Southwest Florida Freshwater Snook | Snook Fishing near the Everglades

When you think about freshwater fishing in Florida, you’re not really expecting to catch one of the most popular saltwater game fish, the snook. You’ll be surprised how well snooks do in complete freshwater. Reports of anglers catching them all the way in Lake Okeechobee, are usually the most shocking!

On todays trip we traveled to some canal systems on the edge of the Everglades, with one goal in mind and that was to target freshwater snooks. I was told that this specific canal system was stacked with these trophy saltwater game fish. So our mission was to catch one of them. At first glance, it was hard to believe that a small canal over 25 miles inland, holds these incredible inshore species. After a few minutes of fishing I started catching a few small bass. But, shortly after I finally felt a strong bite and instantly thought about the snook!

Unfortunately, I missed that hard strike, but it wasn’t long until I had another chance. This time I was able to properly set the hook and work the fish away from the cover. After a few minutes I finally got the snook boat side and was able to landed him. It wasn’t the monster that I was hoping for but it was still a snook!

Mission accomplished! After that fish, the summer thunderstorms started to roll in and we decided to head out. What an incredible experience it was to target my favorite fish species in freshwater!

I’ll definitely be spending more time exploring these canals, they are loaded with life and offer the opportunitty to catch snooks, which is pretty unique! Hope you guys enjoyed this post and make sure to book your next kayak fishing experience with us right here in Southwest Florida!