Captain Doug Hemmer on Snook - Boaters World

I attended a snook fishing clinic at Boaters World last year put on by Captain Doug Hemmer. This is a summary of the notes that I took at the time. Overall, a great clinic and I would highly advise anyone having the opportunity to attend one of Captain Hemmer's clinics to do so. And by all means, if he's that effective in a clinic... can you imagine what a charter would be like?

Doug broke down the discussion based on the three areas (during different seasons) where keeper snook are likely to be found. Off the beaches in the summer, around the bridges around this time of year and around docks in the canals during winter.

Near the bridges: Use 5 0' hooks on 60lb leader backed by 40lb mono or braid and enough weight to get the bait to the bottom. Toss a medium sized grunt just outside of the current flow and work it back through the main eddies. If you don't get hit in 5 10 minutes, haul it up and re-cast.

It's also a good idea to fan cast the pilings up current with a free lined grunt or sardine, letting it drift by the eddies.

When working the docks and tributaries stealth is essential. After getting a handle on the current... drift into position and drop the anchor very quietly. It's better to drift into position than it is to use the trolling motor. Doug's preferred bait when fishing the docks and canals is medium sized shrimp. When using shrimp, hook them through the last third of the tail as it provides for a more natural presentation. It was suggested to "skip" the shrimp to the snook and let it drift down to striking distance.

Doug's preferred artificial bates for snook include artificial shrimp, the Mirrolure Glass Minnow, the Maverick Golden Eye and Tsunami Trout Maulers.

When fishing the flats and the mangroves for snook Doug suggests a combination of 20lb braid, to 20lb mono, to a 40lb flourocarbon leader with a 1 0' or 2 0' circle hook. On the flats and around mangroves good sized white bait are recommended on an incoming tide. To locate them as you're moving up the flats toss a handful of bait toward the mangroves and watch for any action.

Probably the most interesting tip was to look at the moon phases to know whether to target the incoming or outgoing tides. From full moon to quarter moon; Outgoing. From quarter moon to new moon: Incoming. From new moon to quarter moon; Outgoing. From quarter moon to full moon; Incoming.

A couple of other tips by Captain Doug:

• Get at least one good combo and take care of it. Add a couple of nails in the den or office to hang it up and let it talk to you.
• When hooking live bait, go through the mouth and up through the roof.
• Retrieve that sliding sinker rig regularly if the tide is moving rapidly because it will bury itself as the sand washes away.