Snook

The common snook has a long, sloping forehead, a protruding lower jaw, a prominent black lateral line that runs onto the tail, and silver to golden-green flanks with yellow fins. Two separate dorsal fins and a large, flared tail give it tremendous acceleration. The gill plates carry razor edges that cut leaders, and the mouth is rough rather than toothy. Several smaller snook species (fat, tarpon and swordspine snook) share Florida waters but rarely top a few pounds.

Snook are tropical fish limited by cold: in the US they are found from roughly Tampa Bay and Cape Canaveral south through the Keys, with the biggest populations in Southwest Florida and the Indian River Lagoon, plus Texas's lower Laguna Madre and the Rio Grande. Their range has crept north in recent warm decades. They prefer 75 to 86 F (24 to 30 C) water, become sluggish below 65 F and die in the low 50s, which is why severe cold snaps trigger emergency harvest closures. They move freely between salt, brackish and fresh water, from offshore beaches to canals and rivers miles inland.

Snook are ambush feeders that hold tight to mangrove roots, dock pilings, bridge shadow lines, seawalls and points, facing into the current and attacking mullet, pilchards, shrimp and crabs that wash past. They feed hardest at night and in low light, and bridge lights and dock lights that attract bait are prime spots. In summer they gather in passes and along beaches to spawn on the new and full moons, and in winter they retreat up rivers, canals and creeks to find warm water.

Snook combine the strike of a bass, the fight of a tarpon and the table quality of a flounder, so demand is enormous and the fishery is tightly managed with a narrow slot limit, a one-fish bag, closed seasons and a special permit. Catching a 40-inch "over-slot" snook on a beach at dawn or under a bridge at midnight is the inshore goal of a lifetime for many Florida anglers.