Common Snook: season, lures and limits

We picked these fish for Virginia Beach and the Chesapeake Bay mouth, VA, the region closest to Columbus, Ohio, based on the approximate location of your internet connection (IP geolocation, looked up on our own server). It is about 436 miles away; FishOS covers the coast from Maine to Florida and the Gulf of America, and adds regions as they are checked. Pick another region if that is not where you fish.

Fishing region

FishOS has not charted common snook in Virginia Beach and the Chesapeake Bay mouth, VA. The regions where it is charted are below.

Season by region

Northeast Florida	JFMAMJJASOND
Space Coast	JFMAMJJASOND
Southeast Florida	JFMAMJJASOND
Florida Keys	JFMAMJJASOND
Southwest Florida	JFMAMJJASOND
Tampa Bay	JFMAMJJASOND
Big Bend	JFMAMJJASOND
Lower Texas	JFMAMJJASOND

Where to find them

Jetty tips, seawalls, docks, bridges and mangrove shorelines near moving water; inlets and river mouths in the late spring and summer spawning season; the beach near inlets when the fall mullet run comes through.

Ambush predator that does not chase prey far (FWC); holds tight to jetty tips, seawalls, docks and bridge shadows, and under mullet schools close to the beach during the fall run (Sport Fishing).

What to look for

Mullet schools pushed along the beach with fish popping underneath them, bait under dock lights at night, the shadow line of a bridge on a falling tide.

What to throw

Bucktail or jighead with a 4 to 5 in paddle tail1/2 to 1 oz, 4 to 5 in tail. Slow hops along the bottom: lift, drop, let it touch, repeat.

Topwater popper or walk-the-dog plug1 to 2 oz, 4 to 6 in. Popper: sharp pops with pauses. Walker: rhythmic side-to-side twitches.

Swimming minnow plug (Yo-Zuri Crystal Minnow style)3/4 to 1 oz, 4 to 5 in. Steady medium retrieve with occasional twitches and pauses.

Jighead with a scented soft-plastic shrimp or mullet (Gulp style)1/4 to 1/2 oz, 3 to 4 in. Slow drag and hop on the bottom with pauses; scent does the work.

Bait

Live finger mullet, Live pilchards (sardines), Live shrimp, Live pinfish or pigfish, Mojarras. Free-lined or with about a half-ounce weight on an 18 in leader (Sebastian Inlet catwalk); a 3/0 circle hook on 40 lb fluorocarbon for mullet-run snook (Sport Fishing)..

Leader

About 40 lb fluorocarbon, lighter for small snook (Sport Fishing).

Common mistakes

Fishing slack water; snook feed best on a moving tide (FWC)
Fishing cold water; snook turn lethargic below 65 F (FWC)
Fishing dirty water when a clean tide is coming (Sebastian Inlet reports)

Landing

Net it or lead it to a low landing spot; keep any fish you will release in the water.

Handling

No snook-specific handling guide was found. FWC's general practice for big fish (keep them in the water, support the body horizontally with wet hands) is the safe default.

Keep or release

Florida requires a snook permit along with a saltwater license, allows hook and line only, and closes snook harvest for part of the year on each coast; see the regulations file.

Recipes for common snook

Typical: unknown. Large: Up to 48 in and 38 lb in Florida waters (FWC FWRI). Florida record 45 lb 12 oz (near Sebastian).

Limits

FishOS has not checked the VA limits yet. Check the size, bag and season rules with the Virginia Marine Resources Commission before you keep a fish.

Sources

Florida FWC species profile: snook (Official source)
Florida FWC FWRI: A Sketch of the Common Snook in Florida (Official source)
Florida Museum, Discover Fishes: common snook (Official source)

All the fish of Virginia Beach

Common Snook