Senior Airmen at Patrick Air Force Base Kyle Krieger and his brother Garret displaying their catch
for the camera.
Banana River Snook Guide
Fishing in the winter for snook in the Banana River? Not
a normal catch...
These two brothers from Iowa spent a day fishing with Captain Richard
Bradley on the Banana River Lagoon west of
Cocoa Beach, Florida. They
lost a monster redfish but managed to catch a nice snook
in the cold winds of December.
Snook are a tropical fish and tend to get stressed out during the deeper winter months and cold fronts. Like many species of Florida fish, cold fronts can cause the fish to get lockjaw during the fronts but prior to the weather the fish often feed vigorously. The snook above was caught in a backwater canal at Cocoa Beach on a cold winter day and surprised me that the fish had it in him with the water temperatures going into the 50° degree mark. Typically I would have put these guys on deepwater trout but the water temperatures went down so quickly, the trout had not yet retreated to the deeper water and were very inconsistant. The following day, the trout made their appearance and the winter time trout fishing had arrived.
Better seasons for snook fishing in the Banana River are from May to October with May and June being primetime and the rest of the months ranging from good to fair. When the temperatures in the summer peak, the fish retreat to find cooler waters that have some turnover from the winds or tides. Fish in the summer can get as uncomfortable as they do in winter as the water gets to a simmering 90° causing most fish to not feed or to find shelter in shadier areas.
Because snook are naucturnal feeders you'll find that early morning and evening is the best time to target these gamefish in the Banana River. Personally, I find that morning is better than evening and I'm not exactly sure why. Maybe because it takes them awhile to get into the night stalking and their stalking mode lingers into the morning. However, we do catch snook in the later part of the evening in the canals and waterways of the Banana River Lagoon. (continued below...)
Looking for information about fishing the Banana River Lagoon
area in Central Florida? Call (321) 868-4953 and Ask for Captain
Richard or his fishing mate Captain Gina. They'll be more
than glad to talk to you in length about setting up a fishing
trip while you're visiting the area.
Your IP Address is: 72.34.229.76
Fishing Photographs
Fishing Photographs
and Trips - You'll find plenty of recent photographs
and fishing trip pictures from Mosquito Lagoon, Sebastian
Inlet, Cocoa Beach and Port Canaveral with Lagooner Captains
and their anglers. |
Florida's East Coast Fishing Forum
Florida's East Coast Fishing Forum - A Space Coast Fishing
Forum for questions about fishing techniques locations and
guides. You'll be informed before you set a fishing trip to
East Central Florida or the Orlando area near Walt Disney
World theme parks. |
Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report
Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report - Monthly updates on the Mosquito Lagoon and it's surrounding waterways including the Indian River. Read what Captain Richards been catching and doing on Florida's Unique Saltwater estuary with redfish and other Mosquito Lagoon species. |
Directions to meet your fishing guide
Where Do I Meet My
Guide? - Trips usually begin at a boat ramp,
dock or marina. Click here to get instructions to some of
our most popular pick-up points or ports of leave on the Space
Coast from Titusville near Mosquito Lagoon to Sebastian near
Melbourne and it's surrounding suburbs Grant and Micco. |
Florida Fish Species Database
Fish
Species Database - Questions about fish species
are common so Lagooner.com™ has provided a few of our
prominent native fishery friends to read about. We will be
updating and adding fish on a regular basis so be patient
with our content please. |
Cocoa Beach Fishing Information
Cocoa Beach Fishing Information
Cocoa Beach lodging and restaurants including boat ramp information and tackle stores. Find out about how and where to get bait and where the local fishing guides are getting the big ones. |
Florida Fishing License Information
Florida Fishing License
- Lagooner fishing guides provide a saltwater fishing license
with a snook stamp for all anglers on board. But if you want
to purchase your own license for personal use please take
a peek at the prices. |
Florida Fishing Regulations
Florida Fishing Regulations
- Find out your fishing limits in the state of Florida. Bag limits, slot limits and maximum size. Should I measure from the fork of the tail or the end of the tail? You'll find it all here courtesay of the Florida Wildlife commission and authorities. |
Outdoors and Fishing Links
Outdoors and
Fishing Links - Go to our friend's sites and
look around at what they have to offer to the outdoor or fishing
community. |
Fishing Knots
Fishing Knots
- Fishing line can be tied to terminal tackle, grafted into
leaders or shock leaders, braided, twisted and attached in
numerous ways. Learn how Lagooner.com™ captains keep
the big ones from breaking off with these great knots. |
Current Weather Cocoa Beach
East Central Florida Weather Information Provided By Wunderground.com
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Florida East Coast Ship Wrecks
ShipwrecksWe
are putting together a little information about some of
the local shipwrecks around the Cape Canaveral area. Bottom
fisherman depend on wrecks, rocks and ledges to hold grouper,
snapper and other entice fish species. Knowing about the
wrecks and their history is an added bonus for our anglers. |
(...continued from above)
There are several ways I approach snook fishing in the Banana River Lagoon. First and foremost, I try and get live bait and work a mangrove shoreline or docks. If I have pilchards in great quantaties, I'll use injured pilchards to chum as I'm fishing structure. If I have finger mullet, I probe with a live mullet and don't often use them as chum. secondly, I use artificials like jerkbaits with very little (if any) wieght. Skipping lighter colored jerkbaits under docks and mangroves can produce fantastic results. In the early days before jerkbaits we would use stickbaits like Rapalas or Mirrorlures with good results, but your casting better be accurate or your hooking branches, docks and other assorted structure regularly. Thirdly, it's the fly... and for the fly fisherman it's often one of the greatest ways to catch a snook and often more productive than any other method, except you won't get the bigger ones as often as you could on live bait.
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