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Fishing Report for Homosassa, Florida
Capt. Mike Locklear
February 22, 2005
Homosassa - Saltwater Fishing Report
The rare big one that got away
The 20+ plus pound snook ate my spoon as we were redfishing yesterday. Winds were southwest at 10-15 knots and occasional spits of rain. Cloudy skies made it cooler than normal as Capt. Ray Wallace Jr. and I picked up 7 anglers in Ozello.
The motley crew lead by Deb of Wisconsin was all dressed in shorts. So were we. Wrong apparel. Oh well, turning purple and shivering is ok even when the weather man calls for no rain and warming.
The trout were thick and all landed and released perhaps a dozen or two before we tried our luck for redfish. Getting tangled up in the trolling motor was my first negative. I had to take the prop off to get all the new Power Pro off. Yikes! That stuff is expensive. Yes, it was my rod/reel that got tangled.
First thing we did as we used our Cotee jigs with pearl white twin tails is get hung up. A triple banger. All on rock. We broke those off and I tied on some spoons.
Everyone was casting up a storm and Dave mentioned we had made 1000 cast and even a musky would eat by now. We were way overdue for a bite.
That is when my rod bent double and I thought it was a redfish until it jumped. My eyes I am sure got big. I was sitting down operating the bow mount at the time of the hit. The snook headed for the mangroves twice and I managed to stop it, I think. Actually it was so big; it turned on its own. The 3 foot long linesider managed two more jumps and tried to foul me up around the push pole and went under the boat.
Only experience kept me from losing the big snook I thought. I was puffed up. The lady in my boat, who was now purple from the cold, hollered where’s the net?! Did not bring one I muttered. It did not matter.
Twas not meant to be. The snook broke the 20 pound leader. My heart sank. The air went out like a puffer fish deflating. Dave laughed and said from hero to zero. I felt inferior.
Hind sight being 20/20, I will not fish with less than 30 pound mono for now on. It was my fault that the snook got away; I underestimated its power and gill raker cutting abilities. I actually applied pressure with my fingers to try to slow the fish down. Wrong thing for me to do. Oh well. The big one that got away. Just know you know, in all my life, I never had a snook on that big.
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