Hotter waters are slowing the fish bite

Snook season is on again as of Sept. 1, but I don't expect much action for the first few weeks of the month.

Water temperature has hovered around 90 degrees for about six weeks, and snook become ever more nocturnal when it's this hot. That doesn't mean they won't feed, just that they eat more in low-light situations and after dark than during the heat of the day.

With the water being murky and weedy as it is in midsummer, I like to throw weedless jerk baits at snook. The nice thing about these soft plastic baits is that you can lay one on top of a snook in shallow water without spooking it. In fact, such a cast often generates a strike, as the splash of the lure sounds much the same as the flick of a live sardine.

I use weighted and un-weighted keeper hooks alternately, depending on how much weed there is in the water. The un-weighted versions don't pick up as much vegetation, but the weighted ones cast farther. Even when wading, I will carry a spare rod in my wade belt.

Color is a matter of personal preference more than anything else. I've caught snook on a wide variety of different color schemes, but all-white and red-and-white have caught the majority of my snook. That could be just because I fish these colors more when targeting snook, or it could be that white is simply the best color for snook. Either way, when I'm out for snook, it's hard to reach for any other color.

I waded a late morning low tide last week and saw a few fish but hooked only one short snook. It hit a new penny-colored, soft plastic bait but came off on the first leap. It was the only hit I had all morning.
The grouper fishermen I spoke to recently were also moaning about the slow bite. I don't expect things to pick up any time soon. Late summer fishing is simply tough, and it's going to stay that way until the water temperature begins to drop.

Some pompano should begin to show themselves on the flats along South Shore.

I haven't done any cobia fishing lately; it's been too hot. But my guess is there are some fish on the buoys and range markers north of the Bahia Beach reef. They'll circle the buoys on slack tide, often right on the surface.

Tripletail should also show up on the structure, but they tend to hang deeper, where you can't see them. If you're going to fish for tripletail, you need to put the anchor out and cover the structure with live shrimp and/or sardines.