So is there a snook population in Texas?
I saw that TPW set limits for them, but never heard of anyone catching them. Just figured it was to cold for them.

Would be nice if TPW put some in powerplant lakes.

Now that would be awesome! How bout Tarpon, the can survive the freshwater also.

Your best place to catch a snook is in the Lower Laguna Madre, South Padre - Port Isabel area.

That would be your best choice for catching one.


Not saying they can't be caught in other parts of Texas but SPI is going to be your best bet for landing one.




-Z-

They also catch a few in the Upper Laguna Madre also. I have seen pics of people catching them from the jetties around corpus.

Well I forgot to mention I moved to St pete, FL last year so I have been catching alot of snook. I catch them mostly on the same stuff I would use at Lake Fork for bass.
lately they have moved up in the freshwater creeks and we are using talapia for the big girls.
Here there is a snook season and the slot is 28"-32".
The season is March, April, Sepetember , October, and November.

My wife caught a snook off the Seawolf Park Pier back in 93 . A Game Warden came by and I asked him what it was . He told me . Good thing it was still alive on a stringer or I would have got a fine . The man was nice to let me go .

My fishing buddy caught one last year at Cambell's bayou which isn't far from Seawolf Park. Our recent string of mild winters has allowed them to move up the coast from Brownsville. Great fish!

Thanks for the info guys.
I'm really surprised that Texas hasn't jumped on this and started a stocking program like reds, bass, etc.

I saw pictures of a couple of undersized snooks last year around the Freeport jetties. There are a lot of them snooks in Florida. I used to fish the Sebastian Inlet and Indian River for them when I was going to college in Florida, and they get in the 40 lbs+ easy.

Sebastian Inlet..... My old surf spot!!

I have caught two this year off the PA jetties in five days of fishing...one on the north and one on the south. I saw four others caught one day on the south.

I caught an undersized one this summer off the South Jetty in Port "A". They are there, just not as many as further down the coast or FL.

when in summer, out of the rocks in Mustang Island State Park I've caught some, but only once.
They really like warmer water.

Back in the day, snook and tarpon where both plentifull in tx waters. Texas was accually Teddy Rosevelt's favorite spot for tarpon fishing. However, both fish disapeared leaving mixed fellings on why they declined around tx waters.

However, both have made a relative comeback in tx waters though not at their former numbers. I live in CC, and frequently see people catching snook off the packery jetties, though mostly small. The port A jettie, which is much bigger produces good numbers of snook catches along the rocks during summer time. Also, though I have yet to see one be caught first hand, there are always reports of tarpon catches coming from both sets of rocks. On occasion, I will see them in the water but have never caught one.

Two years ago, we had a severe red tide in CC and during one trip to the packery beach area, I counted about 10 dead snook along the beach. Some of them where near the 30 inch mark. Made me sick!!

Though these fish are coming back, they are still rare catches for TX anglers. Im an avid fisherman, fishing several times a week during many months, and I have yet to hook up with either. However, I do not specifically target either species. Down in SPI there are guides who are starting to specialize in snook trips. I hear good things about snook fishing down there but have yet to give it a go.

Bottom line, if you target either species, Bet your dollar that you will get a hook up sooner or later.