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Everglades Top Water Snook
Angling Among the Ten Thousand Islands
 On a fishing tour through the 10,000 Islands, mangroves border expansive Florida Bay.
Rick Paolillo
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The Paradise Coast is the crown of old Florida wilderness with more than 10,000 pristine emerald isles untouched by human hands. Angling opportunities abound here and first light is unlike anywhere else in the world. Dawn breaks warm, fragrant and clean among the mangroves.
The anticipation of challenging the top inshore game fish in the world, snook, with the most exciting technique in sport fishing, top water plugging, is almost overwhelming as I climb aboard Capt. Bill Faulkner's tournament-rigged Champion Boat. Winding through the mangrove labyrinth, Faulkner, who has 30 years of experience in these waters, navigates the narrow channels and shallow creeks with the hands of an artist.
The lush mangroves give way to the open expanse of Florida Bay. I'm as anxious as a kid at the gates of a theme park. At last Faulkner eyes our first stop and eases the throttle back. He lowers the trolling motor and hands me a rod rigged with a "walk-the-dog" type top water plug. According to Faulkner's tournament partner and highly regarded Everglades guide, Capt. Kevin Mihailoff, there are many top water plugs that will work well, the most important factor being super strong, extremely sharp hooks.
The mouths of the myriad creeks that flow to the bay will be our target. As Faulkner explains, "In summer and fall, the big snook move down from the Everglades to feed on baitfish swept out on the falling tides."
He has picked a creek mouth that features a sandy shore just inside the mouth. This is to allow me to hone my casting skills before we get to the trees. "Yeah, but I want to catch fish!" I exclaim.
"You will," had barely fallen from Faulkner's lips when the water surrounding my dancing plug erupted in a frothy bath. I jerked back hard on the rod and instinctively dove for the deck as the plug whistled past my ear. Through semi-restrained chuckles, Faulkner explains that snook attack top water plugs with such ferocity that they often miss the hooks. Keep working the plug until you feel the weight of the fish. If they miss it the first time, quite often they will hit it a second or third.
Top water plugging is an exciting and effective technique for catching snook.
Rick Paolillo
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A few casts hence and the first snook of the day is going ballistic at the end of my line – a nice seven-pound fish with speed and shoulders that looks as though he's auditioning for Cirque de Soleil. As I bring the fish boat-side, Faulkner carefully removes the hooks and releases the fish.
Though this linesider is within the slot limit of 28 to 33 inches, we are fishing during the closed season of May, June, July and August. The summer closure allows the snook to spawn. Anglers will be able to keep one slot fish per person starting Sept. 1, but snook are so revered in these parts that many guides refuse to keep them. Snook season closes again from December through February when the fish are vulnerable to cold snaps.
A hundred yards up the creek, Faulkner spies a dead tree sticking out into the water. As we approach the tangled mass, Faulkner points out how the limbs create eddies and a backwash in the current.
"That's where the big boys live," he comments and lays a cast up-current. The twitching, rattling plug brushes within inches of the fallen bush before vanishing with a thunderous pop in a geyser of white water.
This is what we came here for – grunting and straining. Faulkner fights to keep the beast away from the line-shearing entanglements of the shoreline. Twenty-pound braided line and 60-pound leader are pushed to the breaking point as the fish thrashes above the water and lunges for the safety of the trees. Dipping his rod low to avoid overhanging branches, Faulkner shows his tournament-proven mastery, and the fish gradually relents. Within minutes, 15-pounds of shimmering silver sidles up next to the boat. This is a beautiful prized snook, but not the biggest we would see this day.
We catch a dozen more fish and at our last stop we see an awesome sight – an estimated 25-pound snook blows out of the water with the tail of a huge lady fish protruding from her jaws. The fishing here is phenomenal, but perhaps even more amazing is the adventure of being in the Everglades where dolphin mix with alligators and sharks, huge rays and giant tarpon leap from the water, and there isn't a manmade object within miles.
Fishing with an experienced guide is a great way to enjoy the wonders of the Everglades, but if you prefer to fish the Paradise Coast from your own boat, it is important to gather as much local knowledge as possible. The tackle stores of Mangrove Outfitters Fly Shop, Everglades Angler Fly Shop & Fly Fishing School and Sunshine Ace Hardware have some very knowledgeable people and are more than happy to help make your outing successful.
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