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When you fish Southwest Florida, the month of April signals more than just your income tax deadline sadly, it tolls the temporary requiem for the snook season.

To protect the breeding stock of snook in this region, the long hiatus of being able to take slot size fish rolls in May 1 and doesn’t kick back out until September 1. That makes for a long hot unbearable summer for the linesider enthusiasts.

So they do strange things immediately precedent to the start of the closed season — ritualistic undertakings that will provide positive memories to buoy them through those long days of inactivity.

Charter folks get all kinds of requests, night fishing the docks is the most prevalent closely followed by trips that begin long before dawn to stage snook attacks precedent to first rays of the day’s light slipping silently over the eastern horizon.

This year my “last-of-the-snook-season request” was a little different.

A noted snook “loco” by the name of Jim Barnes called and booked a trip with the prime objective of getting a first slot size snook for his twin boys. After all, as Jim explained in the booking call, that first snook caught in your life ranks high on the list on the masculine rights of passage. He felt his 7 year old boys, Billy and Johnny, were ready for such a milestone event.

Knowing I would be chided for even mentioning it, I reminded Jim that snook fishing, under the best of conditions, takes patience and tenacity over a significant period of time — results, most times, are not instantaneous and 7 year olds may not be ready for that.

The chiding came as expected, “My guys are ready, willing and able.”

We picked a morning with a good incoming tide and booked the trip.

You always want one of these days to be absolutely perfect weather-wise and our selected day promised to be just perfect. Nice light winds from the east, warming water temperatures and clear water signaled a day with great promise.

To maximize the possibility of a slot snook catch, you need fresh live bait and a moderate morning incoming tide. We had planned the tide accordingly and now our task was to acquire frisky thread herring as the selected bait of choice.

We didn’t need that many baits but we needed them in tip-top condition — no net catch damage — so we had decided to load several rods with sabiki rigs and “gold hook” our bait at the Capri Pass Sea Buoy.

Arriving fairly early, we were one of three boats there and the only one doing the sabiki thing; the other boats were throwing the net.

The fishfinder showed nice schools of herring that were moving around as the current picked up speed; we spread a little dry chum on the water and let Billy and Johnny be our bait providers for the day.

They loved it. Dropping the sabiki rig to mid depth and working it up and down, they would see the light rod bend dramatically and start to surge with one or more herring impaled on its gold hooks. Most drops would net one or more thread herring which we deftly dehooked and placed in the live well.

Our bait catching effort took the better part of a half hour and when we had about two dozen nice live thread herring in the live well we signaled “enough”.

Both boys had enjoyed the bait catching so much that there was a simultaneous, “No! Wait... just a few more casts.”

Jim convinced them that the big snook, who wanted those thread herring very badly, would electrify them in but a few minutes in the backwaters. They stowed the rods and off we went.

Our timing was text book perfect. We arrived at Little Marco Pass just as the first trickle of incoming current showed itself at the point. Our thread herring baits were picture perfect set on small #6 hooks tied to stealth fluorocarbon leader and freelined into the current as it swept by one of the two bars that guard the entrance to the pass.

Jim remarked that it was such an idyllic scene with first rays of light coming over the Australian pines on the beach and the two young boys with rod in hand that it belonged on a magazine cover. All it lacked was the catch.

We knew this spot at the tidal breakwater would hold potential for about the first forty-five minutes of the tide after that the fish and those chasing them would have to move further inside along shoreline cover.

Our time raced by. We changed baits several times and even added a splitshot or two to hold the bait down as the water picked up speed.

Nothing. No action at all. The boys faces showed a little disappointment but not disheartenment... yet. We moved on and set up along the brush covered edges of Cannon Island and reset the baits. We knew our baits were larger and set for a larger target — slot sized keeper snook — we even saw some smaller snook swim by and evade the bigger bait.

We moved twice more further back inside. The disheartenment on the faces was there now.

It was late morning with time running out, the boys were mumbling something back and forth and finally Billy said to Johnny, “You ask him!”

Johnny spoke up, “Dad, do you think it would be okay if we went back out there (pointing to the Sea Buoy) and caught those little fish again on the little gold hooks? That was so much fun!”

Jim’s expression was like someone had just delivered an uppercut to his solar plexus.

His disappointment on the lack of snook action was displaced by his care and nurturing of these two youngsters and with a wave of the hand indicated a return to the Sea Buoy.

Back we went and for the last forty five minutes of the trip Billy and Johnny had a ball on catching squirmy little thread herring and gently releasing them. Jim even set up a game of 10 cents for every herring caught. The kids loved it.

Jim didn’t get what he wanted but the boys sure did — and Jim made all kinds of points with his youngsters by making it their day and doing what they wanted.

As we shook hands and the Barnes contingent left the boat, Jim whispered, “Maybe next year for the snook.”

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Species in the spotlight

Name: Common Snook

In season: Here year round but see regs below. Very specific season.

Florida Regulations: Gulf — Season closed 12/15 to 1/31 also months of May, June, July and August. May take one snook per day. Must be in the slot of more than 26” and less than 34” overall length

Habitat: Likes the warm water. Does not function under 60 degrees. Likes nocturnal feeding. No 1 gamefish in Florida

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Capt. Bill Walsh owns an established Marco Island charter fishing business and holds a current U.S. Coast Guard license. Send comments or questions to dawnpatrolcharters@compuserve.com