What is the best Snook fly?
What fly pattern and colors for Snook?
In our area for the charters I run, we use either all white, white and red, white and chartreuse, or in less lit areas (such as bridges with ambient light) we use black, black and purple. However I am a big fan of the k.i.s.s. (keep it simple stupid) methodology. In other words the flies we use are stupid simple. The most intricate thing we do is probably spun deer hair heads. Sometimes well even use just one material with some plastic eyes. A few store bought flies we would pick are the “Schminnow” the “Slider” the “Deceiver” the “Seaducer” or a “Polar fiber minnow”. We basically run variations and sizes of these depending on what bait is around and how big the bait is.
2. What fly tying materials are best for Snook?
By far my favorite material to tie on the hook is marabou. Its the type of material that as long as it is in the water its moving. Even if you’re not moving it. Another one of my favorites is rabbit strips. The action from these is similar to marabou. The rabbit is more durable than the marabou, and we seem to get more fish in the boat before the rabbit is destroyed. Instead of just tying the rabbit strip to the shank of the hook we like to pierce the hide and slide it up past the bend to the shank before we wrap it down. Hook point up if you are using weighted eyes.
3. Weighted or non weighted fly?
Most of the time when sight fishing snook we primarily fish just subsurface so we rarely use weighted eyes. Plastic bead chain eyes or glue on plastic eyes at most. We like the SL12 hooks in 1/0 which have just enough weight to balance a fly with some bulk just under the surface and also are strong enough to pull a bigger fish out of the docks when you connect with one.
4. Where do we get our fly tying tools and materials?
Our local fly shop www.olefloridaflyshop.com is a great source with fast shipping and tons of options. We not only buy our fly tying materials from them but we buy everything they offer for our business. Nets, waterproof bags, gear, leader, apparel, rods, reels, you name it! If its fly fishing related they have it!