June Snook Action Keeping Rods Bent

June is winding down and although this year continues to be a little off of what we expect on the fishing front, It has not been disappointing to anglers looking for action with numbers of fish. While the tarpon action has been hit and miss, snook have made up for it with some trips releasing as many as 35 fish in a half day. We have also been releasing some monster snook ranging up to 25 lbs. Keeper size mangrove snapper have also been plentiful and provide great eating for those wanting to take a few fish home for dinner. As usual for this time of year, the sharks are cooperative. We have caught several large bull and blacktip sharks during the last week. On a recent trip a week ago, Larry Henges returned for a second trip with his son and son-in-law after having a great time snook fishing on a previous outing that was featured in my last report. On this day, we fished with artificial baits, specifically the Yum brand Money Minnows. Larry caught the snook of a life time after a 24 lb. 43 inch fish consumed the lure just three feet from the boat! A long battle followed and just as the fish came boat side, the hook fell out. I managed a quick grab of the fishes tail as it drifted away, tired from the fight and managed to boat the fish! We celebrated the great catch and snapped a couple of pictures before releasing this magnificent fish.{%image_id=39200%}