The flash of lightning and sound of thunder woke me up early again for the next highly anticipated fishing trip. A quick check of the radar showed just a passing shower, so I loaded up and hit the water under a fairly dark sky. The day’s trip was with a returning father and son team on their yearly summer vacation. Last year’s trip was pretty good with a nice redfish topping that day, giving high expectations for a return trip.



The guys had no fear of the weather so we headed to one of the local passes to see if the snook were biting. A few were popping the surface here and there and dad caught a fun jack to get things going while I tested the waters with a lure. I had a few light hits, but didn’t hook up, before we adjusted our position and tried again. After having to anchor a couple of times in the now screaming outgoing current the first bait hit the water and a suspected big snook screamed off drag until it wrapped around a tree and broke the line. It was a bit slow after that until I hooked another this time confirmed, big snook, on a lure. We all got to see the big girl jump as I handed the rod off to the young man on board for the battle. He did an amazing job of listening to instructions and fighting the slob fish all the way to the net for a couple of quick pictures before the release.



Just a few bait stealing nibbles after that so we worked our way back in to Estero Bay. The water is still fairly dark from all of the rain, but we managed a few more fish including a nice slot redfish setting quite the precedent to beat for next year.