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Bright Lights, Big City

Night Snooking

Frank Sargeant

Frank Sargeant holding a beautiful snook

By FRANK SARGEANT | The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 15, 2009

Fly into the Clearwater-St. Petersburg area after sundown and you look down on a sprawl of lights that leaves you wondering how there's a square inch of water left for a fish to swim through. The human population density and the conspicuous consumption of electricity is awesome.

But ease along a seawall after dark in this same metro area and all that voltage becomes the fisherman's friend. The "sky-glow" turns night into day, and turns wary snook and redfish into suckers.

From the southern tip of Mullet Key to the northern tip of Clearwater Beach, there are more than 30 miles of inland waterways, bayous and canals. Most of the area is surrounded by waterfront homes and crisscrossed by bridges. The flats have been dredged to allow deep draft boats to pass, and most of the mangroves are gone.

But surprisingly, the fish don't seem to mind. Snook and redfish are abundant year around, and they're joined at times by trout, snapper, flounder and even an occasional gag grouper. All of these species can be caught by day, but when the boats are all at the docks and the jet skis are on their trailers, the water truly comes alive for anglers.

In some areas, the waterway is barely 100 yards wide, while in broader spots like Boca Ciega Bay it stretches up to three miles across. There are six passes feeding water from the gulf, so tide flows frequently flush out the waterways and bring new schools of bait inside.

There are an amazing number of fish around the bridges and docks, and most people don't want to go fishing after sundown so you usually have it all to yourself.

However, not all docks hold fish, and sometimes a spot that was red hot last night will be worthless tonight. The fish turn on at different times on different structures. The trick is to learn when they're biting at which docks.

Docks that sit on points or near main passes are usually the most productive because they have more current flow and attract more bait. However out-of-the-way docks that are unfished by other anglers can also be outstanding.

Best fishing usually starts about 90 minutes after dark, and most experts choose live bait, with select shrimp a favorite.

The fish are homed in on shrimp after dark because that's when shrimp move, and the lights attract them. The shrimp tend to stay under the docks when you cast them in there, too, another advantage over the sardines most live baiters prefer by day. Another great offering is a small white fly which imitates the glass minnows and tiny shrimp that hang under the lights.

The best docks are those which remain on all night, every night, and those hanging very low over the water usually produce better than those suspended above the boat. The new underwater dock lights are usually outstanding because they concentrate the light right where you want it, and make it easy to see both fish and bait.

Timing is important at night as it is by day; hit a dock when there's no tide moving and it may not produce at all, but come back a couple hours later on a strong flow and it may be loaded with fish.

While it's often easy to see fish in the lights, the larger ones are likely to be hiding in the shadows just under the dock. Casts placed precisely into these shadows often bring an instant strike.

Night fishing offers the added advantage of cool comfort compared to the searing daylight hours of late September, and you'll rarely have much competition. And, while fishing is good right now, it will get even better as the water cools a bit in October and early November.
While snook are the primary target of night anglers, you'll also find plenty of redfish and trout around many docks.

There are numerous public ramps throughout the Clearwater/St. Pete area, most of them within minutes of good fishing. Insects are not a problem as they are in mangrove country, and if you get hungry, you're never far from an all-night 7/11.

It's a long way from wilderness fishing, but when the snook turn on, you're not likely to mind that you're fishing amidst the bright lights in the big city.

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