Snook, on the other hand, are mainly ambush predators that rely on concealment and current to feed. They gravitate to the same types of cover as redfish. Nate (Photo courtesy of Capt. Fabian Guerrero)
August 20, 2025
By David A. Brown
In fashion, mixing spots and stripes is considered a major faux pas. For inshore fishing pursuits, however, it’s not only acceptable, but highly recommended.
Despite their differences in appearance, redfish (aka “spot tails”) and snook (aka “linesiders”) have a lot in common. Both frequent the same areas and gravitate toward similar types of cover. The two species are also opportunistic feeders that will gladly make a meal out of most baitfish and crustaceans. Those shared tendencies double the potential for success for anglers who know where and when to focus their efforts and select the ideal baits and strategy for the location and conditions.
And with snook expanding their range northward along both Florida coasts in recent years, the odds of encountering them in what was previously mostly redfish territory have increased considerably.
Redfish are roamers that mostly cruise around topographical features and cover in search of baitfish and crustaceans. (Photo courtesy of Capt. Fabian Guerrero) CASE IN POINT On a recent summer day, my wife and I joined Capt. William Toney for a morning of scalloping off Homosassa, Fla. On our way back to the dock, we made a pit stop at Chassahowitzka Point to cast jigs and spoons along a mangrove edge.
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As we idled in toward the point, we spotted a disturbance and Toney quickly fired a jig toward the leading wake. A keeper redfish eagerly chomped on the lure and, holding his rod high, Toney instructed me to cast under him in hopes of getting a second hookup.
I sidearmed a line drive that sent my gold weedless spoon skipping across the surface ahead of the noticeable bulge in the water. The second the lure settled, my line tightened and we had us a doubleheader.
The school of reds moved on as we fought two of its members. But after releasing the fish, we resumed our plan to work our way around the point, blanketing the area with repeated casts. By the time we reached the point’s south side, we’d tangled with several spunky snook that graciously took to the air during the tussles.
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EXPANDED RANGE While snook encounters north of an imaginary line drawn from Clearwater to Melbourne were rare just a couple of decades ago, linesiders have since established populations all the way up to Jacksonville on the East Coast and throughout the Big Bend on Florida’s Gulf side. Due to warming waters, the fish now thrive in areas previously too chilly during winter to allow any significant numbers to reside there year-round.
Of course, redfish have long been widespread throughout most of the Sunshine State’s coastal waters, so inshore anglers nowadays stand a very good chance to find both reds and snook coexisting in their favorite Florida fishing haunts.
PEAK TIMES AND CONDITIONS Spring generally offers the better dual opportunities, largely due to the seasonal warming trends and the centralizing influx of baitfish schools. There’s some fragmentation during early and mid-summer, but the baitfish migrations starting in late August and September tend to round ’em up again.
Toney really likes September and October, but notes the potential for tropical storms and extreme winds that can trash shallow, exposed areas. Moreover, significant rainfall sends concentrated freshwater plumes through coastal arteries and fiddles with salinity levels.
Both redfish and snook can tolerate low salinities, with snook capable of surviving in purely freshwater environs. On the flipside, reds are hardier fish that handle chilly conditions better than the more temperature-sensitive snook, which quickly slow down once water temps dip below the 70-degree mark.
Explaining tidal tendencies applicable throughout the Gulf Coast, Toney says that snook and redfish will hang together through most tide phases, but he considers the beginning of an incoming tide best, as both species will stage just outside the keys (small islands) while they wait for the water to fill in.
“As the tide rises, the fish tend to move to the edges of the keys, providing good chances for sight-fishing,” says Toney. “Once the tide gets high enough, snook and reds will reach the shoreline overhangs and become harder to target.”
Snook are more temperature sensitive than reds. Prolonged resuscitation is often required prior to their release in summer. (Photo by Alex Suescun) LIKELY SCENARIOS Although redfish and snook commingle in many places, there are certain types of spots they tend to share most often.
Mangroves : As Toney points out, mangrove shorelines offer the most dependable double-whammy opportunities. Natural cover, tidal dynamics and a mix of crustacean and finfish forage define the appeal. From labyrinthine swamps with long stretches carved by tidal creeks to free-standing islands and scattered clusters, mangroves occur in multiple scenarios and none should be ignored.Bars : High points rising out of surrounding depths offer attractive staging and feeding areas. In Sarasota Bay, Capt. Rick Grassett expects to find redfish and snook on any prominent sandbar flanked by lush grass beds. Elsewhere, oyster bars and spoil banks offer similar appeal. Oyster bars hold loads of crustaceans and invertebrates, along with throngs of pinfish. Sand bars and spoil banks see more transient food sources, but their adjacent tidal troughs offer security and concealment where the predator species round up baitfish and pin them against the sidelines.Points : These could be mangrove island tips, oyster mounds, marsh grass or anywhere that directs tide-borne baitfish and crustaceans, creating a consistent feeding station for redfish and snook. Reds will move around more, while the snook like to hold their ground and ambush passing meals.Docks : With shade, cover, ambush points and food aggregation, the allure of docks is clear. While those at the backs of canals tend to excel in the colder months, the ones closer to a strong tidal flow see greater feeding stimulus most of the year. Grassett is particularly fond of docks in deeper areas during winter, when snook seek stable temps and heat-holding structure. Reds often mix in, but they’re less likely than snook to park on a dock for long periods.Mullet Schools : Time management demands we identify “active” areas, and one of the key signs is the presence of mullet. You might see them wiggling and waking in shallow bays or leaping far back in a cove; either way, these googly-eyed vegetarians usually inhabit environments that also attract top-shelf predators like snook and reds. Keep in mind that the larger striped mullet (aka black mullet)—often weighing 2 pounds or more—frequently have snook and redfish swimming within their schools. While they are too big for most snook and reds to think of them as their next meal, they constantly displace shrimp, crabs and smaller baitfish that their predatory traveling companions are quick to pick off.Soft-plastic swimbaits and jerkbaits effectively draw strikes from marauding redfish, as well as snook waiting in ambush. (Photo by Alex Suescun) BAITS DU JOUR For anglers targeting spot tails and linesiders, live baits are almost always the easiest sell. During the warmer months, frisky scaled sardines (aka whitebait or pilchards) and threadfin herring top the list. Hook them behind the pectoral fin for free-lining or floating presentations. For heavy-current situations, or if you’re casting and slowly retrieving the bait past a key spot, nose-hooking is best.
As for artificials, Toney’s three favorites are the 4-inch D.O.A. jerkbait ($5.49/12-pack) in Nite Glow color, MirrOlure’s MirrOdine twitch bait ($9.99), and a gold weedless spoon. Nevertheless, other artificials also deliver.
Topwaters like the Heddon Saltwater Super Spook ($8.99) and MirrOlure Top Dog ($9.99) are terrific, as is Rapala’s X-Rap Saltwater Subwalk ($13.99), a subsurface plug with similar walk-the-dog action. The venerable Johnson Silver Minnow Spoon ($4.49), is hard to beat around grass and oysters.
And let’s not forget the classic D.O.A. Shrimp ($8.19/3-pack), Z-Man’s EZ ShrimpZ ($7.49/2-pack) and LiveTarget’s Rigged Shrimp ($11.99/4-pack). These can either be cast and retrieved, dead-sticked in deeper potholes or fished under a popping cork rig, which is a great option for kids and beginners. With an abrupt tug, the cork makes a chugging commotion that resembles feeding and calls in nearby reds and snook vulnerable to the lure rising and falling enticingly underneath.
Equally effective with live baits or jigs rigged with soft-plastic tails, the cork rig works well even in strong-current situations and windy days. Cast uptide or upwind, let the rig flow past the target zone and give it a tug every few seconds. In addition to positioning your bait, the cork offers a reliable strike indicator.
Walking the dog with a topwater near mangroves or over sand holes on a grass flat often yields sizeable linesiders and reds. (Photo by Alex Suescun) PRESENTATION POINTERS If you’re working lures across pothole-strewn grass flats, watch for signs of life and avoid bombing shallow areas. Redfish are notoriously skittish, so if you bonk one on the noggin or goose its back end, that will scatter the school and, in turn, spook any snook in the vicinity.
Mullet present the one exception. Those meandering schools condition fish to a lot of commotion, enabling you to get away with the splashdown of a topwater or swimbait more than you would otherwise. Just don’t drop a big bait directly in the middle of a mullet school, as this risks a chain reaction that will ultimately spook your intended targets.
Spoons are as user-friendly as it gets, but be sure to add a split ring and a swivel to prevent the line twist inflicted by the lure’s wobbling and spinning.
Fishing from Charlotte Harbor to the Pasco County Coast, Capt. Mark Dillingham is big on flipping and pitching jigs to reds and snook hiding under mangrove limbs during flood tides. When the fish get back there to chase baitfish and crustaceans, they’re vulnerable to artificials carefully presented into the shadows. The same flipping jigs with a bulky craw trailer used for bass fishing do a great job of mimicking crustaceans in salty shallows. Make sure you’re geared up with a stout baitcasting outfit and braided line to pry powerful reds and snook away from cover, but know that it takes more than brawn to win tugs of war with big fish you hook under mangroves and docks.
“Reds tend to dig more and, given the chance, will go around roots or pilings. Snook want to take you back into the pilings and will use their brute force to achieve this goal,” says Dillingham, adding that at the moment of truth, there’s no substitute for preparation. Whether it’s docks or overhanging mangroves, getting a bait under or into the cover is only part of the challenge. The second part demands you consider how a fish will likely respond and establish an effective fighting angle.
“Depending on how you present the bait, whether live or artificial, you must be able to turn the rod and work that fish out of there,” says Dillingham. “If the fish goes left, pull to the right with the rod and vice versa. Apply enough pressure to turn its head and yank it out.”
This article was featured in the August issue of Game & Fish magazine. Click to subscribe .
