to catch the tarpon that is often moving around the current. In this occasion, I choose to use a large Zara Spook. Using that Spook, I got more than ten strikes with one jump before tossing the spook back again in my direction.
Final Point
You may opt for a long paddle in a kayak and achieve the same trip, though it is a long journey. The best times to fish is in the early morning and late during the day. There is absolutely nothing better than a large snook leaping 25 feet from your boat just as the sun appears over the horizon behind it.
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