Snook Overlooked
2/6/2006 7:39:56 PM by By SUSAN COCKING
During the autumn months, many Miami-Dade County snook anglers pursue their favorite quarry in the most obvious locations: Government and Haulover cuts, the mouth of the Miami River and beneath causeway bridges.
But, with the onset of the fall mullet and shrimp runs, some savvy anglers are catching snook in a few overlooked but more productive areas.
Captain Chris Hueston of Miami and a few of his friends have enjoyed some banner nights of snook fishing lately around jetties, channels, creeks and canal entrances in south Biscayne Bay.
Hueston, 39 with a wife, three children and a full-time construction job does not have a lot of time to devote to recreational fishing. He gets out when he can after work and on weekends.
Although the Miami native has a charter boat captain's license, he guides only part-time when his better- known brother, Captain Ron Hueston, has overflow business. The brothers are a team on the redfish tournament circuit.
Still, Chris Hueston makes the most of his outings.
"There are some areas you can go to time and time again and there's fish there," he said. "But you have to figure out what's going on. The first thing you got to know is what they're feeding on. And, tide is the key. You don't have moving water, stay home."
Hueston demonstrated proof of these axioms during a recent fourhour trip out of Black Point Marina one week after the passage of Hurricane Rita.
Fishing with Exude shrimp on one-eighth-ounce jig heads, Hueston and a companion caught and released seven snook none large along a shallow jetty during the outgoing tide on a half-moon. The fishing was fast and furious at the midpoint, or fastest phase of the tide, but nowhere near as consistent as the week before when they fished the same tide on a full moon just ahead of the hurricane's approach.
"We had at least 1 1/2 feet more water and were catching 15 to 20 fish a night from 16 to 35 inches," he said of the fishing pre-Rita. The fall mullet run had begun just before Rita struck Sept. 20. Snook were ambushing the passing baitfish from the eddy pools created by the jetty rocks, enabling Hueston and his friends to catch them on Rapala plugs that resemble finger mullet.
But, the unsettled weather post- Rita dispersed the mullet schools, leaving the snook to attack shrimp that pop up from the grass at night. Hence, Hueston's success using the Exude imitations in golden brim, bloodline and measle colors that create glittery silhouettes in the dark. He is not a big fan of live bait.
To best feel the sometimes subtle bite of the snook, Hueston uses eight-pound-test Stren Superbraid with 50-pound monofilament or fluorocarbon leader. He said fluorocarbon isn't required at night, but he likes it for its abrasion resistance. He starts with 3 1/2 feet of leader because clashes with the snook's sharp gill plates require frequent retying.
"I wouldn't fish for snook with less than 50-pound leader," he said. "You need something that'll hold up."
Had Hueston more time to fish, he might have tried some other spots in South Bay, such as the channels leading to Deering Bay or Homestead Bayfront Park, the FPL plant jetty, Snapper Creek or the mouths of Mowry and Military canals.
But, the hour was closing in on midnight and he had to get up for work at 5 a.m.
"I love the bay here because it's so accessible," he said. "But, with my schedule today, there's only so much I can do."