Snook in local water!?

[silverking]

I think the close proximity to deeper oceanic water is the key. The fish are able to drop into warmer depths with a cold front. When the West Coast suffered the crippling freezes and large-scale fish kills several years ago, the Atlantic snook population was largely unscathed because they had that nearby sanctuary. The shallow bays and Everglades were blown out by the strong North winds and the fish were trapped.

If we do have a couple mild winters here (like this one is expected to be), it's only a matter of time before some larger fish are caught. I've seen some slobs in Crystal River area and with some of the springs here, snook could easily survive and grow.

[JIm Smith]

Snook are becoming a regular thing in cedar Key

[tailwaters]

I would not believe it if I did not see the pictures, but David from Specialty Sportswear showed me two recent photos of him posing with whopper bonefish, with St George Island cut clearly in the background

Hearing about the random snook or even a permit caught in our waters doesn't surprise me too much. I remember seeing a pic of a couple in Wakulla springs about 8 to 10 years ago. Bonefish are a different story! I thought is was uncommon to even see them as far north as Tampa.

[Apalachee Inshore]

I would not believe it if I did not see the pictures, but David from Specialty Sportswear showed me two recent photos of him posing with whopper bonefish, with St George Island cut clearly in the background

Hearing about the random snook or even a permit caught in our waters doesn't surprise me too much. I remember seeing a pic of a couple in Wakulla springs about 8 to 10 years ago. Bonefish are a different story! I thought is was uncommon to even see them as far north as Tampa.

Lol. I just let the bonefish comment go. I’m not saying it didn’t happen, I’m just not going to try and wrap my mind around how, what or why someone caught one hook and line at St George.

[eightwt]

Bones here are unusual, but critters wander for whatever reasons as habitat allows. Just saw the other day an opah, aka moonfish, caught off Ocean City, MD. Manatees are seen occassionly in the Chesapeake Bay. Now if bones were reproducing here, that would be something! Sometimes animals just don't read the textbooks.

Of course they do, but catching a bonefish on hook and like in our are is extremely rare. As in probably only a couple (if that many) ever. And not just blown off as "not that unusual. It's very unusual and very special any way you look at it.

https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/fish/ ... la-vulpes/

Obviously catching a bone in the Big Bend is special and "unusual" as I said in my post. Not "blowing" it off, just saying its not particularly rare for wildlife to be observed well out of their normal range. Happens all the time. Birders even have a network to alert others of rare bird sightings. According to U of F, address listed above, Atlantic bonefish have been taken as far north as North Carolina, New York, and New Brunswick. An occasional bone making a sojourn to the Big Bend seems plausible to me.

[Css1772]

I was reading on the Pensacola fishing forum earlier this year and there was a picture of a guy with a bone he caught in Eacambia Bay. Maybe they’re more plentiful than we think...

[Salty Gator]

I would not believe it if I did not see the pictures, but David from Specialty Sportswear showed me two recent photos of him posing with whopper bonefish, with St George Island cut clearly in the background

Hearing about the random snook or even a permit caught in our waters doesn't surprise me too much. I remember seeing a pic of a couple in Wakulla springs about 8 to 10 years ago. Bonefish are a different story! I thought is was uncommon to even see them as far north as Tampa.

Lol. I just let the bonefish comment go. I’m not saying it didn’t happen, I’m just not going to try and wrap my mind around how, what or why someone caught one hook and line at St George.

If Gary Droze said it was a bonefish, it was a bonefish

[Salty Gator]

Bones here are unusual, but critters wander for whatever reasons as habitat allows. Just saw the other day an opah, aka moonfish, caught off Ocean City, MD. Manatees are seen occassionly in the Chesapeake Bay. Now if bones were reproducing here, that would be something! Sometimes animals just don't read the textbooks.

Of course they do, but catching a bonefish on hook and like in our are is extremely rare. As in probably only a couple (if that many) ever. And not just blown off as "not that unusual. It's very unusual and very special any way you look at it.

https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/fish/ ... la-vulpes/

Obviously catching a bone in the Big Bend is special and "unusual" as I said in my post. Not "blowing" it off, just saying its not particularly rare for wildlife to be observed well out of their normal range. Happens all the time. Birders even have a network to alert others of rare bird sightings. According to U of F, address listed above, Atlantic bonefish have been taken as far north as North Carolina, New York, and New Brunswick. An occasional bone making a sojourn to the Big Bend seems plausible to me.

Well I'll be waiting so see all the ones you catch up here

[Apalachee Inshore]

I would not believe it if I did not see the pictures, but David from Specialty Sportswear showed me two recent photos of him posing with whopper bonefish, with St George Island cut clearly in the background

Hearing about the random snook or even a permit caught in our waters doesn't surprise me too much. I remember seeing a pic of a couple in Wakulla springs about 8 to 10 years ago. Bonefish are a different story! I thought is was uncommon to even see them as far north as Tampa.

Lol. I just let the bonefish comment go. I’m not saying it didn’t happen, I’m just not going to try and wrap my mind around how, what or why someone caught one hook and line at St George.

If Gary Droze said it was a bonefish, it was a bonefish

Crazy. Gary did they say how it was caught? Maybe someone was fishing with small shrimp and hook for sheepies in the cut.

[eightwt]

Well I'll be waiting so see all the ones you catch up here[/quote]

ROFLMAO. Hell, I could be standing in the middle of the best flat in Andres and not catch a bone...

[GaryDroze]

The guy who caught it is an avid artificials user. I think he was tossing a light jig. Will confirm next week when I visit his business next week. Hard to mistake a photo of a bonefish for anything else.

[cotton]

A few survived the cold. Caught 2 again Sat.

[Apalachee Inshore]

Awesome!

[Salty Gator]

That’s great

[silverking]

Thanks for the update, Cotton. Knew of a few fatalities but the population locally seems robust enough now that many probably survived.

Had dinner with a long-time fishing buddy who now lives in Ft. Walton Beach. He said at least one monster bonefish and several permit have been caught in Destin Harbor.