Around the Florida keys and Bahamas this is one of the species sought after by fishermen who are in the hunt for the elusive grand slam of fishing. The other two much sought after prizes in this quest for the proverbial holy Grail of the sport of fishing are the bonefish and tarpon. Catching one of each type of species of fish in a single day entitles the lucky angler to score a grand slam for that day of fishing. These particular species may be substituted as the region species demand changes or luck of the angler for that particular day. For instance permit may sometimes be substituted for either a snook or bonefish. But in either case a the grand daddy of them all the Tarpon must be include somewhere in the categories for an actual grand slam mark in the record books. Here in Texas the three most sought after species are usually the speckled trout, redfish and tarpon. I have received some mail in the past couple of weeks about some pages claiming that snook are also found in some Texas waters, although I have yet to see any living proof as such.
I have seen a catfish and dogfish, a flying fish and a jelly fish, a tiger shark and a bull shark, a blue crab and a hermit crab, a damsel fish and a lady fish, I have even seen a sea horse. But in all my days of fishing these Texas waters I have yet to see a Snook!!!! Although I have been know to be wrong on one occasion, and since it is in the old record book although it is a little out date. The official record information was probably sent to Austin via the passenger Pigeon. Who knows this particular sleep-swimming snook may have made a wrong turn at the bathroom and woke up here in Texas waters. Or maybe this misguided angler caught this unfortunate trout on Halloween masquerading as a snook. One can only wonder, but for the time being I will take this unconfirmed information as fact and say these lost snook are in fact inhabiting our Texas waters. For the time being lets just leave the species for a Texas Grand Slam at a trout, redfish and tarpon. Catching three of these during a 24 hour period is hard enough!!!!
This species is usually found in the back water, mangrove infested water of the various Texas bay ( right ). Mr. Snook is a superb fighter especially when fishing with lighter tackle. He likes to strike the bait hard be it natural or artificial, with acrobatics feats to rival and onlooking tarpon that may be hanging around. Not much is known about his life cycles along the Texas gulf coast, ( I can't imagine why???) But he can reach substantial proportions in his natural habitats. Special precautions should be taken when handling one of the bad boy of the bayous. Their gill covers are razor sharp which may need listing under the Hammer-Time medical advisory section as soon as one of our staff is able to capture one for further examinations. We will keep you posted for further updates!!